There is a principle in mathematics called the Square-Cube law. Without turning this into MathBlog, it’s an idea first presented by Galileo in the 17th century that says an object’s volume (or mass for this discussion) grows faster than its surface area.
Essentially, if you have a good thing so you keep just making the good thing bigger, you may experience diminishing returns.
Now the application of this idea could be pondered in many areas of life, but here we’re just talking about SXSs…
The machine that kicked off SXSBlog was a base model Can-Am Maverick 1000 that I bought in February of 2014. At the time it was one of the two coolest machines on the market and it cost me about $13,200 out the door (brand new) with a listed dry weight of 1,297 lbs.
Roughly 7 years later we bought one of the first Polaris Pro Rs to hit the dealer and wrote a check exceeding $50,000 for that 2,500 lb monster.
The monetary cost is really a whole separate discussion, but there are other costs of all this progress.
In the last 10 years the mass of a top tier sport SXS has essentially doubled. Yes they have more horsepower, more travel, and more features, but they are also turning into tanks.
As with most things in motorsports / powersports, but especially off-road…WEIGHT IS IMPORTANT.
I of course appreciate the added suspension travel, power, and durability but there IS some loss in the driving experience. It’s easy to forget over time, but if you’ve been spending all your wheel time in something like a Maverick R or Pro R, go run an XP1K through the woods for a bit. There is something different there.
My last personal build (a Turbo R) was largely focused on cutting out weight for this very reason.
My opinion? They’re getting too large & heavy and the industry is growing itself towards an identity crisis. As the numbers become more comparable to V8 sand cars, rock bouncers, etc; the only logical thing to do is start seriously comparing them.
SXSs created and defined their very own space in the off-road world, which is part of what has made them so popular, but they are starting to stretch it. Is a machine that is 14’ long with a 2.0L 4 cylinder and weighs nearly 3,000 lbs really a SXS? Does that embody what has made this sport so popular? I’m not so sure.
When we slapped a 1300hp 6-cylinder in a Turbo S a faction of the internet lost their minds screaming "THAT'S NOT A SXS ANYMORE", and maybe that's true. 2JP is lighter weight and has a shorter wheelbase than a new Pro R or Maverick R 4-seater. So what defines a SXS?
This industry is still very young, and the elder motorized sports may predict the future. Fast cars, motorcycles, snowmobiles…all put significant focus on weight savings.
I can tell you this, if someone designed and marketed a lightweight performance package, I’d be on it.
-200 HP
-1500 lb dry weight
-20” suspension travel.
Take my money.
-Doug Butterfield
