Auto news: off-road without limits. Can-Am Maverick adventure in Portugal

This time, TV Autozína is in Portugal to drive the latest and at the same time the most powerful Can-Am Maverick XRS. Similar to a buggy or a large cross-kart, the Maverick is one of the many Can-Am vehicles of the Canadian company BRP, representing the so-called “side-by-side” category. Two people can sit next to each other in it.

Unlike economy-oriented models such as “Can-Am Traxter”, “Maverick” is created only for pounding or racing. “Maverick XRS” weighs only one ton, and is equipped with a turbo engine from the Austrian company “Rotax”, which is installed at the back. Martin Karasek, BRP regional sales manager: “It’s a three-cylinder engine with a displacement of 999 ccm and develops 240 horsepower.” Instead of the usual variator, with which even the most hostile Maverick models were equipped until now, Can-Am has used a dual-clutch gearbox for the first time. It’s an automatic transmission and you don’t have to shift gears yourself. But you can do it with paddles behind the steering wheel – just like in a sports car. DCT withstands the torque of the new engine and allows it to be used more optimally.

On a test drive through Portugal’s most secluded areas, we soon found out that the seven-speed dual-clutch operation is far from the general perception of the smooth, flowing manner of the DGS gearbox in passenger cars. “Maverick XRS” already enters the groove with a clack worthy of a racing car, and continues to shift with aggressive shocks, just like a real sequential box. Together with the reduced gears, it turns out that the “Maverick XRS” has 14 gears instead of 7.

The new XRS is significantly more expensive than even the wild X3 Turbo RR. “Can-Am” representative SDK is ready to deliver one for 52 to 55 thousand euros. It’s still less than a comparable race car. The new XRS will also be a revelation for “Can-Am Maverick” connoisseurs. The new engine even has a lockable cylinder system – but not for fuel economy. “Rotax” has invented a kind of anti-lag system substitute. Even more impressive is the new Maverick XRS suspension. The aluminum levers in front are extravagantly protruding above the wheels.

The new “Maverick XRS” suspension was also liked by Rok Bacuskas, world champion in rally raid and Dakar driver in the T4 category, where crews start with specially prepared “Can-Am Mavericks”: “The first impression is that the “Maverick” is a little higher and somewhat softer, because the suspension works very well and smoothly.” You still have to get used to the dual-clutch box, but it’s only a matter of time. At the presentation of the new XRS, we also met the Lithuanian battle chariot, with which Roks will start in Saudi Arabia on January 5, in the 2024 edition of Dakar. The goal, of course, is the highest – victory.