The $29k Four-Seat KRX4 Is Here!

UTV Driver

The 2023 Kawasaki KRX4 eS is at UTV Driver HQ! Check out our first look at the long-awaited four-seat, special-edition KRX.   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/   Want to see even more shenanigans from the UTV Driver team? Give us a like and follow:   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UTVdriver/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/utvdrivermagazine/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/utvdriver/

Transcript

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.

07:53 We've got news, reviews, other nonsense.

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08:00 and anywhere else you get your social media.

08:02 So like, subscribe, check us out.

08:05 See you guys.

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