Post-San Felipe Update With Robby Gordon and Speed UTV

The Speed UTV team spent nearly two weeks testing near the Sea of Cortez in Baja Mexico, concentrating much of their time on the Baja 250 race course. If you’ve ever had the opportunity to ride or race the area, you know that whoops in San Felipe are punishing. When Gordon claims the whoops found here are 2 feet tall, he’s not exaggerating. The Baja 250 is one rough course, and the perfect place to test an open class side-by-side that looks to up the bar in every pure-sport-specific category.

Between Arizona and Baja, the Speed team has racked up more than 1,250 miles on El Jefe, which Gordon claims is typically what the average side-by-side owner puts on a machine in one season. Gordon claims satisfaction with the new Speed shocks, especially in the whoops. He says the new aluminum shock bodies and reservoirs do a fantastic job of dissipating heat and resisting shock fade. We also get a look at more “production parts,” such as the hydraulic power steering system, air intake, and the CVT cooling plumbing.

It seems that much work is also being completed at the new Speed factory in Arizona. We get a good look at a production chassis, complete with all of the tabs and fittings that will house stock and custom-ordered components. Gordon says the El Jefe will pass through 44 different robot welding stations during its trip down the assembly line.

So when will we see preorders filled and new Speed UTVs in dealerships? We don’t yet have an answer. It seems that significant progress is made with each weekly presentation, but from all we’ve seen so far, the frustration is going to be worth the wait.