RIDGID OCTANE 18V 6-Mode Impact Driver R86039 Vs Gen5X Brushless with 6.0 Ah OCTANE Batteries

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RIDGID OCTANE Impact Driver RIDGID's New 6-mode OCTANE Impact Driver delivers high torque of 2,400 in-lbs with 3,000 RPM and 3500 IPM.  That combination makes this new OCTANE model the leader of the RIDGID 18-volt line.  The OCTANE impact driver is rated at 200 ft-lbs more than the previous leader, the brushless Gen5X.  With that said, to get this increased power, the RIDGID OCTANE line requires the use of an OCTANE battery.   All RIDGID 18V batteries work on OCTANE models but reduce the performance slightly.  So that makes us wonder what the rated power of the GEN5X would be with a RIDGID OCTANE battery?

Before we get to the testing, the new OCTANE model offers 6 modes.  The first three are very similar to the GEN5X as they are just speed modes.  Modes 4-6 are what differ and offer unique settings.

Mode 4 - Auto-stop This mode shuts the brushless motor down after it starts to impact so you don’t overtighten.

Mode 5 - Fastener assist -  This mode works in forward and reverse and does different things.   In forward it is a slow start that works into slow impact and then works to maximum impacting.  When used to remove fasteners, it will turn on and off six times to hold the head in the bit and slowly work to more torque and speed allowing a successful removal.

Mode 6 - self-drilling -  This mode starts fast and slows down to help you avoid shearing off fastener heads.  This works best with shorter fasteners ad the impacting is fairly slow.

OCTANE vs GEN5X

When comparing the GEN5X impact wrench to the OCTANE models, we chose to use OCTANE 6.0 Ah batteries on each model.  Obviously, the GEN5X was not rated with the battery and might benefit a little when using it.  This test is to help anyone looking to upgrade decide if the upgrade is worth the money.  We did the test with long lags to help show the difference in speed.  Shorter fasteners were much harder to see the difference.  That tells you how close they were.  You can see in the video that the OCTANE model will beat the GEN5X, but not by a lot.  With the OCTANEs larger size, we expected a bit more power.  What we did not expect what the OCTANE to be hot at the end of the test.  Our thermal imager shows an interesting picture that makes us wonder what the OCTANE model shares in common with the Milwaukee M18 Gen 3 Impact Driver!  When it comes to cost, the Ridgid Gen5X retails at $119 and the RIDGID OCTANE Impact Driver retails at $129.  As always, it is the user that will know best if the benefits of the 6 modes will help them.