The model year 2007 will forever change how loyal Bombardier Recreational Products customers view the company. This will be the year for the rebirth of CAN-AM, which is the racing heritage of Bombardier that inspired this year’s newest member in the ATV lineup.

Yes, you heard right. The Can-Am brand name is back and Bombardier is serious about its efforts to make a statement in ATV racing. Can-Am was known for its domination in motocross way back in the 1970’s and continued into the 80’s with many races won and a loyal brand customer base. This same spirit and drive developed by Can-Am in the past will be the ground work for BRP to develop a group of race-rec utilitys that will be the envy of all they conquer.

Here is this year’s newest member to the CAN-AM family.

CAN-AM Renegade 800

The Renegade is the result of many hours of development from the engineers in Valcourt Canada, to top GNCC Racers Mike Penland and Scott Kilby along with desert racing product manufacturer Ryan Wheeler at Epic Racing. This machine will revolutionize the way we look at Rec-ute mobility as it adds the ability to go anywhere with 4x4 - and at quite a clip, thanks to the 800cc power plant.

Let's begin by getting to know how the Renegade was developed and what goes into the design process when trying to compete in an exploding market.

Bombardier decided in late August of 2005 to get serious about the racing side of the utility market. While the Outlander was proving itself to be a worthy opponent for the stock and modified classes there just seemed to be something missing.

When the designers at Bombardier started to develop the Renegade they came up with four Grand Positioning Elements for their beginning. These would include Big Power, Great Handling, Innovation and a Stunning Design. These four elements would help them to narrow the field and focus more on the intended buyer. Then the feedback from actual proven champions like Mike Penland and Scott Kilby in the Grand National Cross Country series and Ryan Wheeler in the Desert series like Best in the Desert and Score International would help make this machine the toughest yet. There is no way that Bombardier could have known to test in the extremes like these guys do week in and week out. Things such as durability reliability and race fatigue were all examined and reexamined time and time again.

So Bombardier has now figured out what the Renegade will have to withstand in order to be a contender and hits the drawing board to fine-tune their focus even more.

There are four types of or segments of the Four wheeler market:

There is the Utility segment, which is the working class that is all work and no play. Then comes the pure sport class, which is all play, and this includes the 450cc race quads. After the sport class you have the Rec-utility class, which includes the Outlander’s, Grizzly’s and Sportsman utility’s. And finally you have your Rec-Sport class, which has the Scrambler’s and KVX or V-force machines. With all these segments to choose from you can see it probably was not easy trying to narrow the field.

“We wanted to maximize the rider active enjoyment of fast pace sport like open trail riding while still providing extensive all terrain access” says Del Bohlman of Bombardier.

The team of designers then came up with what they call their overall DNAQ’S or genetics and this includes eight total for this and every Bombardier product.

1. Positive curves: Nothing that sags on the vehicle
2. Converging lines: Everything flows towards the center of the vehicle.
3. Aggressive downhill lines from the side view.
4. Body Imprint: Riding vehicles will have tight body to machine contact so the rider feels they are a part of the machine.
5. Facial Expression: The bike needs to say something to the customer. Make a bold statement to the buyer.
6. Graphic trends: Design and implementation of current stylish graphic fads.
7. Color Trends: Bold colors to catch your attention.
8. The color Yellow: The Blood of the new Renegade and CAN-AM’s employees.

These make up the structure of the designers values for making the Renegade an outstanding product.

So with words like explosive, muscular, leader of the pack and battle ready, the goals have also been set.

Here we are with the product that Can-Am hopes will be the next big thing in All Terrain Domination.

Sitting still the New Renegade looks like it could conquer the world. The Styling is definitely new age and very different from what the market is generally used to. The four 120 watt headlights will give riders the ability to become adventurous in the late hours of the day and even in the still of the night. The lights are projector beam style housings and will provide distance as well as overall flooding in the trail. The front bumper was given the space it would need for a winch if you wanted to add it later. Forward thinking is also a trait of the minds inside Bombardier. The Bright yellow fenders are sleek and have surely taken a page from the racing side of the design group.

When we sat on the machine it felt like the DS650 but with different control positioning. The feel is surely comfortable and the sleek centerlines give you room to move around on the Renegade. There is a compact digital gauge that peers at you from the center of the bars and it even has its own personality. The gauge will tell you Speed, rpm’s, trip meter, hour meter and important things like fuel level, gear position and a 4x4 indicator. There is also a diagnostic section on this gauge to help trouble shoot any problems.

The SST frame is the same as the Outlander and this will be a big plus when crossing downed trees or huge rocks as the SST design is made to give maximum ground clearance.

The wheels caught my eye also, as I had never seen a rolled edge rim with a cast center. This design feature would allow for some stylish changes in the future. And they are lighter the standard stamped rim!

Tire manufacturer ITP has developed an impressive aggressive tire for this machine and although it looks as if it could shread most golf courses to pieces I found it to be a little overboard for the type of riding this beast was made to do. Let me clarify myself by saying that the tires will work great in extremely muddy conditions but on hard pack they tend to stick a little to well. Side bite was very evident in the little time I had on the machine. Maybe a little less aggressive sidewall tread would help the power of the Renegade be applied better.

Moving around the “outside” of the Renegade I noticed the extra storage area on the rear of the Machine. Del Bohlmon tells us that the accessory department of CAN-AM is working on a small rack for use in hauling items around the track or trail. This will also include a hard backpack to make use of when the trail runs out.

The Renegade will have some of the same features as its brother the Outlander also. The RS-Type suspension is carried over to the Renegade. This suspension has been the rave for Outlander owners. The forged upper A-Arms will stay but the shocks have been moved in at the top to give the Renegade better overall handling and also increase the travel of the suspension by one inch. This doesn’t sound like much but for a machine like this you will take all you can get. CAN-AM has used high-pressure gas shocks to sweeten the ride a little. This will help any rider with a little racer in them take even the toughest corners with ease.

The rear of the machine boasts the TTI “No Scrub” setup with a single arm and this allows the wheel to travel evenly and with out trail scrub throughout the stroke of the shock. To put this in simple terms, when the wheels of a traditionally mounted double a-arm rear wheel moves up or down it tends to not only move outward away from the machine but the camber changes thus making the machine scrub the trail. This uses power and stresses the suspension components. This is where CAN-AM says their system is more effective. Along with the beefier construction of the SST frame both shock mount zones have been reinforced also for those tough conditions.

Then there were 8, 800cc’s that is. The New Renegade is definitely not underpowered. The beast within is no slouch. This 800cc High Output V-twin is liquid cooled and has single overhead cams. The engineers found that orientating the cylinders at an 80 degree angle from themselves made a smoother revving and overall lower vibrating engine. This engine is not only powerful but the altitude nor temperature will have an effect on the starting or running of the Renegade. This is credited to the Renegades Electronic Fuel Injection system. I can say that the Renegade responds to every twitch of the throttle and then some.

All of this power is delivered to the ground through the Continually Variable Transmission or CVT as they call it. This of course means no gears to shift and constant on the ground plowing power. The Renegade also has Bombardiers patented Visco-Lok trans up front which transfers power away from the slipping wheel and back to the gripping wheel and that’s why it rarely gets stuck like its competitors.

Although we did not have ample time to survey the true power and handling of the new Renegade, I can tell you it is going to really stir up some folks in the industry. When we get the truly-refined test unit I will let you know exactly how it feels, rides, handles and everything else you might want to know with even something’s you may not.

Until then, plan on more excitement from the CAN-AM group and look for our reviews of the next two CAN-AM products - including the first "Luxury ATV" - the Outlander Max 800 H.O. Limited and its cohort the Outlander 500 H.O. with its XT package. This and more coming soon to Off-Road.com.

-rs