For a few years now, Vivid Racing has been pushing into the UTV market. There was a lack of large retailers like ourselves, forcing consumers to buy parts from multiple sources, which is just a bad experience. With our push into the UTV market, we also created a BUNCH of industry-first products with Agency Power. Eventually, we were at the point where we needed an in-house UTV to aid in product promotion, R&D, and because everyone loves awesome builds. So, we began work on Project Can-AM X3. After many months of designing, building, and test fitting, our X3 build is complete, so we decided to show off some of the awesome parts of the build with a walk-around video from our 2018 Thanksgiving trip.
Like any build, our Can-AM started as a stock vehicle. Our particular X3 is 2018 X3 XRS Max. For those who aren’t Can-AM savvy, the X3 XRS is the fastest model with the most suspension travel, and the MAX is the four-door version because off-roading is more fun when the whole family can come with. A large majority of the exterior parts on our X3 are factory Can-AM accessories. This includes the bumpers, tire carrier, rear storage system, rock sliders, and other parts. Keeping everything connected to the road are 32″ Fuel tires wrapped around 15″ Fuel wheels. We used some fender flares to help keep all the mud, dirt, sand, and rocks from flying all over the place.
The open nature of the X3 is both a pro and a con. On hot days it’s awesome because you have lots of air flow to help cool you down. Sometimes that airflow is unwanted, especially during winter or if you’re following someone through the dirt. The SuperATV windshield we chose to use on our X3 provides the best of both worlds. When you want airflow you can pop open the windshield with the simple latch. Otherwise, you can keep it closed to help keep the cold air, dust, sand, and mud from coming in. Tucked behind the front bumper is a SuperATV winch because you never know when you might get stuck and need a little tug.
Baja Designs hooked us up with tons of lighting, a necessity for nighttime off-roading. On the front bumper are two small lights. On the hood is a small Baja Designs amber light bar. If you didn’t already know, Amber lights cut through the dust much better than white light. Up top on the roof rack are four small round Baja Designs lights. We could’ve gone with a large light bar, but we opted for the individual lights for the unique look.
When it comes to off-road suspension, you really don’t want to cheap out. At the same time, Can-AM did a decent job with the OEM suspension geometry, so there isn’t much use in going with some insanely expensive suspension setup. We opted to send our suspension to MTS off-road where they replaced the OEM springs with Eibach springs and valved the shocks to match our needs. We ended up with more ground clearance and shocks that were valved much better than the OEM units.
You may think that the stock 172 horsepower is plenty for off-road use, but with all the added gear the X3 MAX starts to become a little sluggish. Luckily, this can easily be fixed with some aftermarket goodies. For tuning, we used our own VR Tuned ECU flash with takes the X3 up to 195 horsepower without any other modifications. We then added an Agency Power Valvetronic exhaust, Agency Power intercooler, Agency Power race ducts, and some other goodies, putting us right under 200 horsepower.
On the interior we added a massive amount of cool parts. The door skins were replaced with Agency Power carbon fiber door skins, and we added Reflex Beyond Extreme door handles to make it easier to open the door. The steering wheel was replaced with a Vivid Racing custom steering wheel, the dash bezel was replaced with an Agency Power carbon fiber dash bezel, and we also added an Agency Power gauge pod mount. The dash was replaced with a full Agency Power carbon fiber dash which we ended up having to modify to mount a Rugged Radio system. With all the accessories we’ve added, we needed switches to control everything. We went to XTC for all the switches and wiring, as their Plug and Play solution makes everything nice and easy. Because we love sliding, we added an Indecent Motorsports handbrake, making it easy to initiate a slide.
With all the added weight of the accessories, are OEM brakes began to struggle. With more weight, you need more brake, and with more brake force comes more heat, and heat can cause your brakes to fade or fail. Luckily, we have spent lots of time helping develop the industry’s best big-brake kit for the X3. The WP Pro kit we have on the front of our X3 uses a massive six-piston caliper, race pads, and much larger rotors. The result is much better brake bite and significantly reduced brake fade. Check out the full video below to see the entire build walk around!
If you have any questions about the parts used on this build, please do not hesitate to contact us. We can be reached by phone at 1.480.966.3040 or via email at sales@vividracing.com.
