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6 February 2024

Polaris – Powesports Playday

Polaris was founded in 1954 and is now the leading global Powersports company in the world. They are no.1 in the global Powersports market. 

Their range is divided into two categories; ATV (All-terrain vehicles, quad) and UTV (Utility vehicles, buggies etc).

The ATV range has 3 categories; 

Utility – consisting of the Polaris Sportsman 570, Youth – consisting of Outlaw / Sportsman / Phoenix and Sport / Leisure – consisting of Sportsman / Scrambler XP1000.

The UTV range is made up of;

Polaris Ranger – Mid-size / Full size / EV, General, RZR and Youth Ranger / Youth RZR (small capacity).

On a warm sunny day, on a country estate in High Wycombe, I got to have a play day with a load of awesome Polaris toys.

Polaris laid on a range of toys including; Ranger, General, RZR, and Sportsman models and our playground was the sprawling 5000-acre West Wycombe Estate, offering miles of challenging and scenic routes, with a lake and 18th-century garden. 

Built between 1740 and 1800, The West Wycombe Estate was conceived as a pleasure palace for the 18th-century libertine and dilettante Sir Francis Dashwood. It would be rude not to take advantage of such a beautiful place and honour the tradition of it being a pleasure palace. 

My first pick was the Sportsman XP 1000 S ATV. The Sportsman is the widest ATV in the industry at 55” wide and has a 999cc parallel twin engine that produces 89hp. The Sportsman has on-demand 4×4, a massive 680kg towing capacity, and 261kg payload, and it’s fully road-legal (PLG).

I’ll be honest, I have very little experience in riding quads…..very little, so I was a bit apprehensive jumping on board 425kg (dry), 89hp ATV. 

The Polaris Sportsman XP 1000 S is actually a bit of a pussycat. It’s very easy to ride with simple, friendly controls. It makes good power but is very controllable. It’s an awesome machine, huge fun and incredibly capable. I couldn’t believe how capable it was and what it could do, without breaking into a sweat, way more capable than I am brave.

After a very short time, I started to feel more confident and would have loved more time on it. It’s quite physical and you have to move around, leaning off the bike to get the best out of it. 

Polaris also offer a smaller 570cc.

Next up was the Ranger. The Ranger range is part of the UTV range and is available in a variety of sizes and styles and is a real workhorse. 

The mid-size Ranger, known as the 570, has a 567cc single-cylinder engine producing 45.1 Nm @ 5,300rpm and has On-Demand True AWD / 2WD / VersaTrac Turf Mode.

It has MacPherson Strut front suspension with 22.9cm of travel and dual A-Arm, Independent rear suspension with 22.9cm of travel. 

Ground clearance is 25.4cm and the payload is 454kg. A serious tool for a serious job.

I expected this to be a toy, but it was excellent. I couldn’t believe what this little UTV was capable of and where it could go.

Next up is the Ranger 1000XP, known as the full size, which has a 999cc parallel twin engine producing 82hp and 70Nm of torque @ 5,500 RPM (61hp in non-XP form) and you have Pro-Lock On-Demand AWD / 2WD / VersaTrac Turf Mode to help you with your daily chores.

Front suspension is dual A-Arm with 25.4 cm travel and rear suspension is dual A-Arm with independent rear suspension, giving 25.4 cm of suspension travel. Ground clearance is 30.5cm and the payload is 680kg.

I got to play in the 1000XP and the Crew XP and couldn’t stop laughing. These things are absolutely brilliant. 

Before I jumped in, I asked why someone would buy one over a standard pickup like a Ford Ranger, Toyota Hilux or similar, but after being out in the Polaris Ranger 1000XP I completely understood. For a start, I can’t think of any pickup that can go where these can. Secondly, a pickup simply couldn’t work as hard as this and keep going. It would fall to bits. 

Driving these around the sprawling country estate was brilliant fun, I was giggling like a little child, then breathless when we climbed another impossible track. However, as fun as this was, and it really was, it demonstrated the incredible ability and durability of the Polaris products. 

Polaris were mad enough to let a bunch of journalists abuse and take advantage of their vehicles, and not a single Polaris was harmed during the day. 

The venue was perfect, with a real mix of terrain; open stretches across dusty fields, water crossings, very steep and rocky climbs and more. It was a real eye-opener and was a thorough test of the vehicles and our ability. 

Polaris is working hard to electrify its range. They had brought along the Ranger EV but sadly I didn’t get to drive it. It has a range of 40 – 80 miles range, a power output of up to 85hp equivalent and up to 119 Nm torque. The Ranger EV has on-demand 4×4, and rapid charging too. 

The Polaris team had one that they were using to chaperone us in and it looked great. It performed as well as the petrol vehicles we were using.

Polaris have a wide range of vehicles, with many more versions and variants that I have mentioned here. I would suggest taking a look at their website or paying a visit to your local dealer. 

https://www.polarisbritain.com/

 

Category: Supercars
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