Defender is the real deal

I mean, it’s not an actual ‘deal’ because you are going to drop plenty of Benjamins (or Sir Robert Bordens) for this machine, with a price tag north of $30,000 US and $36,000 CA. But for the 2022 model year, the options at your dealership to purchase your very own “Man Van” don’t get much better than a Can-Am Defender Max Limited. We were lucky enough to get our hands on one for a few short weeks, and we knew that there were plenty of possibilities ahead.

Our honeymoon with this loaded defender was in mid-summer, so we pretty much planned to do it all! Our goal was to try to put the Defender into every possible scenario that we could. The Defender comes in your choice of grey, blue, camouflage, with all the choices relatively conservative, but it’s still a good-looking vehicle. Getting behind the wheel and turning the key brings it to life in a really smooth and quiet manner, which really gave us a good feel right from the start.

Decked out in luxury, this unit comes equipped with ultra-comfortable seating for six. Dual bucket-style seats in the front and back are some of the most comfortable that we have tested, and the middle seat is not too bad itself! In the back there is tons of leg room for three adults, and with the widely adjustable driver seat, you have room for drivers of all sizes.

Right from the factory, this thing has almost all the amenities of a high-end car or truck, so there isn’t much that you sacri- fice. Keyed locking doors, power windows, windshield wipers with auto washer fluid all might be considered somewhat excessive to some. But having these options at your disposal makes it extremely easy and enjoyable to drive in all conditions.

The UTV market is growing exponentially, and with the growth thousands of miles of roads that were previously reserved for just automobiles, ORV use is spiking. In our local area for example, the road routes have grown 300% over the past few years as communities have learned that people love driving these things, even if its solely on pavement. It’s just plainly more fun taking a leisurely cruise anywhere in an ORV, especially one like the Defender Max Limited. Ours had the fully enclosed cab with heat and air conditioning, so pouring rain, sweltering heat, or even freezing snowy days, would be no problem at all. With plenty of soundproofing, this Defender is extremely quiet in the interior, enough to easily hold a conversation, even while wearing a helmet.

Our first week with the vehicle was mostly just that, using it to cruise everywhere and our testing area (in Northern Wisconsin) was fully open for ORV travel on nearly every road, besides a few major highways. For our first destination of the day, we loaded six adults and set off for an evening dinner trip. One thing that immediately stood out was how well the power steering system works. It gives effortless and consistent operation, so much that it’s something that you don’t even think about until you jump in to another UTV and feel the difference.

A quick disclaimer that this is certainly not the fastest vehicle off the line, but it has no problem driving more than fast enough, especially for its size, with a top speed of 65mph. We confirmed this stat as soon as possible on the very first fire road shortcut.

One odd thing on this Limited version was there was no factory radio. We were confused because it has almost every other option available. Plus, there’s not a good place to mount one with the dash layout, so your only real option is the CanAm roof stereo package or an aftermarket equivalent. The sticker price on adding this accessory is expensive, even for the basic package, at almost $3000.00 US, $3600.00 CA. With this Defender already coming with a roof, it seemed to us that this may have been better solved with a basic factory stereo. Personally, I would have elected to trade the power windows for a radio, as we rarely used the windows with the full HVAC system. This machine just can’t be used correctly without blasting your favorite sing-a-long tunes to your busfull of passengers! In a pinch we used a standard Bluetooth speaker, which worked surprisingly well, resting in the front cupholder in this quiet cab. We were not sweaty or cold all day and night, as air conditioning and heat are very powerful, so the cab stays a comfortable temp. That said, there is only one singular knob that controls it all, and you have to click through the menu and adjust from heat to cool and fan control. Not the end of the world to do, as we found that most of the time, once you set it to the conditions for the day, you could just leave it.

Technical Time!

Let me preface this before we get too far; this machine isn’t classified as an “Off Road Vehicle” for just using on the roads. Naturally, when you see the marketing and social media posts of hauling hay bales or dust flying, we craved more! Our biggest destination while we had the Defender was Clam Lake, Wisconsin. A four-day excursion with a truck full of riders ready, was just the ticket to see what trouble we could get into. This wasn’t our first trip here, but something about this area just keeps us coming back. Maybe it’s the huge local elk population that seems to always be watching you, or the thousands of acres of surrounding ChequamegonNicolet National Forest. But my personal love is the endless, challenging trail system that has plenty to do for multiple days, without seeing the same thing twice.

This visit came with a forecast for perfect weather, and the Defender just screamed ‘off the grid camping’, so we had to oblige. If you have ever been camping before, you know the worst part is the packing and preparation. With little options to get supplies locally, other than bare essentials, you have to pack all that you might need. That leads to tons of extra items in addition to the typical riding gear. With the massive storage inside the cab and in the box, we were able to put nearly everything that we needed right in the UTV itself, and drive it straight onto the trailer. Even if you opt for hauling on an open trailer, all your stuff will stay clean and dry inside this fully enclosed machine on the road trip, and all the extras can go securely in the dump bed. Arriving at our campsite, we unloaded in the parking area and were able to drive right in easily without touching anything. The Defender made this camping experience much easier.

Clam Lake offered us a mix of conditions from very easy to as about as tough as it gets on a marked trail, and we had no problem taking the Defender through every bit of it. One thing we did notice fairly quickly once off-road, was that we wished the Defender had more ground clearance. It is a tightrope in this regard because we also understand the negative effects of a higher mass, with already significant body roll. This is all to be expected from a rather heavy machine, but with the full skid plate, we had no issues for most of the time. Some of the rougher sections with huge rocks and deep water holes, we did have to dial the throttle back a bit, but we never fell behind much with all the sportier UTV’s in our group.

On the dusty gravel roads, we elected to stay in the rear of the group and test out the full cab setup, following multiple UTV’s in a huge dust cloud. We were happy to be able to breathe easy and really didn’t notice any dust coming in while riding. However, after the day’s ride there was a light coating of dust on most of the interior. So, while it was not 100% sealed, it certainly was more than acceptable.

Our last night in town with the Defender just happened to be my birthday, and my chauffeured ride around was probably the best personal experience with this unit. Sometimes a slow cruise, where you get to sit back and watch everything go by, is priceless fun, especially when you are worn out from a long weekend. When in town, don’t forget to stop by Ransom’s place in downtown Clam Lake, where the owner Zach Ransom always shows us a good time and makes it our very favorite pit stop. You are guaranteed some great food, friendly Northwoods charm and best of all - nonstop laughs from Carrie the bartender!