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Colby
Kostman carving a turn on the Polaris Outlaw
450 MXR |
The Outlaw 450MXR was the first of the two models
that I rode. We used a small MX type track for this
model that was rough and full of whooped straight-aways.
With a turn of the key and a push of the button the
450MXR was running and ready to go. I was very impressed
with how fast this engine fired to life. It is one
of if not the fastest starting sport quad I have ever
started.
The 450MXR pulls very well and accelerates extremely
fast, the engine had plenty of power and revved very
freely through each gear. I was happy with the gearing,
but I felt the transmission was hard to power shift
and required that you pull in the clutch and left
off the gas to get it to shift under hard acceleration.
After making a few minor changes to the setting on
the front and rear FOX shocks I was charging the whoops
and blasting out of the corners with a great deal
of confidence. The chassis on the new Outlaw felt
very light and easy to change direction at any speed
without any push in the corners. The only other negative
issue I encountered with this model was the top of
my boot getting caught on the side panel plastic after
corning aggressively.
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Colby
Kostman climbing through a rock field on the
Polaris Outlaw 525 S |
After putting some laps on the 450MXR, I made the
switch to the Outlaw 525S, which feels almost identical
to the 450MXR. They both have the same lighting fast
starting, plush seat, comfortable ergonomics, and
light nimble chassis. I had the opportunity to use
the reverse gear on the trails that I rode the 525S
on and soon realized this was the smoothest operating
factory reverse system I have used, it is so smooth
it is almost effort less.
Another feature of the Outlaws that becomes evident
on longer rides with more stopping and starting is
the light smooth pull of the Magura Hydraulic clutch.
The 525 S has the same fast accelerating high revving
feel of the 450MXR but with a noticeable boost in
low end torque due to its increased displacement,
which was most noticeable in the high speed whoops.
You can run this engine a gear higher and still have
plenty of power to pull the front end up even at lower
rpm’s.
Although the Outlaw 525S comes standard with preload
adjustable only front shocks they still perform very
well in all types of terrain even when pushed hard.
Another very noticeable characteristic of both outlaw
models is how short the turning radius is because
I can’t remember another sport quad that can
turn this sharp.
