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My guess is it's a 4 seater.So is the article on how they stacked up on line? How does the T4 stack up why didn't they include it?
Back in 2003 we built race quads for $20-22K w/carbs. In 2004, Yamaha & Honda released the debuted “race ready quads” EFI did not need arms, etc, cutting race cost out of the factory drastically! By 2008 when Can-am unveiled the “DS450” first Al chassis you could buy the same quad we built in 2003 for around $9-10K of show room floor, cut in half in four years. By then Kawi, Suk were also on board, 5 big OEMs competing that helped the race tracks and industry globally. The most cost effective way to reduce cost is on the assembly line not in after market, also the most robust design in most cases. Many of the same after market companies were hit hard, forced them to cost reduction designs and innovative the OEM would not perform such as hole shot devices, specialty a-arms like Houser that auto adjust caster, etc….I’m guessing this happens to the UTV industry next. It is already thanks to the XP900.Can Am is going to wait until i dump about 20k into my Commander,,,THEN they will come out with a sport model.
BRP (aka Can-Am) is not part of Bombardier Inc anymore(aka aircraft and transport). The parent company spun off BRP in 2003 by selling it to an investment group and family members.Speaking of Can-am and chassis, Can dam was the pioneer in the quad world, 2008, to release the first aluminum frame, no welds. They used a type of blind bolt called the “huck†that is stronger than a steel weld but it’s a permanent installation installed by a Huck gun(see below) often used in aircraft. It’s blind since the areas they used it had limited access, small frames. They also used a lot of strong extrusions rectangular cross sections, little tubing, and large casting’s for strength and to consolidate parts. Al didn’t lend itself to welding since they did not use 6061-T6 al weld king, or repairs, but it had high strength to weight ratio surpassing steel designs by 5-10 lbs. They used clad or anodizing to prevent corrosion. Other OEM quad and bike soon followed. Surprised their UTV line has not seen it YET, I think as the industry leans out to more race ready competition weight will become a market target. Agree, Articat/ Popo are the only two close to “sport†now, but don’t under estimate Can-am and Bombardia Aircraft.
Huck Bolts, Fasteners and Rivets
I agree as all of the shootouts I have seen since the Commander came out use the "XT" model instead of the closest to sport "X" model.Not quite sure why they would use a Commander XT versus the X model if they wanted a more accurate comparison of so called "sport" versus sport. And if the Commander is indeed considered a "sport" model (even though it is equipped with a DUMP BED & winch), then why is the Kawasaki Teryx not present as well?
Just sayin...
O really I didn’t know that about Bombaria and BRP.BRP (aka Can-Am) is not part of Bombardier Inc anymore(aka aircraft and transport). The parent company spun off BRP in 2003 by selling it to an investment group and family members.
My opinion is that you have to be very careful of using aluminum in off road. If the part is subjected to flex (as most off road parts are) it can be a BIG problem, as the fatigue life of aluminum is significantly shorter than steel. For example competition bicycles only have a 'life' of five years before they are junk...eg crack. Think of how long it takes to to fail a paper clip by bending it back in forth versus say a beer can.
The other factor is stiffness which is measured in modulus. Steel's modulus is 3x that of aluminum, but steel weighs 3x more than aluminum. Aluminum is also more expensive than steel. Sooo...what you end up with here is an aluminum part that has to be much bigger than it's steel counterpart to achieve the same strength with the same weigh. When you use more of a more expensive material, you end up with a more expensive product that may have a shorter life. Aluminum does have advantages in that you can cast it, forge it, extrude it with less expensive tooling into some creative parts that are strong and light.
But there is a reason that Trophy Truck frames are not made of aluminum and there is a reason why most desert and woods ATV racers with a straight axle rear suspension change their aluminum swingarms to chromoly.
My 2 pesos.
I wish there was more of DW shootout review to get back to, so we make our own.TNT, good points and well written!
My main point is that aluminum can be stronger than steel, but the type of alloy, heat treat and the design of the part are all key! A UTV frame would be very tricky to make out of aluminum IMO. Off road vehicles do flex and flex isn't a good thing with aluminum. An ATV or a dirt bike chassis can be made to be extremely stiff and due to the light weight of the vehicle and short distance from the steering head to the swingarm pivot, you can reduce the flex and thus have a reasonable fatigue life.
Anyway...back to the Dirt Wheels shootout thread!