Home Feature Builds FEATURE VEHICLE: SDR built 2019 Polaris RZR Turbo – “TeSs”

FEATURE VEHICLE: SDR built 2019 Polaris RZR Turbo – “TeSs”

We met up with the guys From SDR Motorsports at Camp RZR to check out TeSs, their newest shop build. They had less than a month to transform a Bone Stock brand new 2019 Polaris RZR Turbo S 4 to what you see here. Below is their story on what it takes to pull that off!

Matt Martelli

December 20, 2018

This is our first project build directly with Polaris and we only had a few weeks to pull it all together! We took delivery of the unit at the Sand Sports Super Show and the only rules for the build were to “build something bad ass” and to have it done in time for Camp RZR in Glamis at the end of Oct.! This gave us about 30 days to make the magic happen…

So we pulled out all the stops and got to work… We reached out to all of the great companies we always turn to when the time line is short and we want something special and new….

First stop was Glamis.

Yup, that’s right even with a super tight timeline a trip to Glamis in late Sept. was in order to do some baseline “Testing” of this new machine. We hit the road early to beat the heat and get in as much dune time as possible. We drug World Drift Champion Chris Forseburg out with us as well to get his perspective on the new machine. Little did we know he was headed to Glamis for the first time! We always enjoy breaking in a newbie to the dunes and it was great to get his perspective and take on his first rides in the sand. For comparison we brought along his 2018 RZR Turbo 4 Dynamix. This model is the predecessor to the Turbo S so we were looking forward to back to back comparisons!

UTVUnderground.com 2019 Polaris Turbo S 4 TeSs

We hit the sand and first impressions were that this car was definitely not just a rehashed new model, this car was a serious overhaul of an already class leading chassis. We could throw the car around with abandon and it just kept asking for more. We hammered it through whoops, We launched it off huge jumps, and we threw it in to the biggest sand dunes glamis has to offer and it performed flawlessly. By 10:30 the heat was taking its toll on us. It was 105 deg with not a cloud in sight yet the car never overheated or skipped a beat…. For more on our trip to glamis check out our You Tube channel! With that, we loaded up and hit the road back to the shop, it was time to tear this thing down and get the build rollin.

One of the first fully built Turbo S 4

Knowing who we were building the car for and the fact that this would be one of the first fully built Turbo S 4 out there, we wanted to aim high and do something different. Not over the top different, just something outside of our normal Red, Black, silver color combo and style. With this in mind we got on the phone with John from Mad Melvin and started talking colors. We settled on a Nardo Grey and Porche Miami Blue theme and he got to work on some spray out paint samples. Next up was a call to the guys at Wolf Designs to talk about graphics. As usual, they had some ideas for something new and different and put together some sample print outs and sent them to us and John to pick a winner… we had already torn the car down and sent all the plastics to Johns shop in Arizona, JM Collision so he wasted no time matching the vinyl graphics and mixing up a custom House Of Kolor concoction we call Bass Boat Teal.

The Cage, Lights and the Interior goodies

Meanwhile, Back at the shop out team was busy getting all of the new products ready. We decided to go with our most popular cage design for the build, our Fastback Shorty Sport Cage with the front LED light Pocket and Rear Chase Light options along with our best selling Hi-Bred Door kit complete with our own Door Storage bags. Since the cage and doors were already in production we focused on the Front Bumper and Grille Kit. Since both of these were new products we had our work cut out!

The product development team was working on all the new stuff, the painter and graphics guys were busy getting things done and we turned out attention to the interior. First off was a set of Custom Pro Sport Seats from Simpson. Having helped in the development and fitment of the Pro Sport seat, it was a no brainer for our newest build. We added the proven Simpson D3 harnesses and called the guys over at SSV Works to see what they had cooking for the new turbo S. As always, they delivered the goods. A complete Stage 5 plug and play Stereo kit was on its way with the brand new Ride Command module that works seamless with the new Polaris system that is standard in all Turbo S models. This system allows us to simply pair our phone with the Ride Command and control all functions right from the main screen. We can even adjust the sound levels to fine tune the system on the fly. Next up we reached out to the guys at Billet Equipped for the full billet treatment. They sent out a super clean billet horn cover plate, pass. Grab handle, Gas Cap, and Side mirrors all finished in a fine texture black powdercoat. Last up was a full set of XTC switches and complete wire harness to get everything working. We have done a lot of wiring around here and the XTC system is simply put, a no brainer for wiring up your Rig. The kit is by far the best on the market.

No build of this level is complete without some serious improvements to power and we didn’t skimp a bit here! We grabbed a full Boon Dockers Dominator kit off the shelf and bolted it on. We added the dual exhaust system and sent the ECU File to the BD boys for a tune up. While they are messaging the ECU Tune we dialed in the clutching and got the rest of the kit all buttoned up. Flashed the ECU and we were in business. Check that off the list!

With most of the details wrapped up and in motion we needed to dial in the wheels and tires. We had spoken to SandCraft at the Sand Sports Super show and saw their brand new 33X16 set up and knew we had to have these for the build. They also had some bad ass new 16 Wheels but we have always worked with OMF Performance and wanted to give them the first crack at the set-up. A quick call to Bones and we were set. He wasn’t sure how, but he was going to make it happen…

The Shorty Cage & Bed Cover

T-Minus two weeks at this point and the ball is rolling fast. We wanted to do something on this build we had been discussing for awhile, a fully enclosed bed. We started the trend in 2015 with our insanely popular “Betsy” cage style but wanted to do something different. There were several similar type “Bed Covers” out there and we knew we didn’t want to copy what was already there, that’s just not our style. So we got in touch with the aluminum guru over at Next Level Aluminum and had Jason whip up a custom rear bed cover with an opening trunk lid that seals and locks shut. With time running slim, we put another bed on the car and sent our Friend Kenny off to visit Mad Melvin and his crew to install all the plastics and then drop the car off at Wolf Designs for them to do their thing!

With only a few days left before we needed to load up and head to camp RZR the car was back in the shop after the quick trip to Arizona for all the finishing details. The trunk was back from Jason, the wheels were done and ready to bolt up, and all the stars were lining up nicely…. Until.

We came in on Wed morning and all four tires were flat! We had rushed to mount up the wheels and tires (we just couldn’t wait to see them on the car!) and in the process, we messed up the silicone seal for the centers (sorry Bones!) but as usual the team at OMF came through and got them fixed up… this time we let them sit overnight to dry….

Finally the time had come to load up and head out, Camp RZR here we come! The next few days are a blur we put a few hundred miles on the car, did too many photo/video shoots to remember hung out with our friends from Polaris and showed off the car everywhere we went.

TeSs was a hit to say the least and we couldn’t be happier with the way she looks…

But we built this car with performance in mind. From the super Light wheel and tire set up, to the big turbo upgrade, we wanted this car to perform even better than it looks. Simply put, Mission Accomplished. Sure, it wasn’t the fastest car up the hill or down the drags but she more than held her own and railed the dunes like a slot car! After four days of crazy hot weather and non stop duning we headed home with huge smiles on our faces. TeSs was everything we hoped for and more. The Polaris Turbo 4 S is simply the Best platform to date. We had zero issues all weekend, no overheating, no blown belts, nothing except pure fun!

We are headed back to Glamis for Christmas and New Years, so if you see us out there make sure to say hi and let us know what you think of TeSs our new Pride and Joy.