Jeff Griggs's 2018 Polaris RZR Turbo
Jan. 29, 2019
UTVUG Staff
Jeff sent us some pictures of his freshly built 2018 Polaris RZR Turbo that got our attention, so we had to get some more details about Jeff's build. Enjoy a brief interview with a member of the UTVUnderground.com community.
Can you tell us a little more about your UTV?
It is a 2018 Polaris RZR XP 4 Turbo. Bought new 5 months ago and currently have logged more hours in doing mods than riding it.
Where are you from? How long have you been into side by sides? What Side by Side did you start with?
I live in Nashville, TN. But moved from the Georgia Florida line 21 years ago. I grew up riding dirtbikes nearly everyday in Georgia but lost interest when I moved to Tennessee.
Six years ago when I married my wife Kelly we both caught a flight to Los Angeles, CA to start our honeymoon adventure. We rented an RV motorhome and headed north on highway 1 with several planed activities. One being renting a RZR 800 and camping in the desert for a few nights. I had never drove a UTV before and looking back now I laughingly cannot believe that RZR 800 was able to handle what we put it through. It was so much fun I didn't even mind digging it out by hand when we buried it in sand all the way to the bed after stopping on the face of a small dune so my wife could take a picture. After this we both got the bug and decided we had to have one. Two years later we purchased a 2015 XP 4 1000. This was very surprising power compared to that RZR 800. It kept me happy for a good 2 years before it left more to be desired horsepower wise. After researching turbo kits and pricing out all the engine internals I'd have to replace I decided the best way to go is to just buy the Turbo model. I waited for a good deal to come up and purchased a brand new 2018 stock XP 4 Turbo.Why did you choose the RZR instead of any other brands out there?
The first purchase I went with Polaris solely based on my experience driving that RZR 800 in the desert. The second time around the Can-Am Maverick X3 turbo really had my eye but the price for them was just out of my range. [gallery ids="65874,65881,65880"]What type of off-roading do you do?
Any kind I can but really enjoy high speed open dry terrain, and throw in some jumps too. In Tennessee that is not always a option. Myself, wife, and 5 year old son plan to go to Glamis dunes this October. Just counting the days!!What was your biggest challenge building the car?
I wanted to keep the SATV long travel kit I had installed on my 2015 XP 4 1000. Trying to move the stock parts from a 2018 Turbo to a 2015 1000 to get the long travel kit off the 2015 and on the 2018 sounded easier than it was. A few parts would not swap over to the 2015 and the long travel kit needed to be modified to fit the 2018 Turbo. Though it was a time consuming pain in the *** I'm glad I did it. The kit is chromoly, very solid and the quality is a 10 out of 10. Also getting the ideal spring rates for front and rear as I did not want an already put together kit, I want to know what my rates are and not a mystery box of springs. Using Eibach performance line springs ended up going 400 bottom and 350 top with a crossover nut set to go full 400lbs per inch for the last 1.75" to prevent bottoming out on the front. In the rear I wanted to keep it plush to prevent the rear from kicking up off the edge of a jump our through whoops so 350 on the bottom with a 10" 150 on the top worked great.
What was your favorite upgrade?
Most likely the cage. Rick at Sandworks Offroad in Kaysville, UT is a great guy to do business with and the cage is built like a tank. It's bracing , combined with the best welds I have ever seen and low profile height looks like a piece of art. Its something I feel very safe with my family in now. It also really reduced frame flex and no longer hear the noises of creaks and pops going over uneven terrain. Another small one is the B&M lever grab gated sifter with hill killer plate. Though aimed at hill/rock crawler crowds this really takes away all shifting RZR shifting problems, searching for reverse, thinking you are all the way in park on an incline, etc.Tell us a little bit more about your performance stuff. Did you tune and build it yourself?
Performance wise in horsepower only mods is a tune from Alba Racing and a SLP (Starting Line Performance) catless slip-on exhaust. There are alot of tuning companies available but I will always choose Alba Racing. They are not just trying to make numbers on the dyno but put a lot of time in their tunes for reliability and performance. I did install a boost and wideband AFR gauge by ProSport before the tune to see what stock was compared to after. Alba took the RZR from a little over 14 PSI to 17.5 PSI and maintained optimal air fuel ratio. Wow what a difference from stock. I was expecting some improvement and have to say it really surprised me. I did replace the stock plastic diverter valve with a billet vent to atmosphere BOV from Agency Power. Sounds great paired up with the low note of the SLP slip-on. Everything was installed by myself and sometimes with the help of some friends and beers.Any brands or sponsors you want to thank for helping you out?
- Alba Racing - I must have called them weekly with questions
- SuperATV helped me in prices and parts when transferring the LT kit off my 2015 1000 to this 2018 Turbo
- Sandworks gave me an amazing deal on a perfect cage
- Mostly my wife for putting up with me spending late hours in my shop wrenching away and denting our bank account