SuperATV’s custom RS1 is perhaps our most ambitious build yet. The RS1 is one of of the hottest new Polaris models to come out in a long time, and with 110 horsepower, a 1000cc engine, and a 64” width, it’s got all the features you love out of a standard RZR 1000. But it’s the single seat of the RS1 that really changes the game.
By putting you in the center of the machine, you get better sightlines of your surroundings and suspension so you can avoid obstacles, and you get a perfectly balanced machine. The RZR RS1 is nimble and responsive. In fact, it’s pretty stinking rad.
So, of course, we decided to chop it in half.
How did SuperATV keep this machine uniquely RS1 while enhancing it to have features like its bigger brothers?
The challenge for this custom build was not to turn the RS1 into some monster machine that you might see crushing cars at the fairgrounds, but to play into the RS1’s unique strengths while eliminating its weaknesses. We wanted to preserve strengths like the RS1’s perfect driver sightlines and its precise left-right balance. The weaknesses we endeavored to eliminate were the short wheel base that makes it flighty on hill climbs and the fact that riding by yourself sucks.
We added a seat which means you don’t have to ride alone, and the fighter-pilot style means you get to keep the balance and visibility that connects the driver with the machine. We also increased the wheel base from 83” to 114”—a full 2 feet longer than the RZR XP 1000 and only 3 inches shorter than a 4-seater. Talk about more stable on tricky inclines and challenging terrain. It sounds simple, but it was a challenge.
Let’s take a look at what it took to turn the RS1 into the R2S2.
The first step in the building process was to tear it down. You can’t make anything new without tearing it apart first. In order to build it back up again, we started by removing all the plastic bodywork from the midsection of the machine. The door had to go as did all the paneling on the right side. The OE prop shaft had to go as well. We reduced the cab down to the frame and wiring only.
Before we could cut the whole machine in half, it was imperative for us to splice in some extra lengths of wiring—about an extra seat’s length to be precise.
Once we had all the necessary wire lengths installed, it was time to cut the whole machine right in half. We picked a spot that would be easy and convenient for what we needed to do next. Cutting right between the gear shifter and the seat gave us the fewest vital components to consider when we would eventually put it back together. The mounting points for the gas tank and the OEM seat were unaltered. Likewise, the plastic for the accessory switches and the shifter was cut just behind the shifter to keep the console slick and usable. We just had to disconnect the shifter cable.
We didn’t have to worry much about where the welds on the cage would end up since we would end up covering them all anyway. But we’re not there yet.
At this point the only thing holding the RS1 together is the wire bundle… and a few ratchet straps for safety.
Step one of turning these two RS1/2s into an R2S2 was to weld in the frame extensions. We started by welding these extensions into the stock frame locations on the lower half only. Welding in these segments made it rigid enough to work on but it was a far cry from being drivable. The build would need some serious cage work to beef it up and make it look good. Not to mention we would have to do some work to get two doors on the vehicle.
Before we could worry too much about the superstructure of this build, we had to make sure its internals could go the extra distance. So let’s take a look at those stock parts: Shifter cable? Too short. Prop shaft? Too short. Brake lines? Actually, those were long enough. We just had to tug on them a little bit.
Getting a longer shifter cable was just a matter of ordering it. We could have settled for welding in some extra tubing for the prop shaft as well, but we wanted this thing to be awesome in every way we could. That’s why we took one of our SuperATV Rhino Driveline Bounty Series Prop Shafts and customized it to fit the bill. Then we threw one of our self-aligning carrier bearings on there for good measure.
At this point we could start working on getting the cage up to snuff. We added crossbars to the extensions and started working on a brand new upper cage. We threw the stock cage in the scrap pile and got to work. We put it together one piece at a time matching the OEM bends. We added support bars in the center to beef it up and to serve as a mounting point for the two doors we still needed to add.
At the same time, we welded in an OEM seat mounting frame. That gave us a good idea of where we needed to place the crossbar that goes behind the driver’s seat. That crossbar gave us something to mount our harnesses to and gave the rear passenger something to grab onto.
Now we had a working machine that you could sit in and drive, but it was far from finished. We had to finish off those doors and put some new panels on to cover up the bones of the machine. At this point in the build, the driver could still lose a foot through the missing floor panel. That wasn’t gonna fly.
We cut and bent some sheet metal panels to cover the entire doorless right side. Then we did the same for our doors on the left side.
The build is complete! But it’s still a little ugly, so we tore the cage down and sent it to powder coat to give it a nice UV protected black finish. We couldn’t leave the rear suspension stock, so we installed our radius arms and trailing arms. To handle a little extra bump, we installed Rhino 2.0 Axles all the way around. For protection we made one-off front and rear bumpers, and nerf bars that won’t fit anything except the R2S2.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a SuperATV build without a one-of-a-kind wrap as well.
We designed our wrap in-house to give the R2S2 the sleek, stunning, futuristic look we wanted. It gives the machine that aggressive, modern look that separates it even further from a run-of-the-mill RS1.
Complete, in all its glory. This high-performance build is ready to take pilot and bomber down any trail or trench in the galaxy.
4 Comments
for sale?
Hey Dylan, thanks for tuning in! Yes, R2S2 is for sale if you are interested. You can shoot us an email at cjackson@superatv.com for more details.
How much would this cost to buy?
Hey Michael, thanks for reaching out! If you’re interested in this build, shoot an email to cjackson@superatv.com and we can get you more information. Thanks!