This has been a big year for ARGO.
For starters, the Canadian company celebrated its 50th anniversary. That’s a long time to be in business—especially in the powersports industry, which can be unpredictable at times. In conjunction with celebrating 50 years of being in business, ARGO threw the wraps off its new line of Xplorer ATVs, which caught a lot of folks off guard.
With all that going on, it might be easy to overlook the company’s flagship XTV line of amphibious off-road vehicles. ARGO’s line of XTVs underwent some pretty big changes for model year 2018.
While the 2018 product offering is the largest in the company’s (ARGO’s parent company is Ontario Drive & Gear) 50 years of making off-road vehicles, ARGO president Brad Darling pointed out the company actually cut back on the XTV lineup. “We reduced the number of models to simplify things,” Darling said at the media intro in Minnesota this past summer.
ARGO’s trimming of its amphibious XTV lineup leaves 13 recreation and five commercial models for 2018. That includes six Frontier models, another six Avenger models and one Conquest model. Darling described the Frontier series as ARGO’s price point model (with MSRP ranging from $10,999-19,499). The Frontier is available in either six- or eight-wheel configurations. The Avenger series are eight-wheel models while the lone Conquest is the 8x8 Outfitter. The 8x8 simply means the vehicle has eight wheels. Thus, the six-wheel models are known as 6x6.
As mentioned, ARGO does offer a commercial line of amphibious vehicles, the Avenger and Conquest, but they are aimed at utility, oil and gas and mining companies.
Unsolicited Endorsement
Interestingly enough, on a recent airplane trip home to Idaho, we were reviewing our notes from our ARGO ride and had several documents out with the ARGO logo on it. The fellow next to us asked about the ARGO literature and then told us he uses one in the oilfields of North Dakota, half of the time on land and half in the water and told us how well it works in those conditions.
That was a pretty good unsolicited testimonial.
Indeed, the ARGO XTVs we drove were fun but we didn’t do anything that really even remotely resembled work. That doesn’t, however, mean we didn’t appreciate the vehicle’s features any less.
Each of the XTV recreational series models come with several new features for 2018. Near the top of that list is a reduced noise level. “One of the biggest complaints was noise,” Darling said of the amphibious vehicles. So for 2018, the XTVs are 9 dBA quieter, thanks to a new muffler on the Avenger and Conquest series.
Common features across the XTV recreational lineup include new black nickel hardware, new standard, premium and/or deluxe seats (depending on the model), and new paint schemes. Those include new black accent paint on the Frontier and Avenger Wilderness series, new Mossy Oak Break-Up Country Camo and new Mossy Oak Shadow Grass Blades Camo on all three series. The Frontier and Avenger series also offer an LE model.
Engines
The Frontier series comes with the Kohler Command Pro air-cooled engine while the Avenger and Conquest series feature the Kohler Aegis liquid-cooled V-twin engine. Horsepower output in the Frontier series is 23 (6x6 SE, 6x6 Scout S, 6x6 ST LE and 8x8 S) or 26 (8x8 Scout S and 8x8 S LE) while the Aegis engine offers up 30 hp. That doesn’t seem like much—especially when compared to today’s performance (or even rec/utility) side-by-sides or even ARGO’s own new ATVs—but it was plenty for riding through the woods and across the ponds and mud holes on the ERX Motor Park property in Elk River, MN. You aren’t going to set any land speed records—or on water speed records, either—in the XTVs but it seems adequate for what the vehicle is designed for.
As for water, the vehicles go about 3 mph—although the gauge may show higher due to wheel spin. Again, not very fast but it’s adequate for what the XTV is designed for.
The vehicles are rated for a different number of passengers on land and in the water. For example, the Frontier 6x6 Scout is rated to carry four passengers on land and two while the vehicle is in the water. Or the Avenger 8x8 Huntmaster is rated for six passengers on land and four in the water.
We rode a variety of XTV vehicles during our day at ERX and the vehicles definitely “carry” themselves a little differently in water. The handlebars are on the right hand side of the vehicle (as you’re sitting in it) and have a twist grip throttle (and hand brake). So as the vehicle slips into the water you will feel the vehicle lean to the side the driver is on, if you’re riding solo. If there are two in the front seats, the vehicle “leans” forward, because that’s where the weight is. We never felt like we were going to tip over in the water because it is a boat after all, with a high-density polyethylene all-terrain body, and is designed to float. When we were riding solo, we just slid a little toward the middle of the seat to provide better balance while in the water.
After our first couple of trips into the water, we could easily see why the vehicles are rated for fewer passengers in the water. And if some water did get inside the vehicle, many of the XTVs have a built-in bilge pump.
