I’m about halfway through my second day of driving the Honda Talon 1000R-4 side-by-side when I see a log fallen across the forest trail at Mid-America Outdoors motorsports park in Jay, Oklahoma. The thought of lifting off the throttle crosses my mind for a brief second, but then I remember what I’m driving. I’ve got nearly 18 inches of suspension travel in the front and 20 in the rear, four-wheel drive and Fox shocks. I don’t have to lift for anything.
I keep my foot in it and hardly feel the log as we pop over it. What can’t this thing do?
Talon 1000X vs 1000R
Actually, there are a few elements where the Talon waivers, but let’s get into the nitty gritty first. The Honda Talon UTV is available in a few different configurations. The X series is for folks who want to play around a bit while the R series with its wider stance, longer wheelbase and more suspension travel and is geared towards performance driving. My R tester features the new four seat configuration, so bring the kids along – your family is going for a ride.
What sets the Talon apart from competitors like the Polaris RZR and the Can Am Maverick is its transmission. While other side-by-sides feature a belt-driven continuously variable transmission, the Talon goes with a six-speed dual-clutch transmission. This makes the Talon much more enjoyable to drive. It does great on its own, with Sport mode holding the gears longer, but I can also switch it to manual mode and use the column mounted paddle shifters. While a side-by-side is a good application for a CVT, allowing for easy hill climbs and smooth acceleration, I much prefer this DCT. I feel like I’m in total control of the vehicle.
I’m also a fan of the new power steering system in the Talon. It might be weighted a bit on the lighter side, but it returns to center quickly and has a quick ratio. The system also reduces bump steer while on rocky terrain. This is especially noticeable while driving up a rock-bottomed river. I can’t see what lies beneath the 12 inches or so of water, but not once is the steering wheel ripped out of my hands as I hit the unseen rocks. After a day of wheeling through said river and rock-strewn, rutted out forest roads I don’t feel like I’ve been in an all-day cage m atch with Andre the Giant. This thing is really easy to drive.
We clamber up and over hills, shifting from two-wheel to four-wheel drive on the fly. Most hills can be conquered in four-wheel drive high but I try low gear to get me down some of the steepest slopes. There aren’t any mechanical lockers here. Instead the rear gets a brake-based torque vectoring system and the front gets a limited-slip differential. It’s fine out here where the hills are rutted out with just a few rocks but I’d love to get the Talon into a rock crawling situation to see how it does.
Honda likes to tout the Fox live valve shocks on the Talon with Normal and Sport modes in both high and low gears. Sport can provide more stability at higher speeds and with heavier loads than normal but on these trails it’s tough to feel the difference through the old butt dyno as we aren’t really going too fast.
However, I get to ride right seat with pro driver Elliot Watson in a stock 1000R-4 on the short course at Mid-America and here the shocks really shine. We fly off jumps, sail through the air and land softly with no bottoming out or wheel scrub. Taking the turns at what feels like a million miles an hour always makes me feel like we’re a half a second away from rolling over, but the shocks can handle much more body roll than I think. It’s a blast, even from the passenger seat.
