We Ride the All-New 2006 Wolverine 450 4×4

Main test rider: John Pellan
Photos by: Jeff Kardas

 Fun-factor. An often neglected term in today’s hectic lifestyle. With the recent barrage of made-for-the-track sport quads, the term fun-factor has somewhat been overlooked in the flourishing ATV sport segment as well. While made for racing sport quads can surely tip the fun-factor scale on and off the track, some riders tend to get too caught up in the competition and forget to actually have fun while riding their ATV.

For those diehards who may have recently lost site of why they do what they do and not to leave out those new ATVers just stumbling into our sport, Yamaha’s all-new Wolverine 450 4×4 reintroduces good ole fashioned fun to the masses!

Sport or Utility?
An all new Raptor 700, 80 improvements on their new YFZ and now a whole new from the ground up Wolverine. Yamaha certainly is ambitious as of late, but being avid sport quad enthusiasts, we have to admit we were hardly excited about their new Wolverine at first glance. To be frank, a combination of a sport quad and a utility quad just didn’t sound all that exciting to us. Yamaha assured us we we would love the Wolverine after we rode it. In the meantime, we asked what Yamaha feels the Wolverine’s target audience is and what they think that particular rider will be able to do or not do with their new Wolverine.

It is a 4-wheel drive quad, and in theory you could use it for limited work on your property, but calling it a utility just didn’t seem quite right to Yamaha. According to them, the new Wolverine is a “Sport 4×4”, since its main purpose is extreme trail riding.

After finally riding the quad for ourselves, we agree on their terminology and now have a whole new respect for the mighty little Sport 4×4. Yamaha is right, you wouldn’t be able to negotiate the trails we rode it on as easily on a utility ATV. A big utility is just too heavy and doesn’t handle as well. The nimble little Wolverine does it much better. At the same time, a sport quad wouldn’t be able to traverse some of the rocky slippery hills and deep mud. You need 4WD for those extreme obstacles. Surprisingly, the new Wolverine does both very well. In short, this little bugger just might be considered the epitome of ATV versatility! Yamaha, you say you want to start an all new ATV segment titled “Sport 4×4”? We’re all in!

In an effort to fully comprehend the all new Wolverine 450, we sat down and had a talk with Yamaha’s PR Manager, Steve Nessl and Product Planning Manager, Travis Hollins. Here’s what they had to say… What’s the concept for the Wolverine and what category does it fall under? It’s pretty much in a class by itself. There really isn’t anything out there like it. If you want a label, it’s a Sport 4×4.The concept for this vehicle is a few years old. We’ve done plenty of research and found that there’s a lot of customers that will be interested in this type of ATV. So which customer is it mainly designed for? It really covers a large portion of the trail rider/recreational market because it’s fully automatic, can switch to 4-wheel drive with a push of a button and it’s a extremely fun to ride on all kinds of terrain. From beginner to experienced rider – the Wolverine is simply a lot of fun for everyone. On this intro we had guys that never rode to guys that have been riding all their lives, and at the end of the day all the guys were super excited nonetheless. They were pushing their limits and having a blast. I think they all felt that they achieved something with this vehicle. No matter what your skill level is you can have a great time on the new Wolverine. Where does the Wolverine shine the most? You can throw it around on the trail like a sport ATV, yet with the push button 4-wheel drive at your finger tips – you can easily tackle terrain that a lot of sport quads can’t. The versatility that it offers is invaluable. You can go out with your buddies, push it hard and charge over gnarly terrain that traditional 2-wheel drive sport quads can’t. That’s what this quad is all about. The Wolverine’s tires are pretty incredible. Tell us more about them. There’s a lot of things the engineers and the testing department heavily worked on with this vehicle. One of the main objectives was its sporty character. We worked exclusively with Maxxis to come up with a really good radial sport tire with little side roll. It’s a 23″ tire, so you have great ground clearance, great traction and you can still slide and jump it. You’re right the tires Maxxis made for the Wolverine are incredible. Is there anything else you want to say about the all-new Wolverine? The Wolverine was proudly designed, developed and engineered right here in the United States. And it will be manufactured here in the States as well at our Newnan, GA plant. Obviously the guys in the US know quite a bit what the customers here in America are wanting in an ATV and I think we delivered a winner in the new Wolverine.

No Worries
Without pretension, last year’s Wolverine just didn’t cut it in our book. It was 75 pounds heavier, had wimpy power, didn’t handle all that well, was all-time 4-wheel drive and needed to be shifted manually. This year’s Wolverine packs a mean bite in comparison. Its liquid-cooled 421cc SOHC four-stroke engine comes to life with a push of a button. Accurate throttle response is obtained with a semi-oval slide 33mm BSR Mikuni carburetor and high-output DC-CDI ignition. Its user-friendly powerband is night and day compared to last year’s model.

The all-new Wolverine 4×4 now features an Ultramatic® transmission, which is mated to a constant belt-tensioning system that provides downhill engine braking. Final drive is obtained with a low-maintenance shaft drive. It just doesn’t get any easier than that. Simply choose between Drive, Reverse, Neutral or Park, (which replaces the need for a parking break).

Our favorite feature on the new Wolverine is its On-Command® push button 4WD system. The ability to switch to 4WD at the touch of a button defines what this ATV is all about – heavy duty go anywhere trail riding and trail bashing. The only small downside is the fact that you’ll have to back off the throttle to shift in and out of 4WD with your right thumb. This a good idea in maintaining a long lasting reliable transmission, but slowing down to shift takes a tad bit of the fun away. Nonetheless, we’re happy that little button found a home on a sport quad.

Of course GYTR has already equipped the new Wolverine with all kinds of hop-up toys. We didn’t get to try the GYTR bolt-on’s, but we’re assuming the pipe would be a great power-enhancing item. And we would love to lose some weight on the front end by trading the enormous steel front bumper with an aluminum GYTR one.

 

Hitting the Trail
Yamaha did a nice job redesigning the seat and floorboards, which will help to keep mud and rocks from kicking up at you. The seat, pegs and handlebar relation felt perfect and very comfortable. We rode the quad extremely hard, and we’re pleased to say it was very easy to move around, stand up and get aggressive on.

As we said, the all-new Wolverine is just that. Why bother to reinvent without improving? Thankfully Yamaha is very pro-improvement and shed plenty of love toward the Wolverine’s suspension. Up front you’ll find 6.3″ of travel and five-way preload adjustable shocks with double wishbone A-arms. In the rear there’s 7.1” of travel obtained from a five-way adjustable preload shock. High-speed square edge bumps were surprisingly swallowed up with ease, while low speed cruising is pleasant and jolt-free. We did bottom both the front and rear a few times but we doubt the average rider will abuse the quad the way we did. And, we should add that there was three stiffer adjustment clicks on the front and rear shocks that we never clicked.

A good tire is also a major supplement to an ATV’s suspension system. Yamaha probably couldn’t have come up with a better set of tires for their new Wolverine. It comes stock with Maxxis radial tires all around. Cornering was a blast on the specially made meats. Getting stuck in deep mud was not an issue thanks to the Maxxis aggressive tread design. And amazingly, there was little to no side wall roll! These characteristics are typically unheard of on a 4WD ATV. However, we need to remind ourselves, until now – there hasn’t really been a sport 4×4 quad quite like this new Wolverine.

In the name of saving some weight, Yamaha mounted the Maxxis radials on all-new 12” aluminum wheels. Thankfully Yamaha opted for hydraulic disc brakes front and rear. The rear brake is operated either with your right foot or your left hand. All in all, the brakes worked well, but made some noise after a day’s worth of extreme abuse.

New riders tend to put a foot down at times. These new floor boards keep your feet from straying off the pegs and getting run over. They also fend off the mud dirt and debris very well.Speaking of abuse, Yamaha put a shift-on-the-fly push button 4WD system on the Wolverine for a reason.

Of course we submerged it in the foulest muck we could find while testing it at Missouri’s Mark Twain National Forest ride spot.

We completely submerged the mighty little 4×4 in water and mud almost over its head. Hard as we may, we could not get it to sputter.

Thanks to the high air intake and its large-capacity aluminum radiator, which is positioned high in frame for optimal protection, — the Wolverine seems to be right at home in the muck.

Attention to Detail
As you can see in the photos on this page this year’s Wolverine is down right sexy.

 

It get’s its stylish good looks from big brother Raptor. The new Wolverine also features a digital LCD display with speedometer, odometer, tripmeter and a 4WD/2WD indicator light.

 

For long rides you should take advantage of the handy storage compartment on the rear of the machine. It’s big enough to take along a small cooler or whatever else you think you might need while enjoying the day out on the trail.

 

Speaking of sexy, Yamaha’s headlights take the cake in our opinion. We especially like how the lights are implanted within the front fenders. There certainly is no visual sign of a boring work quad here.

Fun-factor
Upon arrival, our expectation were ho-hum. After swinging a leg over the seat, mashing the thumb throttle down and riding off into the woods on the all-new Wolverine, we have to admit, Yamaha has a winner here. This thing is down right fun – simple as that. It’s mid-range powerband, sport-tuned suspension, sporty Maxxis tires, low center of gravity and relative lightweight (considering it’s 4WD) add up to an excellent-handling Sport 4×4. Trust us, you won’t want to get off of it.

Lastly, an ATV made for complete ease of use from newbie to avid enthusiast shouldn’t be a hassle to maintain and work on. Thanks to Yamaha’s attention to detail, things like its maintenance free shaft drive, a belt drive drain plug, easy-access, tool-free air filter and automatic cam chain tensioner, make the 2006 Wolverine just as easy to own.

To sum it all up, the most important feature on the all-new Wolverine isn’t seen or touched. In our minds the number one feature is its fun-factor. We give it a fun-factor rating of 9 out of 10!

The 2006 Wolverine 450 4×4 is available now at your local Yamaha dealer. It comes in Team Yamaha Blue and White/Silver color schemes and retails for $5,999.

More at yamaha-motor.com

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