2024 RZR Turbo R 4 Ultimate Review
The more all-conditions ready little brother of the Pro R.
There’s no reason to beat around the bush – last year at this time Polaris let us borrow a RZR Pro R Ultimate. After months of hearing about the performance of the naturally aspirated ProStar Fury 2.0 (that’s 2 as in liters or 2,000cc) four cylinder, we spent the summer using every one of those 225 ponies to strike fear into the hearts of doubters, one lap at a time. (You can read that review here.)
So you can imagine our curiosity when we learned Polaris was offering a new take on the performance RZR segment, one that, though mostly similar, would take a different approach to making power. Rather than a behemoth of an engine, they would implement a smaller DOHC 925cc twin-cylinder that just so happens to be turbocharged. This configuration would be good for 181 horsepower. All of this leads us to the 2024 RZR Turbo R 4 Ultimate being reviewed here. From an exterior perspective, it’s nearly impossible to tell that this isn’t in fact just another Pro R Ultimate in a fancy new color scheme (we know this because several onlookers commented such mistaken identity), but the real bones of this review centers on the performance side of things. We know the ProStar Fury 2.0 isn’t just a ride, it is an experience. Could half the engine and a 44 horsepower deficit compete with the crème de la crème of the RZR line? Let’s find out.
We took delivery of a brand new 2024 RZR Turbo R 4 Ultimate in Velocity Blue and spent a few months with it as spring turned into summer on the NY trail systems. A unit identical to ours could be had for $39,599.
Trail Life
In action the RZR Turbo R 4 feels like a lot of machine. We had that same sensation with the Pro R Ultimate but the difference there was a little throttle sent the back end dancing no matter which direction the vehicle was facing – even straight up toward the clouds. The Turbo R takes a different approach to its power delivery and, once we’d adjusted to it, we’d found it quite competent in a wide variety of conditions.
As expected, that 925 twin isn’t a firebreather off the line but is instead geared for punchy, low end response. If speed is your forte’, you can’t be shy with the throttle. Do keep in mind that the near-200 horsepower figure is achieved via a turbocharger. If that means nothing to you, turbos work by using hot exhaust gas to power a turbine that compresses air that is then forced into the engine intake. In other words, rather than engine aspiration being a result of only the vacuum created by the piston sailing down its bore, air is fed in under pressure to hurry the combustion process along. What this also means, however, is that it is a system that feeds off the engine’s own RPM. So until you get cranking, that turbo can’t do anything for you.
As such, the Turbo R really comes to life in the mid-range. It’s not the eye-watering, neck-straining pull of the Pro R but it’s still plenty capable. In fact, the sad reality of trail riding (which is where we did a majority of our testing) is such that you run out of territory right as the turbo really starts to shine. If you intend to use this machine on wide-open fireroads or desert/dune detail, you’re going to be very pleased with the power on tap here. Everyone else, while you certainly need space to get that turbo humming, Polaris has made sure a majority of those 181 horses are at your disposal down low to chug effortlessly through the technical stuff. The gearing here is actually a bit more versatile than even the potent Pro R as clawing for traction in the mud, slippery, rocky or rooty is very well suited to the Turbo R’s spread of power.
We started by saying the Turbo R feels like a lot of machine out on the trails and that feeling never dissipated over time. We encountered that with the Pro R as well but one way we got around it was to simply apply the go-juice and let those 225 horses on tap knock the machine into a controlled drift to change directions in tight territory. The Turbo R isn’t quite as flickable on account of that turbo boost not arriving till the mid end, so be prepared to have to stop and reverse to make really tight corners. However, if you can get used to keeping the machine moving in the middle of its powerband, expect an experience like no other. It’s remarkably quick while somehow remaining neutral-handling. There’s a lot of fun to be had here once the driver learns how best to tap into that 181 HP.
The suspension, like always with the Fox Live Valve setup, is magnificent. From square-edge bumps to downed limbs, rock gardens to steep climbs, this is a suspension package that swallows up everything thrown at it and always makes sure traction is optimal. It accomplishes this via an onboard computer that monitors each shock 200 times per second – it is constantly making adjustments faster than the blink of an eye. By the time you realize you entered a corner a little too hot and heavy, the Dynamix DV has already stiffened up the outside dampers while softening up the inside to make high-siding all but impossible. It’s a system that sounds neat on paper but experiencing it in action is quite remarkable. There comes an inevitable moment where every driver experiences something that makes them hold their breath in the big RZR only for the suspension to completely diffuse the terror and from that moment forward, learning to trust in the equipment is second nature.
Polaris takes suspension security a step further with a red panic button on the wheel for those situations where something (rain washout, hidden boulder) pops up unexpectedly. Pressing this maxes out the compression for a few moments so that bottoming out isn’t in the cards. In addition, there are Comfort, Race, Rock and Baja settings right on the dash to make certain your damping is set to make the most of your conditions.
Ride Command
We speak about Ride Command with every Polaris RZR review but to be honest, that feature alone could fill books. To say we love it is an understatement. In short this is your touchscreen command center, providing everything from GPS mapping of the terrain, communications with other RC-equipped machines, offers you manual control of that Dynamix suspension mentioned above, and even sends your tunes through the factory 400-watt Rockford Fosgate audio system.
It all works, is easy to use, touchscreen functions with gloves and frankly, when Polaris takes these things back we feel naked riding without it.
Interior
Again, the RZR Turbo R 4 Ultimate feels a lot like the Pro R inside. If this means nothing to you, think ample legroom in the front and rear, loads of seat adjustability and some wonderful stadium-style seating. We’ll admit that we took that last feature for granted during our time with the Pro R only to realize how much of an advantage it gives rear passengers while testing units without it like the General. There literally isn’t a bad seat in the house in the RZR.
Four half-doors keep the occupants safe from the environment without muting the off-roading experience and we’re big fans of the backward-opening rear door design. Another little detail we love about the RZR is that Polaris makes sure there are handholds for everyone on board. The driver has the wheel for support but everyone else, regardless of which seat they take, has a sturdy bar to hold onto. This is priceless during jumps and a feature we are amazed to find absent in many other brands’ sport SxS offerings.
All of the seats have 6-point harness belts that must be fastened when the seat is occupied to unlock the engine’s full performance. The rear-seat backs pull out with a single lever and the bottoms can be flipped forward to turn the entire back seat into additional storage.
Odds and Ends
Like with the Pro R, braking, chassis stiffness, fit and finish are all excellent. We did experience a little vagueness at the lever when putting the vehicle into gear, especially when pulling it all the way back to (H)igh – if the lever pull wasn’t deliberate enough to fully lock in, the transmission could slip out of gear while in motion with a cacophony of rattling.
High-assist electronic power steering is excellent, offering the perfect degree of intervention to keep the machine tracking straight in the rough without numbing terrain feedback everywhere else.
Rear visibility, however, is very limited. A lack of center mirror and a very wide rear end (with stadium seating inside) means even turning around for the driver offers very little indication as to what may be behind the RZR and how close. Yes there is a very useful backup camera but our advice to Polaris’ engineers would be to implement a software update down the road that allows for a picture in picture live feed from the camera at all times on the Ride Command’s display.
We often tested the machine with four adults in the cab and never felt a hint of objection from the engine. In fact, the vehicle is so well balanced that there is virtually no indication of whether you are driving solitary-style or packing every available inch of onboard room.
Conclusion
There are two ways to look at the RZR Turbo R 4. On the one hand it is an upper echelon sport SxS capable of doing just about anything you can throw at it, packed with useful features, amazing technologies and creature comforts (Polaris really goes the extra mile here). On the other, it’s the slightly smaller brother to the fire-breathing RZR Pro R. Such comparisons are fairly inevitable but the more time we spent with the Turbo R, the more we realized these comparisons aren’t necessarily a bad thing.
The Turbo is lighter by about 200 pounds, can carry roughly 300 additional pounds of payload, is over $5,000 cheaper and gets significantly greater fuel economy than the Pro R. But perhaps the biggest difference comes in the form of usability. The Pro R is the ultimate dune SxS – the desert with its power-sucking sand will always favor greater horsepower numbers. This is an inevitability. But the Turbo R makes the type of power that can be appreciated on the trails, in the mud, on the rocks and on the backroads. To our own surprise, we found it much more usable in a greater number of conditions. At the end of the day, we did a majority of our testing on the trails and came away beyond impressed with this SxS – it simply did everything we asked of it and did it well.
More Information
Specs
Engine: 4-stroke DOHC twin cylinder turbocharged
Displacement: 925cc
Starter: Electric
Fuel system: EFI
Fuel capacity: 13 gal.
Transmission: Automatic PVT
Final drive: Shaft
Suspension/wheel travel:
Front: Lightweight boxed Dual A-arm with 3-piece stabilizer bar and Fox 3.0 Live Valve X2 internal Bypass with electronically controlled compression and rebound/ 22.25”
Rear: Boxed trailing arm w/ toe link & high-clearance radius rods with Fox 3.0 Live Valve X2 internal Bypass with electronically controlled compression and rebound/ 22.4”
Brakes:
Front: Dual hydraulic discs w/ 3-bore calipers
Rear: Dual hydraulic discs w/ 2-bore calipers
Tires:
Front: 32×10-15 8-ply Maxxis Rampage Fury
Rear: 32×10-15 8-ply Maxxis Rampage Fury
Length/width/height: 157”/74”/77”
Ground clearance: 16”
Wheelbase: 125”
Dry weight: 2286 lb.
Payload capacity: 1160 lb.
Cargo bed capacity: 300 lb.