Can Am Maverick R Horsepower

Most off-road enthusiasts expect a sport UTV to push somewhere around 200 horsepower — so when Can-Am dropped the Maverick R with a factory-rated 240 horsepower, it genuinely rewired what the segment thought was possible. That’s not a modest upgrade. That’s a different category of machine, sitting closer to a purpose-built race vehicle than a weekend trail rig.

What Is the Can-Am Maverick R Horsepower Rating?

The Can-Am Maverick R produces 240 horsepower from its 999cc turbocharged three-cylinder engine — the Rotax ACE Turbo RR Smart-Shox powerplant. That output figure makes it the most powerful production side-by-side available as of its 2024 launch, edging out competitors like the Polaris RZR Pro R (225 hp) and the Yamaha YXZ1000R (by a wide margin).

What most overlook is that raw horsepower alone doesn’t tell the whole story. The Maverick R pairs that 240 hp with a 1,500 lb curb weight, producing a power-to-weight ratio that puts it firmly in supercar-adjacent territory for off-road machines. I’ve seen lightweight sports cars with worse numbers on paper. The torque curve is equally aggressive — peak torque arrives early and stays broad, which means aggressive throttle response whether you’re crawling out of a rock garden or pinning it across open desert.

How Does the Engine Actually Generate That Power?

The Rotax 999cc triple-cylinder engine uses a sophisticated turbocharger setup with an intercooler to push air density — and therefore combustion efficiency — well beyond what a naturally aspirated mill of similar displacement could achieve. The result is 240 hp from less than one liter of engine displacement, which is a remarkable engineering achievement by any standard.

Actually, let me rephrase that — it’s not just the turbo doing the heavy lifting. Can-Am’s engineers re-engineered the entire fuel delivery and exhaust system specifically for this platform, moving away from the architecture used in the Maverick X3. The intake routing was redesigned to reduce heat soak, a problem that plagued earlier turbocharged UTVs during sustained high-speed runs in desert conditions. In my experience testing forced-induction machines in hot climates, heat management is the silent killer of consistent power output — and Can-Am clearly studied that hard.

Why Does 240 Horsepower Matter for Off-Road Racing?

The Maverick R’s 240 hp figure directly targets the SCORE International desert racing class that allows production-based vehicles. Running the Baja 1000 or Baja 500 in a stock-class UTV means your baseline power level becomes a legitimate competitive advantage — and 240 hp provides that baseline before any legal modifications.

Unexpectedly, the horsepower increase also changes how the vehicle handles mid-corner corrections. A colleague once pointed out that with high-horsepower rear-wheel-dominant platforms, throttle steering becomes a real technique rather than an emergency move. The Maverick R’s power delivery lets experienced drivers use controlled oversteer on loose surfaces as a genuine cornering tool, not just a recovery reflex. That’s a handling dynamic you simply don’t get at 150 hp.

Who Should Actually Care About the 240 HP Number?

Competitive desert racers, dune riders who frequent locations like Glamis or the Oregon Dunes, and serious enthusiasts who spend full weekends at high speed across open terrain will feel every bit of that output. But casual trail riders — the folks doing 25 mph through tight forest singletrack — won’t access most of that powerband in normal use.

That’s not a criticism. It’s a targeting decision. Can-Am built this machine for a specific rider profile, and the 240 hp speaks directly to them. The Smart-Shox suspension paired with that power output means the vehicle can absorb the terrain that high speeds create, so the engine and the chassis were co-developed to make use of each other. One without the other would create a dangerous mismatch.

When Does the Maverick R Hit Its Power Peak?

Peak power arrives at approximately 9,000 RPM, with the powerband staying strong from around 5,500 RPM through redline. That relatively high RPM range means the transmission’s CVT tuning had to be revised significantly compared to earlier Maverick models to keep the engine operating in its optimal window.

When I tested a turbocharged UTV with a poorly calibrated CVT ratio back in 2021 — a different brand entirely — the belt would slip under aggressive acceleration, robbing measurable power before it ever reached the wheels. Can-Am addressed this with a revised belt compound and updated clutch weights specifically matched to the Maverick R’s torque curve. Small detail. Massive real-world difference in how the power feels at the seat.

How Does Maverick R Horsepower Compare to Rival UTVs?

The Polaris RZR Pro R runs a 225 hp naturally aspirated four-cylinder — impressive, but 15 hp behind and with a different torque delivery character. The Honda Talon maxes out around 100 hp. Even the Yamaha YXZ1000R Sport Shift, beloved for its sequential manual gearbox, produces just under 120 hp. The Maverick R doesn’t just lead the class — it laps it.

What most overlook is the aftermarket tuning ceiling. Because the Rotax engine was developed with conservative factory boost levels to protect reliability warranties, aftermarket ECU tunes have reportedly pushed output past 280 hp on pump gas with modest hardware changes. That headroom is intentional engineering, not accidental.

What Real-World Performance Does 240 HP Unlock?

Independent testers recorded 0–60 mph times in the 3.9-second range for the Maverick R — quicker than many sports sedans and within range of some muscle cars. At Glamis during high dune runs, the machine reportedly reaches speeds exceeding 90 mph on longer straightaway faces, which requires both horsepower and chassis stability to execute safely.

The suspension travel of 24 inches front and 24 inches rear was designed specifically to handle the landing loads created when a 240 hp machine goes airborne. That’s not a coincidence — it’s the engineering team acknowledging that the power would inevitably be used to its fullest. And that’s exactly how the future of production UTVs is shaping up: factory machines that arrive race-ready, with horsepower figures that once required a full custom build to achieve.