In the last issue of DIRTsports, we followed along with the crew at DragonFire Racing as they installed one of the coolest long-travel Rhino kits around.
The combination of DragonFire's awesome long-travel suspension kit–complete with ultra-trick custom axles by Gorilla and piggyback
coilover Fox Shox–gave our Yamaha Rhino a distinctive new stance and attitude. Once we added new, larger Maxxis Bighorn tires
and a set of beautifully crafted OMF beadlock wheels, it became pretty clear that we were on the road to building one of the
hottest Rhinos around.
While we really enjoyed driving the ultra-popular Yamaha side-by-side in its stock form, like every hot rodder since Henry
Ford, leaving something in production specs just isn't in our nature. The suspension upgrades definitely ignited our enthusiasm;
that fire was then stoked by DragonFire's Todd Romano when he offered to add more power and a custom-built version of his
company's highly popular two-seat safety cage.
If your history is anything like ours, in the middle of any project there comes a point–let's say a philosophical crossroads–when
the best-laid plans for keeping things simple, rational and practical go out the window. There really is no point to doing
anything half-assed, especially in our sport, where new ideas and radical extremes are the rule, not the exception. It was at DragonFire's installation shop near Phoenix, Ariz. that we had the ultimate epiphany about the DIRTsports Rhino. As a legendary off-road racing chassis builder once so eloquently put it, "We need to step up or step aside. We need
to go big or go home. Run with the big dogs or stay on the porch." All these platitudes suddenly seemed like serious revelation.
We committed to building a hardcore, full-blown Rhino that will become a familiar showcase at a variety of off-road events
in 2007. Departing from our original plan for a mild conversion, we will now incorporate every new component and trick modification
into the final stages of our project build. Hopefully, the result will be the ultimate, state-of-the-art Yamaha Rhino on par
with the Off-Road Nation's finest machines.
For now, it's time for additional power, torque and a trick safety cage–all courtesy of those pesky instigators at DragonFire
Racing.
COMPONENTS
With the installation of the long-travel suspension and a larger wheel/tire package, the need for increased power became obvious.
Fortunately for us, the boys at DragonFire Racing had the answers we needed. Not only did they supply the trick, turn-key
suspension, but there on the project table lay a complete Stage 2 engine upgrade package comprised of an exhaust system, one
of their new CDI boxes and an updated billet intake system.
Let's start with DragonFire's Dual Guns exhaust system. In comparison with the rest of the Rhino's excellent production engineering,
it was readily apparent that Yamaha's production exhaust system left much to be desired. While the OEM components are very
quiet, the rather tame production unit was comprised of a round muffler and a "pea shooter" exhaust pipe–not in keeping with
our project's new mission.
Next up was the DragonFire Racing CDI, a specially built, high-performance bolt-in product designed specifically for the Yamaha
Rhino. This is a true plug-n-play replacement unit that works with the stock panel lights as well as the Yamaha digital dash.
Finally, we added DragonFire Racing's trick intake system that features a 3-inch billet manifold together with a UNI Performance
foam air filter.
Parts List:
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