The 2023 Kawasaki KRX4 eS is at UTV Driver HQ! Check out our first look at the long-awaited four-seat, special-edition KRX.
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Check out full story here https://www.utvdriver.com/utv-news/kawasaki-krx4-es-2023/
For more stories, reviews, and first-looks check out https://www.utvdriver.com/
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SportsTranscript
00:00 Oh, that tuk-tuk! Look at that tuk-tuk!
00:04 Aaron, what do we have in the shop, bud? What is this?
00:12 This is our 2023 Kawasaki KRX 4ES. Yeah, 4ES.
00:20 What's the ES doing for?
00:29 E is for, it's got Fox Live Valve on it. That's right, it's got Fox Live Valve on it.
00:34 Which means, this is the Hi-Zoot Low Drag model.
00:38 It retails for $29.99 and I gotta say, I'm pretty impressed.
00:45 Yeah, we like it for $29,000. Yeah, we like it for $29,000.
00:49 I think that you get a lot of bang for your buck.
00:52 Those are suspenseful.
00:54 We like that.
00:55 LED's all around. That, I think, is part of the ES.
01:00 Yeah, so this is the special edition, so launch edition.
01:04 You get the Kex suspension, which is the adaptive Fox Live Valve stuff in Kawasaki speak.
01:11 You get the fancy lights. You get the Hi-Phonic stereo,
01:15 which I wouldn't exactly call Hi-Phonics, but hey, they did, so that works out.
01:20 I mean, as UTV stereos go, as stock UTV stereos go, the Hi-Phonics is everything you need.
01:27 I kind of always am a little skeptical when manufacturers put Bluetooth stereos in these things in the factory
01:34 because there are how many thousand options in the aftermarket
01:38 and how many people do you see driving around on the trail with a stereo of their own choosing, a Rockford Fosgate.
01:45 And that's the other thing, right? Polaris does a really good job with their stock stereos.
01:51 They put Rockford Fosgate in everything.
01:53 Yeah, I mean, I think in terms of what a stock system, I think Polaris is probably the top of the heap at this point,
02:02 but it is nice to see that Kawasaki is at least getting in that direction
02:05 because for a long time, Kawasaki had a really solid machine with really lackluster infotainment.
02:11 So, you know, hey.
02:13 But, you know, all that aside, I mean, that's nitpicky stuff, right?
02:17 Like, not all of you are going to go out and buy a special edition model.
02:21 I would say 90% of the people who buy these are probably going to go for the stripper.
02:27 This is a family show, Aaron? This is a family show?
02:32 They're going to go for the exotic dancer model and, you know,
02:38 either add things to it because they want to put their own custom touches on it
02:43 or just don't have the budget for a big stereo.
02:45 So, everything that is sort of inherent to the machine is really high quality.
02:52 This one's sturdy. You'll have to excuse us.
02:54 But, I mean, the seats rival those that are in the Yamaha R-Max II 1000.
02:59 That is a rig that you hear us mention all the time, and there's a good reason for that.
03:06 The fit and finish in that rig is almost without parallel and stuff that we have driven,
03:11 and this KRX is right up on top of it as far as quality goes.
03:16 The back seat is nice because you get semi-stadium seating,
03:20 which means the people in the back can actually seat over the shoulders of the folks in front, which is great.
03:24 And this grab bar doubles as a harness bar. That's a really cool factory touch.
03:29 I mean, look at the leg room. How tall are you, Aaron?
03:31 I'm 5'11", 190, and I've got more than enough room for my head and my knees and my feet.
03:39 I don't know. I'm not a big dude, but I certainly find myself cramped in a lot of UTVs.
03:44 There are some on our lot I could point to, and this thing, like, yeah, acres of space.
03:49 I'd be, to use a cliche, I'd be all day comfortable back here.
03:55 I get a little hot because the engine is right there.
03:58 Well, we'll find that out. I will say that I'm pleasantly surprised with the KRX in general.
04:04 A lot of people tend to overlook this one and sort of lump it into the same categories like the Talon,
04:09 which is, to say, 100-ish horsepower, and that's about it.
04:13 The suspension on this thing is excellent. It's so good. It's so nimble.
04:18 And it's not just the live valve.
04:20 The actual setup and architecture of the suspension is head and shoulders above a lot of competition.
04:26 It's got finger tips, suspension control.
04:28 Yeah, and, like, you get these really cool nifty big toggles.
04:33 This is a family show, Aaron. Come on now.
04:37 All the switchgear feels good. You know, it's big, meaty stuff.
04:41 This is how you control your little infotainment screen over here, which is different than a lot of companies.
04:49 Blairs and K&M give you little up and downs on the steering wheel.
04:52 I actually don't mind it down here because how often are you ripping down a trail?
04:56 No, that doesn't happen very often.
04:58 No, I think that that's--well, and they're just, like--you click a button and you get, like, a positive click,
05:04 which has a tangible--well, not tangible, but a visual result on the screen.
05:09 It feels like you're doing something. There's no guessing.
05:12 Did I hit the button all the way? Is that why it didn't work?
05:14 You know when you hit the button.
05:15 Enhance. Enhance.
05:17 Oh, that's a winch.
05:19 Doo-doo-doo-doo.
05:21 Yeah, so, yeah, pretty nice.
05:23 And, you know, as I was saying, fit and finish on the interior is great.
05:26 The paint looks awesome.
05:27 Like, this is a really handsome color and it's just a well-turned-out machine.
05:31 When you pay $30,000 for something, you want it to look excellent.
05:36 Yeah, you have to handle the wheels. That's not something that you get everywhere.
05:39 Yeah, it comes with these 32-inch MotoRavage tires, which we've used before on our own K&M.
05:46 We had them on a Honda Talon. We had them on--oh, we had them on our Can-Am Defender,
05:54 our utility rig around the shop.
05:56 They are excellent tires. 32 inches is a great size.
06:00 Yeah, right out of the box.
06:01 You know, a lot of companies--man, I mean, pick another manufacturer and you wind up with 28s out the door,
06:07 and that's kind of a joke. Those are amateur numbers.
06:12 Yeah, real small.
06:13 Yeah, so these are good enough, especially for out where we live,
06:16 where we're doing a lot of rock climbing stuff and a bunch of big steps.
06:19 32s are kind of a base-level entry, get you in and having fun without having to spend a buckload of money.
06:27 Not too much, not too little.
06:28 Yeah, right out the gate.
06:30 Again, $30,000, you get live valve, and even if you don't go for the live valve,
06:35 these are probably not part number the same shocks as you get on a Can-Am Maverick,
06:41 so it's a really good, solid setup.
06:44 I've never actually driven a KRX.
06:46 I'm one of us who has not yet had any time behind the wheel,
06:50 and to hear you guys talk, I am stoked to get this thing out to wind drive.
06:53 Yeah, so Gage got to drive one around a monster truck course.
06:56 Oh, yeah, a specially curated course for each one of the shock settings.
07:02 That must have been terrible for you.
07:04 Yeah, it was horrible.
07:05 How did you survive?
07:06 Yeah, I don't know.
07:07 And I got to whip it around Utah out in the sand, out at Sand Hollow, which was a bunch of fun.
07:14 So I will be interested to see how it does on the East Coast.
07:17 We had a two-seater briefly for an afternoon out running Trail 16 up at Windrock,
07:23 and it was a lot of fun, but the long boy, she's longer, so we'll see how it goes.
07:29 It doesn't feel like it, though.
07:30 It doesn't feel like it.
07:31 Yeah.
07:32 Yeah, it's a lot of fun.
07:33 It doesn't feel like it, though, generally.
07:37 Yeah, stay tuned for that.
07:39 Yeah, so we'll have this thing for about a month.
07:41 We'll put it through its paces, and we'll keep you guys up to date on what all we're doing.
07:46 Cool.
07:47 Give us an outro.
07:48 Give us an outro.
07:49 Okay, you can find us every day of the week at UTVdriver.com.
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08:05 See you guys.
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