The word “off-road” gets thrown around quite a lot these days, with all types of vehicles claiming to have what it takes for the toughest adventures. But rock crawling is where the real bad boys get to show off. The guys at Polaris picked 3 powerful contestants and put them through a rock crawling challenge and a clearance challenge, with some surprising outcomes.
What do you do for fun on a summer day? Folks at Polaris decided to pit a side-by-side against an ATV and an SUV, on a smaller rock crawl and a big rock crawl, then get them to go over different-sized rocks without touching them.
For this unofficial test, they went for a modified Toyota 4Runner, the Sportsman 570 Ultimate Trail and the most revered out of all the new Polaris UTV line-up – the General XP 1000 Factory Custom Edition.
The first rock trail was almost like an insult for the General. “It’s not even trying”, said the camera guy, and that’s what it looked like. With a 17.5 seconds score, it won by far. As predicted, the ATV came second, with a 26.8 seconds score, while the 4Runner needed over 1 minute to make it through.
Expectations weren’t high for the ATV over the big rocks, but it did better than the 4Runner, which needed a lot of guidance to push through. Lack of visibility seemed to be one of the main issues, compared to the other 2. Unsurprisingly, the UTV scored highest on the second trail too.
On to the clearance test – the Sportsman couldn’t get past the smaller rock, so was out straight away. The 4Runner made it safely past that one, going off-center on the rear, but it did end up touching the bigger rock. With plenty of room left each time, the General proved that it’s got the best clearance, even though the final dare - the vertical obstacle - was too much even for it.
With its 64” width, 13.5” (34.3 cm) clearance and 14” (35.6 cm) travel (the highest of the General range), the XP UTV was built for challenges, and the Custom Edition took that even further, adding 30” tires on Pro Armor HEXLR beadlock wheels. For $26,499 (starting price), this limited-edition UTV is ready to take on anything straight away, and it proved that it can leave behind both an ATV and a modified SUV.
Otilia believes that if it’s eco, green, or groundbreaking, people should know about it (especially if it's got wheels or wings). Working in online media for over five years, she's gained a deeper perspective on how people everywhere can inspire each other. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News