A Quad Like No Other

We discovered the existence of the Gas Gas Wild HP 450 quite by accident. Our publisher, Sean Finley, went to Germany's Intermot trade show last October and brought back pictures of this sharp-looking Spanish creation. By that time we already had in our hands photos of the two-stroke Wild HP 300, so we put them aside for later viewing, thinking they were just more pictures of that unit.

Weeks later, when taking a closer look we realized Gas Gas had quietly added a four-stroke to the mix. While the thought of a high-performance 300cc two-stroke was enough to whet our appetites, a four-stroke is even more mouth-watering. As two-strokes are giving us their long kiss goodbye due to their inherently polluting nature, four-strokes have far more promise as powerplants for our machines.

What we had then was Gas Gas' answer to the potent 450 four-strokes being produced by the likes of Yamaha and KTM (and theoretically Honda) for use in enduro bikes but not ready (yet) to trickle down to the ATV market. It seems this little company from Spain may have pulled a fast one on the big players of the industry.

The fact that sister publication Dirt Rider ranked the Gas Gas FCE 450 enduro motorcycle--whence the 450's motor came--highly in its 24-Hour test was only a start. We were also excited by the fact that the Wild HP 450 is a fuel-injected, dual-overhead-cam, fully modern race-bred powerplant. We were further wooed by top-shelf Öehlins suspension pieces, an Arrow exhaust (suppliers to world-class motorcycle race teams), Douglas wheels, Maxxis tires and seemingly race-ready nerf bars and tether kill switch to boot!

High expectations have a way of crashing down to earth hard.

What we didn't take into account was this isn't some race tuner with years of ATV experience setting out to build a ground-up quad. Nor is this a multinational conglomerate with a cadre of engineers at its command. Gas Gas is a regional player in the European motorcycle market; its core passion is for motorcycles, not quads.

A hint of teething issues with Gas Gas' new Wild HP ATV line came from reports trickling in of an unsorted front end on the 300 two-stroke. Apparently, to save money--or for whatever reason--the two-stroke was equipped with three identical shocks at both ends of the vehicle, with the fronts being of a short, heavy build and the A-arms having really screwed-up geometry to compensate.

These little worries fled from our consciousness when we laid eyes on the blue beauty at Sandtech Racing in Las Vegas, Nevada (one of the first three in the country). What we noticed right off the bat was the more normal-looking front shock/A-arm setup. The front arms are super-wide, for a total front end width of 52 inches across, and are suspended with a longer, more conventional-looking Oehlins reservoir shock like those found on high-performance race machines.

Tearing our eyes away from the wide front end, we found the 450 an unconventional quad in many ways. Motorcycle-style controls have the starter button on the right side, a twist throttle, a working horn as well as provisions for such street equipment as turn signals and hazard lights. You see, in Europe quads can be registered for street use so these items are necessary. All the switches and buttons are still in place, as well as the holes in the plastic cowl in which to mount directionals. The gas cap and seat both lock with a key.

On the other side of the equipment spectrum, the Wild HP has standard nerf bars, without the heel guards that are standard equipment in this country. There is also a Pro Design tether-style kill switch, as would be required for racing. The multifunction gauge on the dash has a lap timer, hourmeter and odometer. Finishing off the HP 450 are stock skid plates, high-performance Brembo brakes, Magneti Marelli fuel injection, hydraulic clutch, fat steering tie-rods ... the list just keeps going. Oddly, though maybe not by Euro standards, there is no whip flag mount on the grab bar. Also very racy yet loud is the Arrow exhaust system, which is not spark-arrested--or if it is, it doesn't bear the U.S. Forest Service certification common to most stock silencers. So the question of the hour is: Is the Gas Gas the real deal or just a paper tiger?

To try to discover the answer, we went to a riding area in the mountains north of town to put the racy machine to the test on some local trails. The area we found had a decent variety from a gravel pit to some wide fast trails along with some technical woods and tight sand washes. An immediate first impression was that the front end still needs work. While just warming up the quad in the gravel pit and trying to gently break in the motor, the steering effort was noticeably heavy and feedback vague. It wasn't that it didn't turn; at full lock it would spin a U-turn fine, but at speed on trails, its imprecision weighed in, demanding large corrections (against the stubborn steering) just to keep the quad pointed the right way.

The suspension could use some tuning but is otherwise the high-quality damping you'd expect from Oehlins. When jumping the 450 we bottomed the quad, but we're pretty confident the full-length skid plates took the hit well. That said, the factory setup is about the plushest sport quad in existence.

The 2-inches-over-legal front end concerns us, too. For one thing, on a theoretically race-ready mount, it's too wide to ride at an ATVA-sanctioned motocross. For another, it makes tight situations a bit of a challenge. The Wild HP's vague, heavy steering coupled with a front end wider than some trails makes for interesting riding. In addition, despite all of its street-ready European equipment, the Gas Gas does not come with reverse.

There's an oddity that we couldn't explain if we tried. The Wild HP 450 seems to sit low in the rear, which standard ATV logic would dictate would make it want to wheelie. But on the contrary, the quad just likes to swim the back end around, making it a really loose ride. On the upside, the integrated pegs/nerf bars made for a wide, grippy base for our feet. The pegs are long and kicked up at the ends, with tall cleats for the whole length.

Once we grew accustomed to the handling, the next thing we noticed was an uninspired motor. Granted we were taking it easy during the break-in, but there was a distinct lack of thrust. As the motor broke in, a noticeable increase in horsepower became apparent, though still subpar for what should be an earth-shaker. We found out after our test session that several of the early 450s were accidentally saddled with the wrong ignition program and throttle body. Instead of the setup for the 450 motorcycle, our tester got the pieces off the 400 motorcycle. This might also explain the hard starts we experienced.

Beyond just power, we think the flywheel might have to be heavier for ATV duty--the 450 liked to stall at low rpm. Putting the power to the rear wheels was a solid six-speed transmission. The unit had a nice, smooth engagement, and we never hit any false neutrals. In fact, we had trouble finding the real neutral. The gearbox should make the quad capable of some truly high speeds as it's a nice wide-ratio, and a six-speed to boot. Stability at those speeds should not be a problem, as this is one of those quads that seems stuck to the ground, despite handling that has it wandering a bit in corners. Hauling down from high speed is perhaps the best move this ATV makes. The Brembo brakes (two-pistons in the rear) are one of the best sets we've tried. If we could find a Cannondale to test, it would be interesting to see which stopped first.

Perhaps with some refinement, the Wild HP 450 will be ready for the big time. It has a list of standard equipment that reads like a sport quad owner's Christmas wish list, but all the parts don't quite make up for the obvious inexperience Gas Gas has displayed in the chassis department. Also, the little miscues noted on our vehicle (wrong throttle body, etc.) are troubling, given that to fix them you need a week to get the parts from Spain. With stronger parts support and more R&D time before the product hits the showroom, this quad should be a likely standout. But how long will that take and what will Honda and Yamaha have out by then?