A couple of month in the past, we test-drove the all-new 2024 Polaris Ranger XD 1500, which is likely to be, pound for pound, probably the most succesful utility side-by-side ever constructed. With options and horsepower for days plus a smoother steel-belt CVT than most passenger vehicles we have examined recently, there wasn’t a lot of something to dislike. However what are you supposed to purchase if you do not have sheep to herd, deer to hunt, or development websites to drive round?
What if the one factor you care about is having enjoyable? My mates, Polaris has your again. That is the 2024 RZR XP 4 1000 Final, and it is right here to point out you a uncooked, visceral expertise remains to be potential with 4 wheels and an ICE powerplant. , the way in which all efficiency automobiles on or off-road was once. The RZR lineup is North America’s top-selling strictly leisure side-by-side, constructed to do nothing however put a smile in your face and some kilos of mud and sand in your garments for good measure. First launched in 2007 with main refreshes in 2014 and 2019, this all-new, completely bespoke 2024 RZR XP solely shares the steering column with the outgoing mannequin.
Every thing else, from the chassis to the drivetrain and all of the vital suspension, is all-new and made to work in concord at Polaris’ state-of-the-art R&D facility in Wyoming, Minnesota. The stage was set for us to have the drive of a lifetime at one in all Polaris’ Journey places at On the Path Leases in Grand Lake, Colorado. With loads of mud, filth, sand, and three-foot-deep puddles of water from the earlier week’s rainfall to play with, there was no scarcity of obstacles for this strictly leisure side-by-side to chop its enamel on. However first, we would have to familiarize yourself with the machines we would be using.
With dimensions of 147.8 x 64 x 75 inches (375.4 x 162.6 x 190.5 cm) with a 117-inch (297.2 cm) wheelbase on the RZR XP 4 1000 Final we drove that day, this four-door side-by-side enables you to take a household of 4 on a thrill trip they’re going to always remember. The car’s doorways are opened through mechanical door poppers on the inside door playing cards. You may discover they pop open with a pleasant tactile feeling that solely accentuates the joy you are liable to really feel as you climb inside. As soon as the doorways open, you are greeted with an inside way more automotive-like in look than you would possibly count on when you’re new to leisure side-by-sides.
Plush vinyl materials covers the seats within the entrance and rear. You may immediately discover they match whichever paint and decal colours had been chosen to your machine. Transferring additional across the inside, we discover a seven-inch infotainment and navigation touchscreen full with Polaris’ industry-leading Experience Command software program that gives a greater consumer expertise than some automotive-grade infotainment setups you are liable to seek out. There’s one thing to be mentioned for a middle display screen with smartphone ranges of responsiveness discovered on an off-road toy quite than a giant luxurious automotive, nevertheless it’s one of many brightest spots on this rig’s inside goodies. They actually do make the RZR XP 4 1000 a nicer place to take a seat than you would possibly suppose. The rear backup digicam was crisp and clear in picture high quality as effectively.
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Picture: Benny Kirk/autoevolution
No world-class infotainment display screen can be full with out a banging stereo linked to it. Fortunately, this is not a spot the place Polaris cheaped out even barely. We’re speaking a couple of Rockford Fosgate Stage 3 audio system with audio system built-in into every door panel for an genuine stereo encompass sound expertise managed out of your cellphone through BlueTooth and the Experience Command+ cellular app for iOS and Android. We imply it after we inform you the audio high quality introduced a palpable improve within the trip expertise. As soon as once more, there are some automotive-grade stereo techniques from the final 20 years with out this degree of high quality.
Transferring to the car’s rear, we discover a recreational-optimized variant of the Polaris Lock & Experience cargo storage system. Though it is not as strong as what you’d discover on the utilitarian Ranger, you may discover it does a implausible job of hauling mild a great deal of cargo, drinks and snacks, and a spare full-sized wheel and tire round to the purpose you neglect it is even on board at instances. We’ll additionally word that we saved a digicam bag full of pricy, irreplaceable gear within the rear Lock & Experience storage field throughout our check drive. Not solely did it not transfer a wink in the course of the trip, however the water bottles and vitality drink cans within the cooler behind it did not even leak from the melting ice inside.
Add on the spare tire mount latch that disconnects and raises with a easy tug along with your pinky finger, and it is probably the most understated however good items of engineering on the entire car. Are you able to consider we’ve not touched the nuts and bolts but? Fortunately, the RZR XP 4 does not disappoint there, both. Sitting on the rear of the car beneath the Lock & Experience {hardware} and a thermal safety cowl sits a naturally-aspirated 999cc Polaris ProStar four-stroke, twin-cylinder fuel engine with digital gasoline injection and 114 horsepower to play with.
For some context, a few entry-level hatchbacks available on the market proper now do not make this a lot energy. We’re taking a look at you, Mitsubishi Mirage. Heck, even the 2023 Kia Rio solely makes six horsepower extra. Just like the Mirage and Rio, the RZR XP 4 1000 Final sports activities a CVT transmission, albeit utilizing rubber belts as a substitute of metal ones. Sadly, this mannequin does not get the flowery SteelDrive CVT of the Ranger XD 1500. Then once more, when all you wish to do is have enjoyable, you do not want the additional transmission {hardware} driving up prices unnecessarily. The outcomes are profound when you get this depraved engine and transmission combo out on the path.
![2024 Polaris RZR XP 4 1000 Ultimate 2024 Polaris RZR XP 4 1000 Ultimate](https://s1.cdn.autoevolution.com/images/news-gallery-860x/driven-the-2024-polaris-rzr-xp-1000-ultimate-may-be-the-most-fun-possible-on-four-wheels-thumbnail_15.jpg)
Picture: Benny Kirk/autoevolution
From the second you hear this twin-pot roar to life with a visceral, guttural growl that we’re instructed goes Dodo when EVs take over, you are handled to as primal and joyous an expertise as remains to be potential on 4 wheels with a brand new car today. Throttle response instances really feel almost instantaneous; it is to the purpose the place individuals who do not drive sports activities vehicles or leisure off-roaders frequently might need a troublesome time attending to grips at first. However after the preliminary shell shock wears off and a few really intimidating off-roading is thrown your method, you begin to perceive the true talents of what Polaris has provide you with right here.
Over uneven terrain with crevasses and dips galore, filth berms angled at what appears like 60 and even 70 levels, and throughout thick mud passes and rainfall collections you can most likely use as a swimming pool if not for the critters and dirt combined in, this RZR XP 1000 did not even flinch. When you think about the 16-position adjustable Walker Evans shocks in any respect 4 corners paired with twin a-arm entrance suspension and trailing arm rear suspension, is it any surprise this machine can glide throughout even probably the most rugged off-road terrain? The chunky Path Grasp X/T 2.0 radial tires assist drive the purpose residence.
With 16 inches of wheel journey to play with up entrance and 18 within the rear, there have been only a few hazards that you’d even discover on a given off-road path. The extent of suspension articulation the RZR XP 1000 line is able to places Jeeps and Land Rovers to disgrace, all whereas sporting an engine so wanting to rev with every joyous stomp of your proper foot that you simply’d be forgiven for pondering it was a VTEC motor. With a roughly 25 % improve in chassis stiffness over the outgoing mannequin due to a one-piece body as a substitute of particular person sub-frames welded collectively, all of it comes collectively to make a car supremely competent in its talents.
Nearly like a high-end supercar, this can be a case the place the higher limits of the RZR XP 1000’s capabilities aren’t actually attainable to the typical Joe or Josephine. However that is to not say abnormal folks cannot have an absolute riot behind the wheel. Most people with their crossover SUV every day drivers have possible by no means skilled a car with this degree of enter between machine and driver. For a crash course in the best way to drive neatly but aggressively throughout the bounds of the foundations at your native off-road path, we are able to consider no higher car on Earth to get the job accomplished.
![2024 Polaris RZR XP 4 1000 Ultimate 2024 Polaris RZR XP 4 1000 Ultimate](https://s1.cdn.autoevolution.com/images/news-gallery-860x/driven-the-2024-polaris-rzr-xp-1000-ultimate-may-be-the-most-fun-possible-on-four-wheels-thumbnail_73.jpg)
Picture: Polaris
With a variety of trim packages obtainable in two or four-door fashions from the entry-level RZR XP 1000 4 Sport beginning at $24,999 to the mid-range Premium mannequin at $26,999 to the mack-daddy Final package deal beginning at $29,999 earlier than taxes and charges, there is a configuration on the market to swimsuit everybody’s wants. After all, that is nonetheless some huge cash for what’s nonetheless only a plaything.
However when you ask us, the perfect bang to your buck resolution is to journey to a spot like a Polaris Journey location and hire one in all these beasts for the afternoon so you may get pleasure from them with none of the hassles of possession. If you happen to ask us, it is one thing everyone ought to strive at the very least as soon as of their lifetime. Belief us, you would be shocked how the worry of messing issues up melts into abject pleasure once you energy your method over terrain you’d suppose twice about sending a highway authorized 4×4 by way of with out voiding its guarantee. Some machines are simply “constructed totally different.”