Driving the Can-Am Maverick X3 in the Australian Outback

It was a particularly large puddle that smeared another layer of syrupy red mud across my helmet visor, to the point where the endless blue outback sky turned an orangey, murky tinge. I was also now wet from top to bottom, the moisture creating a perfect glue for the pulses of dust wafting through the open-air cabin of our side-by-side buggy.

There was a grid approaching, but I knew I had a few hundred metres before such steering accuracy was required.

This is outback Australia, after all, and there are vast expanses of openness where roads can be merely a guide of where you roughly need to be.

Our weapon of choice for this adventure is the Can-Am Maverick X3. With a 200-horsepower three-cylinder turbo, it’s a feisty companion that’s made for pretty much any terrain. Except bitumen…

Can-Am specifically stipulates you shouldn’t drive an X3 on tarmac.

I’m taking part in the inaugural Can-Am Adventure, which is designed to showcase the brand and provide the ultimate escape that most owners could never pull together on their own.

The first of its type (there are more planned) takes in some of Australia’s most remote and dramatic terrain the red centre can muster.

Alice Springs, Old Andado Station, Mount Dare, Binns Track and the Simpson Desert are all on the itinerary for this driving adventure that calls for a helmet, goggles, some clothes that will never be the same colour again and the sort of spirit that won’t be crushed by dust and mud.

It’s the sections of race track that comes to life in June each year as part of the Finke Desert Race that are the highlight for many shelling out $6800 to bring their own buggy to this five-day driving event.

For that, participants get merchandise, accommodation, meals and logistics, plus a comprehensive support crew and technical back-up that means the hardest part is turning the key each morning. It means people can push their buggies with the knowledge there is assistance lurking in the background if required.

Can-Am doesn’t pretend this is a holiday in disguise. Anything but.

It’s all about the driving and experiencing the bones of a race-ready side-by-side in some seriously different terrain. It’s less about where you end up at night.

“All of the people that we have spoken to…the biggest question that came up when considering the product was where do I use it?”, says Sam Strutt, Can-Am senior brand leader for Asia-Pacific in explaining the concept behind the Adventures.

He says it’s about “creating experiences to bring people together who already have our vehicles to allow them to have fun”.

Our five-day adventure starts in the relative luxury of the Hilton at Alice Springs. After a day of familiarisation and final checks on the edge of town, it’s straight down the Finke Desert Race road – with thousands of yumps, dozens of jumps and a seemingly endless supply of alluring red dirt.

It’s a punishing track and one that provides an early indication of the capability of the Maverick. It’s more bike than car in its interior trimmings, with basic finishes and no windscreen. That the digital instrument cluster and small selection of buttons are waterproof tells you something about its intended usage.

But the technology and travel in the suspension is phenomenal. The control when it lands from big hits even more impressive. Active dampers use 12 sensors to monitor speed, frequency and the size of the bumps and adjusts accordingly.

At lower speeds the suspension settles masterfully. At higher speeds it offers supreme control. There’s a gracefulness to the way it lands, the springs absorbing some of the most savage bumps you’ll find in Australia.

It’s on the faster roads where the Maverick really shines. Ours had the Fox smart shocks, which adjust the damper performance hundreds of times a second. A hump that could launch a regular car – or provide a tantalising jump – can be smothered with minimal movement of the body. All at 100km/h – or more. All of which requires a recalibration; maybe not for someone who’s stepped off an off-road two-wheeler, but certainly for anyone who’s ventured out here in a 4WD.

The X3 may be a basic machine in many ways – hose-out interior, no windscreen and whatever wind rushes by as ventilation - but there’s wizardry going on in the long travel suspension. All of which makes enjoying these roads that little bit easier.

Passing the tiny town of Finke has us on regular roads heading from the Northern Territory into South Australia, the openness and relative smoothness a respite from the earlier yumpy punishment.

But it’s here where the mud really kicks in. It doesn’t take long for our fleet of buggies to take on a Mad Max tinge, the bright hues subdued by thick layers of mud.

It’s a head turning sight of mud-drenched buggies pulling into the campground at Mount Dare on the western fringe of the Simpson Desert, the largest collection of parallel sand dunes in the world.

The Stations is our home for a few days, complete with campground facilities and cold beer at the characterful pub that prides itself on having no public Wi-Fi, something that keeps the conversation flowing.

There are hearty meals dished up around the campfire to match the tales from the day. It’s a fitting end to a challenging day.

Joining in the night time discussions is former Australian Rally Champion and the inaugural winner of Extreme E, Molly Taylor, who is along as an ambassador for the brand.

She’s set to race a Can-Am again in Dakar 2023 and is driving her recently acquired X3 that came as part of a sponsorship deal.

“Can-Am is more about enjoying the machine,” she says of the buggies, while also clearly itching to get back to Dakar in 2023.

She’s not out trying to set lap records here – no one is – but is instead enjoying the machine, often running it in rear-drive to keep the tail more lively.

From a desert race track to virgin tracks, the Adventure steps up a gear on the second of four big driving days.

With the approval of owners we headed bush. Across challenging river beds and onto sharp boulders gives an instant appreciation of how good an off-road vehicle the Maverick X3 is. Sure, it’s built for pace, but there are ludicrous approach and departure angles and the sort of ground clearance that factory four-wheel drives don’t come close to.

Throw in chunky mud terrain tyres that don’t mind being punished across any terrain once the speedo ticks above the national speed limit and it’s a recipe for serious pace.

Venturing alongside a decaying section of the Old Ghan Railway line calls for concentration. While the pace is faster than any touring four-wheel drives – especially once on the private roads where road rules no longer apply – there’s respect for different abilities and speeds.

Rocketing across sparse terrain suddenly reveals a car destroying culvert that appears from nowhere. We just managed to wash off enough pace, leaning on a brief lockup of the cross-drilled brakes.

One other wasn’t so lucky, tearing a wheel off that required a truck to transport the stricken machine home. It’s a reminder things can go wrong.

On the same day another Can-Am ends up upside down, the result of driver exuberance in a river crossing. We’re there as it’s tipped back onto its wheels to rejoin the convoy, some mild scrapes the only battle scars for a vehicle designed to brush off bigger hits than this.

The next day things get serious as we head up Binns Track, one of the great off-road adventures in Australia. It’s relatively short by outback standard, but is varied and picturesque, the flowing bends a perfect place to test the mettle of the Can-Ams.

Leave it in two-wheel drive and there’s enough power to coax some easily controlled rear-wheel slides. Dial up 4x4 and it claws harder out of bends, the suspension hunkering down as the tyres fight for traction.

It’s Old Andado Station that is the base for our escapade into the Simpson proper, the highlight for many on this trip. Rather than tackling the well-worn trails that are pounded by thousands of four-wheel drives each year we headed to untouched dunes.

Seeing a couple of dozen buggies traversing the majesty of vibrant red dunes is a unique sight.
You’ve got to pick your lines around the larger bumps and mounds, but there’s almost nothing the X3s won’t have a decent crack it. You can get them bogged – if you work at it. And you don’t have to go too far around to find something that will work as a trail.

After four days in the desert the convoy eventually makes its way back to Alice Springs and the relative luxury of a hotel. No one is complaining about having a proper bed and their own facilities.

But at the same time you can see some are looking over their shoulder at a week of adventure that few could have envisaged.

Red dirt has permeated a lot more than our clothes. To the point where some are clearly keen to start dreaming of the next Big Adventure. Already Can-Am is planning another trek in the second half of 2023.