5. Rear Suspension
This is one of the areas that separate the Talon X and Talon R (see sidebar). Where the X has a 3-link trailing arm in the rear, the R has a 4-link. That not only helps the Talon R stay planted but stays pretty darn straight in the whoops as well. The 4-link trailing arm helps control toe change throughout the stroke, control that, Honda officials say, limits toe change to only 0.3 degrees through the entire length of travel.
What that translates into is you can attack the whoops with speed and not have to worry about the back end getting happy. We carried some insane speed through one section of whoops in Sand Hollow and the Talon R not only soaked them up but stayed true.
Travel in the front is 14.6 inches on the Talon X and 17.7 inches on the Talon R. In the rear the X has 15.1 inches of travel and the R 20.1 inches.
6. Two Models
We detailed the differences between the Talon X (think trails) and wider Talon R (think high speed desert riding, rock crawling) in the sidebar.
Just do a little homework, be honest about where the majority of your riding takes place and you’ll be able choose a Talon
As we mentioned in our story on www.dirttoysmag.com, if you forced us to confess one small thing about the Talon X and the Talon R, which Honda officials say are purpose built for the conditions they are intended for, it would be this: Whereas both can handle the conditions the other is designed for, the R probably does it a little better than the X does. What we’re saying is, you can take the R on trails (maybe not really tight trails due to its width) but the X might not be as adept in the big whoops as the R is.
7. Ergonomics
The whole package from the doors (although we wish they didn’t have those pesky nets) to the comfortable bucket seats (driver seat is adjustable) to the adjustable steering wheel to the decent amount of storage to easy to read gauges and easy-to-switch settings (I-4WD, AT/MT, etc.) is well thought out and very user friendly.
8. MSRP
The price tags on the Talon X ($19,999) and the Talon R ($20,999) are very competitive. These prices will turn heads as they are right there in the mix, generally within a few bucks of their competitors. You can go feature-by-feature comparing the Talons to the competition but let’s go back to the DCT. How much is that worth compared to a CVT system? And the i4WD, how much is that feature worth? And the Talon comes stock with a roof.
9. Engine
So, we put the engine at No. 9? Well, weren’t intending to rank our nine reasons in any particular order so having the engine here doesn’t mean it’s way down on our list. The 999cc four-valve Unicam inline twin powerplant offers up a claimed 104 hp. That puts the Talon at the lower end of the claimed horsepower of its sport side-by-side competitors.
It’s the same powerplant as the Pioneer 1000 but you can definitely tell the Talon has more spunk and handled very well all we threw at it over two days of trails, sand and rocks. The uptick in power vs. the Pioneer is thanks to larger throttle bore (9 percent over the Pioneer) and bigger fuel injectors (18 percent bigger).
The Talon’s horsepower number is not a deterrent to us as we think the power matches the vehicle well.
