Benda Redstone 550 R2 tested

Normally I know relatively quickly what to expect from an ATV. Big thing usually means: stable, but a bit clumsy. Small thing: nimble, fun and more pleasant in tight woods. With the Benda Redstone 550, my first assessment was therefore thrown out the window pretty quickly.

Because yes, this thing is big. For an ATV in this displacement class, it's actually really big. Around 2.1 metres in length, 1.3 metres wheelbase and about 1.2 metres width are not dimensions with which you thread yourself between two trees like with a hard enduro. But when we tackled the first steeper forest climbs and side-slopes with the Redstone, it quickly became clear: these dimensions bring plenty of advantages too.

The Redstone sits incredibly calm. Especially where smaller ATVs start getting nervous due to their short wheelbase, you simply keep going with the Benda. On side-slopes I had several situations where I probably would have been sitting noticeably more tense in the saddle on my Yamaha Kodiak. On the Redstone, on the other hand, you think: it's fine.

And then it just carries on. Actually astonishing, because Benda is building its very first ATV here. But you notice relatively quickly that the Chinese haven't just put some vehicle on four wheels.

Anyone who has only followed Benda on the sidelines so far should perhaps take a look at everything this company has presented in a relatively short time. V4 engines, air suspension, all sorts of different V2 concepts and even a small boxer engine with hybrid drive have already been on the table. At EICMA 2025, ATVs were then added too. And we're now standing right in front of one of them. As if we hadn't expected anything else, the Redstone impresses with its build quality and equipment.

There are the massive components around the front bumper, footpegs and chassis. There are the standard 14-inch beadlock rims. A winch is also already fitted. Heated grips? Standard. Heated seat? Also included. Big TFT? Of course. The interesting thing about it, though: it doesn't feel like a pointless list of features just written into the brochure. A great many of these things actually help out there. And that's exactly where we wanted to go. Not an ice-cream-parlour beauty - but a forest and field work tool that's practical and also looks smart.

The Redstone is powered by a roughly 500cc V2. It produces 42 hp at 8,000 rpm and delivers 41 Nm of torque at 5,000 rpm. With a ready-to-ride weight of just under 500 kilograms, that doesn't exactly sound like brutal force on paper. But it doesn't need to be either.

Much more important for an ATV in this class is how the power can be deployed. For this, the Benda has a CVT automatic with high and low ratios. Off-road or for slow work, you use low, on normal paths and on the road, high. This works exactly as you'd expect from a proper working ATV.

More exciting are the three riding modes.

In work mode, the first time I thought something was wrong with the throttle. You push the lever relatively far and initially it feels like not much happens. But that's exactly the intention. If, for example, when setting up a fence I only want to roll forward a metre at a time, the vehicle can be dosed extremely finely with this.

Sport mode is the exact opposite. It only takes a small push on the throttle lever and the Redstone reacts instantly. That's fun on the road, but you don't really need it for precision work.

Standard sits in between - and that's probably where most owners will spend the majority of their time.

With an ATV, I'm relatively uninterested in how many colourful symbols light up in the display. It gets exciting when you're standing somewhere in the woods and can't go any further.

The Redstone has several escalation levels for that.

First I can lock the rear differential. If that's not enough, all-wheel drive comes into play. If that's still not enough, the front differential can also be locked. And if you've still managed to bury the thing somewhere, there's a winch fitted at the front as standard.

So you really have to put in a serious effort to run out of options.

I find the combination of locks particularly strong on the Redstone. You don't have to engage everything at once, but can react step by step depending on the situation. On the TFT you can nicely see what's currently active.

I also like the winch. Benda uses a synthetic rope instead of a classic steel cable. Anyone who has ever worked with an older steel cable knows the little frayed strands. If you reach in there with your hand once, you remember it for quite a while.

The synthetic rope is lighter, more flexible and noticeably more pleasant to handle in practice.

30 centimetres of ground clearance is a statement. Even more important, though, is what Benda has done with the underbody. It's relatively smooth. So when you drive over a tree stump, there's not immediately some crossmember or edge somewhere to get caught on. Exactly these kinds of details make far more difference in real use than any theoretical figure in a brochure.

I was also positively surprised by the chassis. Beforehand I'd heard several times that the Redstone was set up relatively stiff. From my point of view I can only confirm that to a limited extent.

With my roughly 95 kilos and a rather quicker riding style, the setup really works well. We were riding on sunken lanes where water diversion channels had been built in again and again across the direction of travel. So small steps that can become quite unpleasant at higher speed.

The Redstone soaks up such hits cleanly. On my softer Kodiak I'd have to take noticeably more speed off at the same spots, because otherwise the vehicle almost catapults me out of the seat.

Of course someone weighing 60 kilograms might see it differently. But for that, all four gas-charged shock absorbers are fully adjustable. Rebound, compression and spring preload can all be adjusted.

So you can actually work with this, not just show off in a brochure.

Let's get to the obvious downside of the Redstone: the thing needs space.

You notice the size in the turning circle. When you have to wind your way around individual trees in a tight patch of forest, a smaller ATV simply feels handier. There's no way around that.

What I had completely underestimated, though, was the other side of these dimensions.

Thanks to the long wheelbase and wide vehicle base, the Redstone handles side-slopes extremely confidently. Situations that already demand a bit of concentration on a more compact ATV feel astonishingly unspectacular here.

It's similar on steep climbs. Normally I would have expected the big, heavy vehicle to become a disadvantage at some point there. In practice, though, the Redstone stays very calm for a long time, builds up plenty of traction and conveys a lot of confidence.

Of course you mustn't forget the nearly 500 kilograms. If a machine like this really gets stuck or ends up sideways on a slope, you can't just quickly lift it under your arm. That's why it's all the more important that the chassis, locks and all-wheel drive do as much as possible to prevent you ending up in such situations in the first place.

And that's exactly what works pretty well on the Benda.

The Redstone actually surprised me even more on the road. Thanks to T3b approval and ABS, it can be ridden with a normal car licence and isn't limited to 60 km/h. In sport mode, up to 104 km/h is possible. Now you have to know: 100 km/h on an ATV can get pretty spectacular. I've ridden machines that start floating at 90. Then you sit at the handlebars increasingly feeling like more of a passenger than a pilot.

With the Redstone it's completely different.

Even at higher speed it sits firmly planted on the road. Even in gentle corners no unpleasant weaving comes into it. Here again, presumably, the big vehicle concept with the long wheelbase pays off.

The somewhat stiffer suspension also helps on asphalt. The Redstone doesn't constantly wallow around and reacts predictably.

Of course it doesn't become a sports machine because of that. But anyone who regularly has to cover connecting stretches on asphalt with their ATV gets a surprisingly relaxed package here.

The electric power steering can also be adjusted in three stages. Depending on whether you want more feel at the handlebars or as much assistance as possible, you can adjust the EPS. In slow off-road terrain and when manoeuvring, the stronger assistance is pleasant. At faster riding it could be a bit less for my taste. In any case, it's nice that the rider has the choice.

The large, portrait-format TFT also looks unusually modern for this vehicle class. Among other things you can check there whether all-wheel drive or the differential locks are active, and adjust the EPS settings. Then we get to one of my personal highlights: heated grips and heated seat.

You can discuss heated grips until it gets cold. Then nobody discusses it anymore. On the Redstone they're multi-stage and in the upper settings can definitely get towards finger-grilling territory. There's also a two-stage heated seat for the rider.

During the test we had a dramatic temperature drop of about 40 degrees down to almost arctic 20 degrees. Naturally the heated seat had to be switched on immediately. Purely for scientific reasons, of course.

Joking aside: anyone who really works with the ATV in autumn, winter or early morning will love this equipment.

Of course the Redstone doesn't get away entirely without criticism.

Benda doesn't use a classic ignition key, but an NFC card. Hold the card up, ignition on. Press the brake, start. When switching off, hold the card up again.

Cool idea. As long as the card is within reach.

If it's stuck somewhere deep in your jacket pocket and you're wearing thick gloves, things quickly become less cool. With motocross trousers without a pocket, it gets downright interesting. There is a holder with a lanyard for that, but the solution doesn't quite convince me yet.

According to the announcement, Benda is working on a smartphone solution. Then the NFC code should be transferable to your phone. Especially for work vehicles that would be practical, because you could also pass on authorisation to employees or other riders.

My second point of criticism concerns storage space. At the rear there's a small compartment for papers, bandages and small items, but up front I would really like a small storage compartment.

Because there is a USB port and a 12-volt socket. But where do you put your phone while it's charging? A small protected box would solve the problem.

And then there's the annoying beeping in reverse gear. Benda can't do anything about that though - European regulations send their regards.