Review from a couple of rides in the Rockies

johndeerefarmer

Well-known member
Jun 16, 2023
310
277
Texas
Took the Xpedition up a couple rocky trails in Colorado a couple weeks ago. We have been up these trails dozen's of times with the XP Turbo, the Turbo R, the General and now the XP5.
We tied a kayak on top and grabbed our fishing gear and headed out. On the first trail we were getting bounced around like crazy. We weren't sure if the trail had washed out and got even more rocky or if the kayak on top was the problem. We were about to decide that we should have keep the General (it did have Fox RC2 shocks and ST springs on it) but the ride was so rough that by the time we got to the top and back down we were wore out.
So back to the story........... After stopping and fishing kayaking and having lunch I decided to let another couple lbs out of the tires. Come to find out the tires had 20 psi in them ! I had put 20psi in them back in April when we were at the vacation home. We leave the XP5 there and if they slowed leaked we didn't want a ruined tire. So I aired them down to 9 psi and it rode great on the way back down. The next day we hit an even rockier trail and it rode and handled well.
At about 11,500 feet we had to turn back- actually back down the trail about 400' to turn around as the trail had too much snow on it. One downfall of the seat risers and the Polaris mirrors is your view in the mirrors isn't as good as it could be because the mirrors aren't adjustable to compensate for sitting higher in the seat.
Comparing the machines on ride quality I would rate them top to bottom:
XP Turbo
XP5 and Turbo R would tie for second
General with RC2's and ST springs in last place.
The XP Turbo had Fox Podiums with 16 clicks and I kept them on about 3 or 4. It rode like a pillow. Turbo R rides good but the Dynamix DV doesn't seem to have the range of adjustment like the XPT did. The longer wheelbase and rifle bore bypass shocks on the XP5 give it about the same ride quality. We are very pleased with how it rode.
At about 10,000 ft we got the o2 sensor out of range error again. As far as I can tell it doesn't cut power because of it. Even with all of the insulation I have added to the cab we did turn the AC on a few time and it was in the upper 60's outside. Those steep long climbs get the engine warm and you can still feel some of that heat in the cab.
The power windows on the XP5 are great compared to the cab on the General. It had those stupid windows that folded and you didn't get good air nor were you able to take good pixs. We typically leave the windows down so we can take pixs and feel the mountain breeze but also run the AC to cool us and the dogs a little.
Finally, I will say that after riding the brakes down both of those mountain trails they seem to be a little better. We had about 350 miles on it before we started

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