Folks,
I am new here, and just wanted to register my experience and decision on purchasing a new UTV because it was absolute HELL trying to find good reliable advice on individual models on the web. Most everyone posts opinions supporting what they own, with little empirical evidence to back up what they are disparaging. I'm hoping this may help someone else in my situation.
Background, my search was to find a UTV that had the following traits, and in this priority:
- reliability
- quiet (this will be for hunting)
- utility
I wasn't too interested in accessories, speed, etc. I just want to be clear so that anyone reading this can understand where my value was coming from. I started off even looking at electric and electric/hybrid model rigs until the reality set in on those. Reliability was a big issue in that department.
After weeks of web-search, I decided to locate and drive the Polaris Ranger 900 (wound up driving a 1000), Can-Am Defender HD-8, Honda Pioneer 1000-5, and the Kawasaki Mule Pro-Fx. I couldn't locate a Viking to try, and as owner of a few Grizzlies I would have liked to.
The Ranger and Defender in my view point had the most comfort and sporty approach to UTV even being a utility rig. And if you want something to mod-up and go fast these are good options. Both were louder than I was hoping for. The Ranger had a slow belt engagement feel on launch, and then was plenty powerful. But it felt like it took 3k rpm's just to move forward. The seats on the Ranger were very comfortable, and it was a roomy ride. The Defender had a dash reminiscent of a modern pickup, plastic storage boxes everywhere. It had a more positive engagement at the bottom, and plenty of go from there on too. It had less body roll than the Ranger I thought. It had issues though, smoked like hell after decent throttle then backing out of it. And I mean blue oil smoke, straight from pipe, not something burning off of the outside. The Defender was harder to get in and out of than the Ranger. I grouped these two together because I honestly thought they are neck and neck on focus. I drove all 4 models at 3 different dealerships, and with most dealerships carrying all by one line. Hands down the service guys told me the Polaris would be the least reliable. They said, with Polaris you get cool stuff up front, but they don't stand behind their products. Their words not mine. The Can-am products they referenced as being similar, just that they didn't sell as many. The one theme from dealership to dealership on the Polaris was something like "You can have two of the same machines, delivered the same day. One will never have an issue for 10 years, and the other won't run for 10 days without an issue." Again, their sentiments not mine. Oh yeah, the Can-Am engine died twice on deceleration while doing left hand turns. I did like the texture of the Can-Am seat, it was almost tacky and did a lot to keep you in there.
So then it was on to the Honda and Kawasaki. To be honest, I thought the Honda would blow me away from what I was seeing online. I can tell you I was sorely mistaken. It may be reliable, I can't testify to that, but the ride flat out sucked. The transmission whine at any point of throttle was terrible. I don't want to have to ride a helmet to drown out the transmission sound. And while I liked the idea of the real tranny (no preference to paddle shifters), it was noisy as hell while shifting. I was really in awe at how far off the mark I was with my expectations. The rear seats were awful, and I mean awful. I would feel bad for anyone even a kidding riding back there all day. My knees were in my stomach (I am 5'10 190lb). There was also far too much plastic on top of plastic for my liking. They all have plastic panels, but this one really seemed to be plastic on top of plastic on top of... you get it. As if it were ever dissassembled it would never fit back together right.
My last ride was the Kawasaki Pro Fxt. Hands down the favorite of every service department, I don't spend much time with sales guys. They loved them, said they had little to no issues with them, other than being a PIA to change the oil filter. The seat is a simple flat cushion, cushy enough, but in NO WAY wraps you like the other models seats. It's just not that machine. In fact, if your passengers don't buckle up you can sling them out pretty dang easy in a hard turn. There isn't much storage either. The expandable seating and bed system though is pretty awesome. You don't have to decide between passengers or cargo, or both and a 12' bus in the woods. Crew cabs are great, they just wouldn't work in my scenario, hence I didn't drive any. The Mule was by far the best on initial belt engagement, but also the slowest in the bunch. I topped it out at 44 with 4 passengers. Driving in low range didn't seem as daunting at speeds like 20mpg as the Defender or Ranger, it may just be a higher gear, which could affect low end grunt. It was quite, it had the lowest sound reading of them all at 76db. The Ranger came in at 81db. I liked the fact that it had an actual automotive battery and alternator. And in reality a fairly well supported and widely used automotive engine. At the outset, I almost brushed off the Mule because of my experience with Mules of the past, the older designs, the ones that sounded and road like tanks where you pick your teeth up out of the floor at the end. Not this model. It was cushy, like a caddy. In fact, I am sure it is way too soft for pure recreational wheeling. The power steering was great, it didn't have the strong return to center that the Ranger and Defender had, but just felt really good.
So in short, I went with Mule Pro FXT. I wish I could have tried the Viking. But if you are looking for something that "should" be reliable, quiet, but not go too fast or tackle 90 turns at 50mph
it's a good machine for it's purpose.
I do want to say that all of these machines were impressive in their own right. You need to drive them ALL to figure out what you like. Don't judge from what I am saying here or others anywhere else. Don't buy on brand loyalty, you are only cheating yourself. These things cost WAY TOO MUCH money for you to make a decision for anything other than it proving to be the best machine, period! Drive them, make your choice.
I am new here, and just wanted to register my experience and decision on purchasing a new UTV because it was absolute HELL trying to find good reliable advice on individual models on the web. Most everyone posts opinions supporting what they own, with little empirical evidence to back up what they are disparaging. I'm hoping this may help someone else in my situation.
Background, my search was to find a UTV that had the following traits, and in this priority:
- reliability
- quiet (this will be for hunting)
- utility
I wasn't too interested in accessories, speed, etc. I just want to be clear so that anyone reading this can understand where my value was coming from. I started off even looking at electric and electric/hybrid model rigs until the reality set in on those. Reliability was a big issue in that department.
After weeks of web-search, I decided to locate and drive the Polaris Ranger 900 (wound up driving a 1000), Can-Am Defender HD-8, Honda Pioneer 1000-5, and the Kawasaki Mule Pro-Fx. I couldn't locate a Viking to try, and as owner of a few Grizzlies I would have liked to.
The Ranger and Defender in my view point had the most comfort and sporty approach to UTV even being a utility rig. And if you want something to mod-up and go fast these are good options. Both were louder than I was hoping for. The Ranger had a slow belt engagement feel on launch, and then was plenty powerful. But it felt like it took 3k rpm's just to move forward. The seats on the Ranger were very comfortable, and it was a roomy ride. The Defender had a dash reminiscent of a modern pickup, plastic storage boxes everywhere. It had a more positive engagement at the bottom, and plenty of go from there on too. It had less body roll than the Ranger I thought. It had issues though, smoked like hell after decent throttle then backing out of it. And I mean blue oil smoke, straight from pipe, not something burning off of the outside. The Defender was harder to get in and out of than the Ranger. I grouped these two together because I honestly thought they are neck and neck on focus. I drove all 4 models at 3 different dealerships, and with most dealerships carrying all by one line. Hands down the service guys told me the Polaris would be the least reliable. They said, with Polaris you get cool stuff up front, but they don't stand behind their products. Their words not mine. The Can-am products they referenced as being similar, just that they didn't sell as many. The one theme from dealership to dealership on the Polaris was something like "You can have two of the same machines, delivered the same day. One will never have an issue for 10 years, and the other won't run for 10 days without an issue." Again, their sentiments not mine. Oh yeah, the Can-Am engine died twice on deceleration while doing left hand turns. I did like the texture of the Can-Am seat, it was almost tacky and did a lot to keep you in there.
So then it was on to the Honda and Kawasaki. To be honest, I thought the Honda would blow me away from what I was seeing online. I can tell you I was sorely mistaken. It may be reliable, I can't testify to that, but the ride flat out sucked. The transmission whine at any point of throttle was terrible. I don't want to have to ride a helmet to drown out the transmission sound. And while I liked the idea of the real tranny (no preference to paddle shifters), it was noisy as hell while shifting. I was really in awe at how far off the mark I was with my expectations. The rear seats were awful, and I mean awful. I would feel bad for anyone even a kidding riding back there all day. My knees were in my stomach (I am 5'10 190lb). There was also far too much plastic on top of plastic for my liking. They all have plastic panels, but this one really seemed to be plastic on top of plastic on top of... you get it. As if it were ever dissassembled it would never fit back together right.
My last ride was the Kawasaki Pro Fxt. Hands down the favorite of every service department, I don't spend much time with sales guys. They loved them, said they had little to no issues with them, other than being a PIA to change the oil filter. The seat is a simple flat cushion, cushy enough, but in NO WAY wraps you like the other models seats. It's just not that machine. In fact, if your passengers don't buckle up you can sling them out pretty dang easy in a hard turn. There isn't much storage either. The expandable seating and bed system though is pretty awesome. You don't have to decide between passengers or cargo, or both and a 12' bus in the woods. Crew cabs are great, they just wouldn't work in my scenario, hence I didn't drive any. The Mule was by far the best on initial belt engagement, but also the slowest in the bunch. I topped it out at 44 with 4 passengers. Driving in low range didn't seem as daunting at speeds like 20mpg as the Defender or Ranger, it may just be a higher gear, which could affect low end grunt. It was quite, it had the lowest sound reading of them all at 76db. The Ranger came in at 81db. I liked the fact that it had an actual automotive battery and alternator. And in reality a fairly well supported and widely used automotive engine. At the outset, I almost brushed off the Mule because of my experience with Mules of the past, the older designs, the ones that sounded and road like tanks where you pick your teeth up out of the floor at the end. Not this model. It was cushy, like a caddy. In fact, I am sure it is way too soft for pure recreational wheeling. The power steering was great, it didn't have the strong return to center that the Ranger and Defender had, but just felt really good.
So in short, I went with Mule Pro FXT. I wish I could have tried the Viking. But if you are looking for something that "should" be reliable, quiet, but not go too fast or tackle 90 turns at 50mph
it's a good machine for it's purpose. I do want to say that all of these machines were impressive in their own right. You need to drive them ALL to figure out what you like. Don't judge from what I am saying here or others anywhere else. Don't buy on brand loyalty, you are only cheating yourself. These things cost WAY TOO MUCH money for you to make a decision for anything other than it proving to be the best machine, period! Drive them, make your choice.
