My first review

We got our XP5 Northstar on Friday. Took it out Saturday for a ride. 105+ degrees and four adults. Went about 20 miles at around 40 mph.
First, yes it's noisy...... About like my Turbo R before I did the sound deadening on it.. I had ear plugs on in the Turbo but after I installed the sound deadening I no longer wear them unless I am running high speeds. Hopefully the Xpedition has a similar reduction.
In the front seat the AC was tolerable. I was getting 58-60 out of the vents. We were comfortable but not cold. Back seat wasn't comfortable at all. As a matter of fact it was burning my GF's back so she had to sit in the edge of the seat. The rear passengers also said the sound was awful back there. When we got back to the house I took my IR gun and found that inside the cab on the back wall it was 125 degrees where her back was (this is the passenger side by the exhaust). I will be putting Thermotec 13590 on the back side of the rear firewall and Siless Liner (4 mm) Car Sound Deadening Closed Cell Foam & Heat Barrier on the inside behind the seat.
The fit and finish inside and out are good other than the weather stripping was already falling off the top of the passenger door and the rear roof panel has a bad bow in it..

The next day I put my 32" Tusk Terrabites on it and disconnected the front sway bar. With 5+2 beadlocks we are now 68" wide. I also set the shocks on the softest position.

We took a ride across the farm. My GF and I took the Xpedition and stepdaughter and BF took his Defender. It was 105 again and once again tolerable in the front seat. The Defender has $800 worth of ceramic coating and he said AC was just tolerable as well. Since the windows come with a slight tint from the factory I am not tinting mine now. I will insulate the tunnel and back wall first to eliminate some of that heat as well as get sound reduction.
I didn't detect any reduction in power with the 32's. As a matter of fact in sports mode it's quite peppy.. We went through several creek crossings and over a dozen terraces. We drove through several ditches. Got up to speeds around 30 mph. It rode very well through everything. It did lean a little in a few places. I may need to put the shocks back onto the middle setting. I don't want to put the sway bar back as I need that articulation on the rocks in Colorado. It has enough power that we rode in high gear alot of the time which of course helps with the noise level (we do the same with the Turbo R)
The skidplate is 1/4" plastic not even UHMW that I can tell, so that will need to be replaced very soon.

The Defender is WAY quieter but not as nice inside and seats are more upright like a Ranger.

Second review will come later..

Great info.

Excellent review!

On the heat issues, I pulled down the skid plates on mine to install the turn signal kit and the area in front of the motor is wide open. In fact it looks like the easiest route for the air from the clutch vent is across the exhaust manifold and then forward to the back cab wall and then under the floor.
Despite putting insulation and heat shielding in the front tunnel it’s still been warmer inside the cabin than outside. (Non Northstar)

My project today is I bought some poly fill and I’ll be stuffing the undercarriage with it. I’ll probably need to line the back wall like you said as well.

JTBarlow said:

Excellent review!

On the heat issues, I pulled down the skid plates on mine to install the turn signal kit and the area in front of the motor is wide open. In fact it looks like the easiest route for the air from the clutch vent is across the exhaust manifold and then forward to the back cab wall and then under the floor.
Despite putting insulation and heat shielding in the front tunnel it’s still been warmer inside the cabin than outside. (Non Northstar)

My project today is I bought some poly fill and I’ll be stuffing the undercarriage with it. I’ll probably need to line the back wall like you said as well.

Click to expand...

What will water do to the poly fill? We cross quite a few streams in Colorado.

Thank you for the thorough and honest review! It's interesting that Polaris didn't insulate the cabin from the engine bay better. I assume that's going to be something they will address very soon after reading all these reviews.

johndeerefarmer said:

What will water do to the poly fill? We cross quite a few streams in Colorado.

Click to expand...

While it’ll slow down draining from the cab a little, depending on how tightly you pack it, it doesn’t absorb water like fiberglass insulation or foam. I tested a bit of it by submerging some in a bucket of water and it doesn’t collapse and become dense like fiberglass. Also it’s somewhat fire resistant.
It took about two 50oz bags.

UPDATE on our XP5 heat and sound issues: I insulated the firewall with Thermo-Tec 13590 on the outside towards the engine bay. I removed the seat back from the rear seat and the thin pad that Polaris put there and installed Siless 4mm liner. Then reinstalled the Polaris liner. We took it for another test drive at 102 degrees. AC is still the same. I am going to check the freon tomorrow if my gauges will fit (I assume it's regular automotive fittings) and I have the correct type of freon. The heat from the back wall is better. Now it only shows 100 degrees so those two layers that I added dropped it 25 degrees. I might add another layer of Siless on those areas that are really hot. As far as noise goes it's definitely better. At up to 40 mph (6k rpm) it's tolerable. Get it to 7k rpm and it's annoying loud. The sound is definitely coming from the engine not the intakes. GF sit in the back and the sound was from directly behind her.
I felt of the tunnel and it's warm so when I remove it to check the hoop over the driveshaft I am going to wrap the coolant lines and line the tunnel like I did my Turbo R.
If you are on the fence about spending the time to do this I say it's worth it. Probably still not as quiet as the General was but better.

That’s a lot of work that a customer shouldn’t need to do. Nice job though.

About the a/c you better check the type before you put gauges in it. Unless you know what you’re doing I’d strongly discourage you from doing it. I’ll guarantee you don’t have that gas. It’s a automotive gas that I don’t even have. It’s not 134a, I own and operate a hvac company. And have for 28 years.

Clayton said:

That’s a lot of work that a customer shouldn’t need to do. Nice job though.

About the a/c you better check the type before you put gauges in it. Unless you know what you’re doing I’d strongly discourage you from doing it. I’ll guarantee you don’t have that gas. It’s a automotive gas that I don’t even have. It’s not 134a, I own and operate a hvac company. And have for 28 years.

Click to expand...

I have R12, R22 and R134a and gauges for home and auto
Been recharging my home, vehicles and farm equipment for 25 years. Just gotta see what freon it takes

I’m guessing 1234yf. Let me know I’m curious.

They said it was slightly low of freon. Service guy said it was sitting outside running and showing 50 degrees on his thermometer in the vent (outside temp was 100+) He didn't know what freon it took just that the tech used a $11000 Snap On machine to service it.
Got it home and let it set on the trailer about three hours. Unloaded it late that afternoon outside temp of 105. Let is run with the windows down for 5 minutes then closed them and let it run with the AC wide open while I put the truck and trailer up. Took another ride in it at 40 mph. Cab never did cool off. From already being hot from being outside for three hours, and from the heat of the tunnel I was actually sweating this time. Got back home and check temps with my IR gun. Inside the cupholders was 116 degrees. The whole tunnel was radiating heat as was the front floor board with temps measured as high as 125 degrees.
Now when we test drove it the day before it had been sitting in my shop at 80-82 degrees vs sitting in the sun for three hours so that made a difference.
From what I see you are going to have to let it idle for at least a half an hour before getting in it and expecting to be halfway cool.
So the problems are as I see it: the heat from the tunnel and front floorboard overwhelm the AC, then add a hot black interior, asphalt road of probably 130 degrees and a fan blower that doesn't blow hard enough.
Hopefully driving slower on some trails and longer trail rides will give it a chance to cool off. Yesterday's test was only around 15-20 minutes.
I will be taking the tunnel apart and insulating the coolant lines with pipe insulation like I did my Turbo R and cover the inside walls of the tunnel with Siless foam

The coolant lines run about 4”-6” to the side of the tunnel under the passenger side floorboard. They have plastic support plates and are fairly close to the floor panels making it pretty much impossible to use pipe wrap insulation. The easiest way to do the insulation for me was to drop the 2 front skid plates and stuff Poly-fil around the lines. I also stuffed all the open areas under the machine with it too. Even after foam lining the tunnel I was getting some hot air coming up through the shifter so I pulled the console area apart and stuffed Poly-Fil up around the shifter and cup holders and then filled the area under the fuses and around the console box. Haven’t had a chance to go ride and test whether it helped with the heat but that definitely dampened the noise a little.

JTBarlow said:

The coolant lines run about 4”-6” to the side of the tunnel under the passenger side floorboard. They have plastic support plates and are fairly close to the floor panels making it pretty much impossible to use pipe wrap insulation. The easiest way to do the insulation for me was to drop the 2 front skid plates and stuff Poly-fil around the lines. I also stuffed all the open areas under the machine with it too. Even after foam lining the tunnel I was getting some hot air coming up through the shifter so I pulled the console area apart and stuffed Poly-Fil up around the shifter and cup holders and then filled the area under the fuses and around the console box. Haven’t had a chance to go ride and test whether it helped with the heat but that definitely dampened the noise a little.

Click to expand...

Thanks. My Turbo R had both plastic and metal mounts for the coolant lines. I was able to get pipe wrap on most places. I covered the walls of the tunnel with Thermotec and you can now leave your drink in the cupholders and they don't get hot. I am going to tear into the Xpedition later today. I will update.

johndeerefarmer said:

UPDATE on our XP5 heat and sound issues: I insulated the firewall with Thermo-Tec 13590 on the outside towards the engine bay. I removed the seat back from the rear seat and the thin pad that Polaris put there and installed Siless 4mm liner. Then reinstalled the Polaris liner. We took it for another test drive at 102 degrees. AC is still the same. I am going to check the freon tomorrow if my gauges will fit (I assume it's regular automotive fittings) and I have the correct type of freon. The heat from the back wall is better. Now it only shows 100 degrees so those two layers that I added dropped it 25 degrees. I might add another layer of Siless on those areas that are really hot. As far as noise goes it's definitely better. At up to 40 mph (6k rpm) it's tolerable. Get it to 7k rpm and it's annoying loud. The sound is definitely coming from the engine not the intakes. GF sit in the back and the sound was from directly behind her.
I felt of the tunnel and it's warm so when I remove it to check the hoop over the driveshaft I am going to wrap the coolant lines and line the tunnel like I did my Turbo R.
If you are on the fence about spending the time to do this I say it's worth it. Probably still not as quiet as the General was but better.

Click to expand...

How difficult is it to remove the seat back in the Northstar?

WASdriver said:

How difficult is it to remove the seat back in the Northstar?

Click to expand...

2 bolts on each side. Easy