Can-Am Goes After A Piece Of The Utility Side-by-Side Market With Its New Defender
Our experience to the new 2016 Can-Am Defender this weekend was enlightening and encouraging for the industry, the utility segment and, of course, the consumer. We are a proponent of competition and believe that Can-Am may have raised that bar in the work/utility segment.
The trails and facility at Harpole’s Heartland Lodge complex near Nebo, IL, were the proving grounds for us to test and confirm that the Defender HD10 (1000cc) and HD8 (800cc) do sport ample capabilities to provide recreational traits along with serious working attributes in an attractive package.
We tested cargo load and towing capacities to confirm the corporate “hype” for power and torque, not to mention several miles of some tight wooded trails that a hard core hunter might encounter. The Defender generally met and exceeded most all of our expectations.
We came away from our nearly two days of riding the Defender thinking—and yes, this sounds obvious but it became more apparent the longer we rode the vehicle—it was a lot of little things that make the Defender what it is and a contender in a highly competitive side-by-segment.
We didn’t like absolutely everything about the vehicle but there are far more things we do like about the Defender than we don’t. Look for those “things” in an upcoming issue of Dirt Toys Magazine.
