These days, highly accessorized Polaris RZRs are a dime a dozen. Countless up-fitters offer every bolt on goodie imaginable. It’s not at all uncommon for a user to pick up a brand new RZR from their dealer and take it straight to their local chop shop for some new enhancements without running so much as a warm-up cycle.
While there are some incredible fabricators in the UTV industry today, a large portion of aftermarket components is purely cosmetic, such as cages, doors, graphics, stereo, communication systems or maybe an exhaust just to wake the motor up a bit. Believe it or not, some of the most head-turning machines you might lay your eyes on out in the dunes or desert really don’t have a lot of performance-enhancing modifications done to them.
That, however, is not the case with this beautiful new shop car from Muzzy’s Performance. In fact, the gang from Muzzy’s went to great lengths to ensure this wasn’t just another “all show, no go” project, and the crew enlisted the help of some of the biggest names in the off-road industry to help make it happen.
“We had a great response to our big-block engine package for the RZR 1000 two-seat model, so when we started kicking around ideas for a new shop car, and Rob (Muzzy) decided the four-seat model would be the next logical step,” said Lorin Morrell, marketing director for Muzzy’s Performance. “I got on the phone and started making calls to some of my contacts in the industry to gauge the level of interest and it really just snowballed from there.”
One of the first companies to come on board was Glazz Kraft, makers of custom fiberglass body kits for UTVs. Their custom kits are manufactured to combine style and function, and they have quickly carved out a name for themselves since opening their doors in 2006.
Another decision that was made early on in the project was the color scheme. Rob Muzzy owns a limited edition Vulcan motorcycle that boasts a deep purple pearl color. Even before they had all of the details ironed out for the project, Rob knew he wanted the car to feature a similar shade of purple.
According to Morrell, the goal from the beginning was to go with a sort of vintage-cruiser look, as evidenced by the ceramic-coated Muzzy exhaust with brushed end caps and powder-coated black versus the more popular polished version – nothing too loud, just clean and subtle with great attention to detail. To accent the deep purple color, Morrell had a host of accessories, supplied by Axia Alloys, which were hydro-dipped to give the look of carbon fiber.
Rockford Fosgate kicked in a complete stereo system with SSV Works pods and volume control and Rugged Radios provided its four-seat intercom system. Rigid Industries handled illumination, including not only a 30” radius light bar but also its front grill that incorporates a 10” light bar and a host of other accent lights including an underbody light kit. As you can imagine, all of those extra electronic components meant that wiring the car cleanly could be a real puzzle, and one that Morrell readily admits took some head scratching.
“We spent a lot of time mapping out where we were going to run stuff, drilling holes in the cage to run wiring harnesses through and keep everything out of site,” he said. “It’s not the easiest considering there are 12 lights under the body of the car alone.”
At the heart of the beast is Muzzy’s own 1132cc big block engine kit, featuring CNC machined cylinders, their own camshaft, valve springs and custom JE pistons manufactured to Muzzy’s own specs. Fuel delivery is controlled by a programmed DigiTune Gen 4 closed loop programmer.
In fact, when asked what sets the Muzzy engine apart from the competition, reliability is among their chief concerns. Everything is manufactured in house with special attention paid to ensure consistency and quality in every engine. All the cylinder heads are CNC machined and every head is hand ported by Rob or his factory mechanic of 21 years. As evidenced by 21 AMA Superbike championships, two World championships and an induction into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame, Rob has figured out what works and the industry has recognized that.
We had a chance to get behind the wheel of this custom RZR recently, and without question the power plant steals the show. It’s not a hard hit like we experienced recently when test riding the new RZR XP Turbo, but the power more so comes on strong and just keeps pulling. We had the opportunity to carve some large bowls and snake through sandy trails, and everywhere we went the power was immediate and just felt like it was wanted to keep going.
Sand is notorious for robbing horsepower, particularly when climbing hills. But one thing we noticed with Purple Haze, even when it eventually stopped accelerating on ascent, is that it didn’t lose power – it remained incredibly consistent throughout the powerband. As you can imagine, with over a 60% increase in horsepower, the back end can break loose without much effort, which makes it an incredibly fun vehicle to drive. The power increase is so subtle that you almost don’t realize how hard it’s pulling until you get back behind the wheel of a stock machine. The same can be said of the upgraded Walker Evans shocks.
While the engine is without a doubt the center of attention, the little details and creature comforts are really what push this machine over the top.
“There really are so many cool, intricate factors on the car,” says Morrell. “From Rigid’s grill setup with the integrated 10” light bar to the custom wrap on the inside of the 14” Hiper beadlock wheels with carbon fiber-esque hydro dipped bead lock rings. The goal was to build something really classy that people admired, and then when they looked again started to see all the little details. [We wanted] people to notice something new each time they come back.”
The Muzzy Performance crew definitely accomplished their goal of attention to detail, from the custom gold leaf decals to the pearl purple finish that changes color depending on the lighting. All of the extra goodies like the stereo, communication system and aftermarket Triple X Seats make this turnkey UTV as incredible to drive as it is to simply admire.
Selfishly we’re hoping they bring it with them to the Idaho UTV Invasion so we can spend some more time behind the wheel!
Purple Haze Specs - 2015 Polaris RZR XP1000-4
MUZZYS Billet 1132cc Big block engine kit (+60% HP increase)
MUZZYS Camshaft set
MUZZYS Valve Spring set
MUZZYS Cylinder head hand port, and valve conversion
MUZZYS Fuel injectors
MUZZYS/Carillo Rods
MUZZYS Dual Exhaust, Black finish
MUZZYS DigiTune Gen4 closed loop,Fuel management
MUZZYS single color DigiWhips
MUZZYS 1132cc specific Dirty Dawg clutch
Rigid Industries: LED 10” front light bar & Grill, 30” Radius Light bar, Underbody light kit (12 lights), Reverse lights, Dually side lights, Dome lights
Rockford Fosgate: Front T1675 6.75” coaxial , 2- T4002 400 watt amps (Frt & Sub), T1S10 10” Power series subwoofer. Bluetooth hide away unit.
Triple X Seats: Venom Custom black, with dark grey ostrich insets and carbon fiber style piping
Axia Alloys: Rear view mirror, side mirrors (L & R ), Quick disconnect Fire Extinguisher , OHV Tag plate, all custom hydrodipped in carbon fiber
Rugged Radios: RRP660 4 seat intercom system, Vertex VX2200 50 watt radio system
Walker Evans: Custom build 2.5” piggyback shocks
Hiper Racing Wheels: Sidewinder 14 Carbon fiber wheel, billet Fusion center, custom carbon beadlock ring
Fullerton Sand Sports: 28-14 STU Sand Blaster rear, 28-14 STU Sand Razor front
Proline Wraps: one off Turned Gold Leaf logos, one off Carbon fiber logo wheel wraps
Simpson Race Products: D3 3” harnesses front and rear
The car also features: TMW Offroad 4 seat cage and doors, GlazzKraft body, 3 stage Pearl Purple black mica by Robberson Custom collision