Ever since the new Maverick R was announced, the internet was on fire with opinions on its new look and drivetrain, from those in-your-face upper control arms, to its immensely wide stance. Coming from the factory with an all new 240hp turbo charged triple cylinder motor with 99cc more displacement than its younger sibling, paired with a 7 speed dual clutch transmission feminist of the famous Porsche PDK system, the new UTV from our friends up north was a force to be reckoned with. Like many others, we just had to have one and see what the buzz was about.
We picked up our Maverick R from the world's largest powersports dealer, Bert's Mega Mall in July of 2024, just in time to start cracking away at our Sand Sports Super Show build coming in the following months. After driving and building a few of these for our customers, we knew what we wanted to do with ours in terms of power and aesthetics. In stock form these are obviously no slouch, rocketing you from a stand still as the DCT system clicks its way through all 7 gears. 100 mph across the sand dunes is something many have claimed the Maverick R was capable of, but in order to do that safely, we knew that a proper roll cage and harnesses were in order.
We threw the book at our Sand Sports Super Show build for 2024 and didn't hold back. We took the popular LSK Suspension "weld-it-yourself" cage kit and modified it to our liking, moving the roof bar back to help with upward vision when in the dunes. We bead-rolled and edge formed our own roof, and adored the back with an aluminum bezel to house the array of Baja Designs S2 lights we wired into the brakes and set up another pair to act as our chase lights. For forward lighting we got the popular Baja Designs LP4 on the a-pillars, providing more than enough lighting when paired with the factory headlights to get us back to camp even in the darkest of night rides.
The power is impressive, but we are gluttons for performance, so we called up Evolution Powersports and had our ECU unlocked to accept their Stage 3 pump gas tune, bringing this motor up to an impressive 270+ crank horsepower, and got their DCT tune to match the new found ponies. For the fun noise and turbo longevity, we also installed the boost tubes and blow off valve they had. For tunes in the back, we contacted Trinity Racing and installed their all new turbo back system. This system sounds just as good as it performs now, and Evolution Powersports seems to have made this show stopped also a performance monster.
The suspension design is what set this unit apart from the rest. While the upper control arms may look a bit out of place, we can confidently say that this Maverick R loves eating whoops at high speed. However, there is always room for improvement, so we installed the ZBroz Racing stage 1 springs and LSK Suspension high clearance lower control arms for some added confidence when testing the limits of this UTV.
Inside the Maverick R we went with our all time favorite seats, the Simpson Vortex 2, and got the new Simpson 5 point camlock harnesses to keep us planted in the event of a rollover. PCI radios and intercoms are the obvious choice for us, offering unparallel clarity and range, which is what is most important when choosing your intercom and radio.
Since we were building this for the Sand Show, we just had to get some flashy wheels on, so we called the Hostile crew and got the forged Rival wheels in the polished flavor, and wrapped them in 32" Sand Tires Unlimited Blackbirds in the rear and 32" Leed Screws up front. Not only do the Blackbird and Leed Screw combination offer phenomenal float, but they dig just enough to get you out of the hole and in front of the competition.
We had just enough time to make some great products for the new platform as well. We made an all new grill that will house a Baja Designs S8 10" bar, which provides a ton of lighting for such a small package. Backing up can be a pain in these newer cars, and with no way to signal others that you were now ready to move, we made a simple bolt on bracket system that houses a pair of Baja Designs s2 lights, which can be triggered via aftermarket wiring harness or manually controlled to signal those behind you. We sell these with clear lenses for back up lights, or amber lenses if you want to put them on a pulse switch and have chase lights down low.
Controlling all of our accessories is done via Auxbeam AR-800, which we also made an install kit to make the process even easier. It includes properly cut power and ground leads, a mount for the fuse panel and circuit breaker, as well as a bezel to house the switch panel itself right in arms reach.
Since we also frequent the rocks, we made boat side sliders with a large flat surface that doubles as a step. These work much like our popular RZR Pro sliders that key into factory frame slots with machined bungs to eliminate any slop or vibration once they start taking a beating.
To finish off our build, we had N-Lab Graphics wrap our new build in a dark purple theme similar to low riders, and had our powder coater hit every hard part with Disco Purple to really make it pop in the sunlight.
Check out our other blogs for reviews on products like tires, other UTVs, and performance parts!
