How to describe this ATV? That is the question. Let me start by saying that I come from a dirt bike racing background, and spent more than a decade of my youth desert racing and motocross racing dirt bikes. When our son's grew old enough to start riding we decided to make the switch to ATVs, and have been ATVers for the last ten years. I have struggled to find an ATV that has the performance characteristics that I wanted, and I think I have tried most of them in the last decade. I've owned a dozen sport quads, and at least a dozen utility ATVs, and none of them were really what I was looking for. I started to think that the song by U2 "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" was a good description of my search for the perfect ATV. The person in the song had climbed mountains, crossed the sea, and done everything he could think of to find what he was looking for, and still hadn't found it. I tried every sport quad and sport utility quad that was worthwhile, and none of them were what I was looking for. I tried two Rhino side by sides, one of which has $10,000 worth of aftermarket suspension and other mods on it, and the side by sides certainly were not what I was looking for. WAY too slow, and there is something about being able to sit on the machine and RIDE it, as opposed to sitting in it and driving it, that is important to me. My Rhino just sold on ebay this morning, so it is out of the picture now. I even went back to dirt bikes, and after an almost 20 year absence from the sport I started desert racing again. I only signed up in the over 45 amature class, but I did manage to win three of the five races I entered. The dirt bikes had the performance I wanted, but the dirt bikes weren't what I was really looking for either. The old body just takes too long to recover from injuries, and even just from the abuse of what are very punishing endurance races.
Well, ... I have finally found what I was looking for. The Renegade 800 R has the all time best power, and the most power, of any ATV I've had the chance to ride. Most big bore 4x4 ATVs accelerate fairly good up to about 35 mph or so, and then start to fall off in acceleration. Not so with the Renegade; this thing rips, all the way up to and beyond 65 mph. It just keeps on accelerating harder and harder the faster you go. The engine is just marvelous. I love it. And there is plenty of power, even when riding at 11,000 ft elevation. The fuel injection and ignition map are perfect, with no stalling problem just off idle, and no mid-range miss like the Grizzly. Finally an ATV manufacturer that has the guts not to detune the crap out of an ATV engine, just to make it "safe" for ATV riders.
I've spent $2000 on Ohlins shocks for our Grizzly 700, and they made an incredible improvement to that ATV. The stock Renegade 800 R is better! It's not as plush at slow speeds over rocks, but the faster you go the better it gets. It is very easy to get to the point where you start to think that the kind of speed you are carrying, while racing across jagged rocks, tree roots, etc., just can't be good for the other components on the ATV, like tie rods, steering spindles, etc. Try that with a Rhino side by side, and you're going to break every part on that Rhino. Been there, done that. But the suspension on the Renegade just keeps getting better and better, the more you push it. The suspension is very impressive for a stock ATV.
Handling is better than any 4x4 ATV I've ever ridden. Its not even close; nothing else is even in the same league, let alone the same ballpark. This ATV feels like it has a very low center of gravity, and just does not feel tippy at any time (even when you've got a rear tire too high in the air). It carves corners and powerslides as good as some sport quads. It feels smaller and lighter than it is. It doesn't feel like it weighs more than a Grizzly, it feels smaller and lighter. And it is smaller, ... Our Renegade is 3" narrower than our Grizzly 700, and it is easier to ride on tight trails because of that. It surprises me that a narrower ATV feels so much more solidly planted, and so stable, but it does.
I don't know what else to say about this ATV. It is the best ATV for my type of riding that I have ever owned. Way to go Can Am.
