The Renegade XRS we knew is now a thing of the past. Today, BRP’s racing beast is completely new, with a fourth generation REV chassis, 850 E-TEC direct injection engine and much more! 2018 Ski-Doo Renegade X-RS 850 E-TEC. We asked for it last year, well we got it for the new season! Our test model is equipped with Pilots TS skis with adjustable heddles and the Quick Adjust system, which allows for quick adjustment of the rear torsion spring preload and rear shock compression adjustment.
Gen4 chassis
Introduced last year, it was unanimously approved in the Adrenalin and X versions. This chassis is much better balanced, the engineers have succeeded in centralizing the masses, both front to back and left to right. Ergonomics have also been improved to make it easier for the rider to move around on the machine. The Ergo-Step panels facilitate an aggressive forward position of the rider, and the open footrests on each side allow the rider to swivel his foot outwards without taking it out of its place. Combined with the open footpegs, there’s a superior foot hold in the footwell for confident counterbalancing. As for our XRS version, it has two special components of its own, the steering column position is slightly further forward than on the other models, to facilitate standing and aggressive cornering, and the running boards are flatter, wider and thicker (3 mm vs. 1.8 mm) and reinforced at the front and rear to absorb hard landings.
850 Engine
Although it is only one season old, everyone agrees that so far it is delivering the goods… The feeling of being directly connected to the ground makes sense with the 850 E-TEC. Without going into the details of the 850, it’s important to remember that its design is completely unique for a two-stroke, with a crankshaft and connecting rod connection principle that comes from four-stroke technology, with bolts and ball bearings that have their own lubrication system; a steel piston ring support, which comes from diesel technology a two-piece crankshaft instead of the traditional three; direct injection with on-demand booster injectors located in the intake manifolds, which are very short to improve response time; 30% improvement in response and better precision in the electronic exhaust valves.
Suspension
Up front, we find the RAS 3 introduced last year, with suspension struts extended by an inch, and lighter than the RAS 2 by 0.7 pounds. In addition, our XRS model has a rack and pinion steering system that reduces the variation in ski parallelism throughout its travel. To manage bump absorption, BRP went with an interesting change in 2018: we use KYB Pro 36 shocks instead of the Pro 40 in previous years. For extreme trail use and to maintain a higher level of comfort, the Pro 36s offer a better range of use for the trail, giving less kickback in the handlebar when going over medium and small bumps.
At the rear, we find the rMotion in a 137-inch version with the Quick Adjust option. Recognized for many years, the rMotion is one of the most progressive suspensions in the industry, which allows for a good comfort zone without losing efficiency in the big bumps. The torsion spring preload adjustment with the Quick Adjust allows for a 40% wider range than the conventional version, and is much easier to use.
On the track
The 2018 Renegade XRS literally soaks up bumps, upgrading to the Pro 36 version of the KYBs up front makes this a nicer, more comfortable snowmobile on the trail while still being capable of all terrain and bumps in aggressive riding. At higher speeds in the 8-10 inch “washboard” this snowmobile is a marvel, no handlebar kickback, and the rMotion finishes the job with impressive stability…
Ergonomics are without reproach. In normal driving, the knees are well positioned and the space for the feet is adequate. The steering wheel can be quickly adjusted to 4 positions, so you can easily find the desired driving comfort. All control buttons are easy to reach and large enough to use with gloves.
Two other strong points of the car are definitely the throttle response and the power of the 850 E-TEC. The calibration of the engine, exhaust valves and pDrive is almost perfect. As soon as you touch the throttle, the snowmobile moves forward with such ease that it feels like it’s on wheels… At all times, no matter what the engine revolution, the response is instantaneous, the RPM instantly approaches the maximum and reaches it a fraction of a second later. The 165 horsepower is flawless, the acceleration is impressive, even at very high speeds.
With the manufacturer’s adjustments, the Renegade XRS allows a lot of weight transfer and consequently, offers little grip on the ground. During our test, the snow was not very grippy, soft and did not offer much traction, so we had to be careful in the curves, we observed a lot of understeer. After some adjustments to the rMotion transfer blocks and the Pilote TS skis, we managed to improve the behavior a lot. More tests are to be done on this side.
The Renegade XRS is definitely a pleasant and enjoyable snowmobile to ride. You quickly get a kick out of the throttle on every bump. As soon as you hit an ungroomed trail, you feel the same urge to accelerate with a big smile on your face…although you have to be careful, but that’s another issue! Although we didn’t test the fuel consumption, the 850 is very fuel-efficient and easily comparable to the 800 E-TEC in this respect.
Thanks to the manufacturer BRP who made this test possible!
