2017 Yamaha Wolverine R-Spec Review

Read our full review article here - www.atv.com/manufacturer/yamah...
If there is one thing that we have here in Georgia it is tight trails and some unmolested mountainsides to venture through. We found the Yamaha Wolverine is a great tool for doing just that. Over a period of four days we had the chance to get to know this 708cc single cylinder powered off road vehicle as it was meant to be used. Our testing grounds had seemingly just wide enough pine laden trails blazed throughout steep hills and rocky terrain with a mix of light mud and downed trees to add some interesting riding.
If you own a Yamaha Wolverine then you already know how nimble the 60.6-inch wide machine can be. But even with its narrow width the machine felt stable to us in many situations where other UTVs in its class might feel a bit tippy. Tucked down into the cab inside the high back semi-bolstered seating it is comfortable and the elements inside the cab gave us plenty of control within reach of the driver.
From time to time we would invite a passenger along and the passenger hand hold bar was a confidence booster for the times when our driving might not have been. You do feel cradled in the machine, which builds driver confidence as well. With a lower seating position, the 2017 Yamaha Wolverine R-Spec still provides great visibility over the sloped hood. You can easily see the driver-side wheels (front and rear) without much leaning out of the side.
One item in the cab that gets your attention during tight woods is the multi-position gear selector which, is a gate-style system and very easy to move between gears. There is ample room for footing in the floor area and as a larger rider we did feel it was comfortable even in the precarious off camber situations when our size 10.5 clogs were searching for placement.
Another simple yet sometimes overlooked feature that we fell in love with is the parking brake. It is a wet brake meaning that it is completely enclosed in the rear differential, free from any debris on the trail to restrict its operation. This gave us the confidence that it would work when we needed it. The handle moves very slightly back when applied and grabs hold of the Wolverine like a set of gator jaws.
Storage in the cab is also pretty good when you consider the size of the machine. The glove box, of course, is great for many items, but we found the center console to be our favorite - at least from the driver’s seat. It’s deep and partitioned in a way that I could drop my cell phone, car keys or snack in the front of the box and then a hat, spare gloves or small firearm in the rear. We like being able to find things when we need them and this makes it possible. From a service standpoint the air filter is right under the inner console, so when you get ready to clean or change this filter it’s a non-issue.
Some of the things we also became even more familiar with were the front and rear of the Wolverine’s approach and departure angles, which allow you to crawl over rocks and up or down steep banks. You can explore uneven terrain and still not tear the framework off the belly in the process. There are even small tubular flares at the front of the rear wheels to keep the rear tires from taking on impacts and they help gently guide the rear wheels around tighter trees. During our testing it was evident that the chassis was slim and although we tried to avoid contact with the exo-skeletal framework it was refreshing to find that we would not tear the plastics off the machine when we did get into those situations.
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[@garyroberts7257]

For the money u can't beat em no they aren't power houses but that's not what they were designed to b ours was put in many positions and always had power to spare and on top of that some will argue of course but Yamaha is pretty well drop dead reliable and the ultramatic drive is amazing as it has always been

[@1kukini]

Gary Roberts I agree Gary, I’ve put over 4000 miles on mine this year and I couldn’t have asked for a better SxS.

[@garyroberts7257]

tim maddocks we traded ours off for a yxz SS wife wouldn't let me keep em both which I wasn't happy with

[@captinobvious3021]

We’re the fuel filter