I've owned a 2009 Renegade 800 for two years. Last year when the 2010s came out we bought another Renegade, an 800 X xc. This year I traded in the 2009 Renegade 800 for a Outlander 800 X xc. I went with the Outlander because of a lot of little things that made it seem like a better choice right now. 1. It was getting challenging to plan family trail rides that were short enough not to have to carry fuel with us. 2. I need to be able to carry tools for working on trails. 3. I must be getting old, because I thought I would appreciate better mud protection. 4. I liked the digital dash better on the Outlander. 5. I just wanted to reward Can-Am for coming out with a bad *** new model this year.

Here are our two Can Am's




I had the chance to take the ATVs up on the mountain for a 50 mile trail ride. We rode at the Duck Creek ATV Trail System, in southern Utah. The elevation is 9000 ft to 11000 ft, and the terrain is very rocky, with several sections of trail crossing a lava bed that is brutally rough. My two sons went with me, and my oldest son and I switched machines several times, giving both of us a chance to ride both the Outlander X xc and the Renegade X xc.

The two machines are similar, but have distinct differences. The Outlander's suspension is really stiff at low speed, and can beat you up if you want to cruise around slowly. Pick up the speed though, and it works like its supposed to. I would rate the two quads as such:

Slow speed ride quailty: winner = Renegade
High speed ride quality: winner = tie

Slow speed handling: winner = Outlander
High speed handling: winner = Renegade

Jumping: winner = Outlander

It surprised me that the Outlander had stiffer suspension than the Renegade. The Renegade X xc is Can Am's sport 4x4, while the Outlander X xc is Can Am's GNCC racer. And the Outlander X xc certainly has a race tuned suspension to go with its other upgrades. It works well at high speed over the rough stuff, but that is at speeds that 99% of trail riders that buy 4x4 ATVs will not see very often, if ever. The Outlander X xc can land a jump like a long travel trophy truck. Well, ... maybe not that good, but certainly better than any other utility ATV I've ever ridden, including ATVs with high dollar aftermarket suspension (Elka, Ohlins, Fox, King). There were several miles of trail today that had countless water dams built across the trail to drain water off the trail. Those water dams make perfect jumps, although they either have a big G-out in front of the jump, or a big dug out hole behind the jump, depending on which side of the Jump the bulldozer got the dirt from to make the water dam. It didn't matter which way you took the jump, with the G-out before the jump, or by clearing the hole after the jump, the Outlander X xc soaked up the landings extremely well. Even coming up short when jumping across the hole after a jump was no problem. I didn't feel the suspension bottom out once on the Outlander, and the frame only scrubbed the ground lightly one time. In contrast, the Renegade seems to blow through its suspension travel faster, and almost always scrubs its frame on the ground when landing a jump. Luckily, our Renegade has Ricochet skidplates on it.

I need to count how many clicks of compression damping each of our ATVs has the suspension set at. Maybe I can adjust our Outlander to make it absorb the low speed chop like our Renegade, and adjust the Renegade to make it soak up the big landings like our Outlander.

Can Am has another winner on their hands. The new Outlander 800 X xc is a great ATV. It has nearly the same feel as a Renegade 800 X xc, but still has racks, better mud protection, and a better digital dash.

DesertViper

 

awesome review, and good on you can-am for making a race ready 4x4... two of them!

 

Those are two very nice quads! My dad has on 06' outlander 800 and he loves it. Sadly we dont rider much anymore do to there isnt really anywhere around my area to ride. Anyways nice rides!

 

Ya, you have a couple of nice rides there...

 

There'd be a renegade sitting in my garage right now, if they were only about 4g cheaper, or used ones on the market lol, nice rides.

 

Thanks for the review, I was wondering how much different the Renegade is to the Outlander. I have 2 Outlanders and have enjoyed them to no end.

 

Isn't a Renegade a Outlander just with no racks ,smaller 25"tires and different plastic. They have the same motor,drive train,suspension,even gas tank it looks like.
2010 Can-Am Renegade™ 800R EFI ATVs

Id take a Outlander,cant imagine a 4x4 atv with no place to carry anything.

The little 55lb weight differance must be the the Outlanders bigger 26" wheels and two racks?

Take the racks off of a Outlander and put on smaller 25" tires and you pretty well have a Renegade,no?.

 

They are practically the exact same quad. I read about people buying Renegade plastics for there Outlanders without drilling any holes or anything the Gade plastics fit. But nice bikes tho

 

There are only small differences between these two XXc models. Notice in the pictures that the Outlander has steel a-arms and the Renegade has aluminum a-arms. There are other small differences as well, that add up to the Outlander weighing about 40 lbs more than the Renegade.

The regular version of the Outlander (non-XXc version) has more differences between it and the Renegade. The frame is a little different, and aftermarket skid plates that fit a Renegade will not fit an Outlander, and vice versa. The Outlander has single lever braking and the Renegade has separate front and rear braking. The Outlander has significantly different suspension, both in suspension travel and in suspension valving. The Outlander, in particular, has different rear trailing arms that are shorter and provide less suspension travel than the Renegade.

However, this particular Outlander (the XXc model) has the Renegade frame, Renegade trailing arms, Renegade XXc shocks, and Renegade brakes. It does have different a-arms (steel instead of aluminum) though.

 

What I don,t get is how a Renegade with smaller 25"wheels vs 26" Outlander wheels and no front or rear racks can have a higher M.S.R.P. than a Outlander. http://www.powersportsnetwork.com/en...2=138169&go=Go

The Outlander gives you more yet cost less?