Can-Am Maverick Trail – First Ride

By Jon Crowley

I recently traveled to northern Utah with Can-Am to test the new 2018 Can-Am Maverick Trail.

Driving the new Can-Am Maverick Trail in Utah

The very first thing I noticed when I walked up to the new Can-Am Maverick Trail is the extended wheelbase and overall length.  At 90.6 inches, the wheelbase is almost 12-inches longer than a Polaris RZR 900 and the overall length is just over a foot longer.  Can-Am was able to use some of this extra room in the cockpit and that was very welcome for my 6′ 1″ frame.

2018 Can-Am Maverick Trail

In my opinion the extra wheelbase is the single biggest differentiator for the Maverick Trail over the RZR.  While a longer wheelbase not only makes for more legroom in the cab, it also makes for a smoother, more predictable ride in rough terrain.  The larger wheelbase does come at a price though – larger turning radius, larger vehicle and a smaller break-over angle.

These vehicles are all 50-inches wide, so figuring out what attributes are most important to you is key. For the terrain we explored near the Bear River Lodge where there were only a few vehicle width restrictions, I preferred the extra wheelbase.  But on pure 50-inch trails with tight turns and trees the extra length could make a difference. I don’t have turning radius specs to compare each vehicle head-to-head though.

It would be really enlightening to have multiple 50-inch models at a test like this where you could run each vehicle over the same section of trail to compare.

The Maverick Trail family consists of four models (Maverick Trail 800 / Maverick Trail DPS 800 / Maverick Trail 1000 / Maverick Trail DPS 1000). The vehicles are available in four color schemes The Can-Am Maverick Trail family of side-by-side vehicles comes well equipped (starting at $10,999 USD / $13,299 CAD) from the factory, but with more than 100 Can-Am accessories, owners can customize it to match their personality and needs.

Can-Am Maverick Trail Specifications