The UTV and side by side market is massive these days. What were once bought by guys to haul hay bales around their farm and hustle around fairgrounds are now invading the world of hardcore off road events. Down south more and more of these things are appearing at trail runs and rock bouncing contests, out west they are getting long travel suspension systems and leaping dunes in a single bound, and in places where there’s snow and ice the things are getting raced in those conditions as well. They are little trucklets and as each successive generation comes out, they are a little tougher, a little more capable, and a little more robust. In the case of this Polaris Ranger 6×6 which looks mostly stock, the toughness is shown by how it handles being based off rocks the size of small cars and the way it claws its way up a near vertical “hill” of jagged boulders.
While the Polaris Ranger 6×6 does not make it all the way up the hill and over the top without help, it makes it way higher up than we ever expected it to get. The kid driving does a nice job of not completely thrashing the thing but it does sound like he breaks an axle before getting help from the assembled mass of guys cheering him on. What’s slightly confusing to us is that at times it appears the Ranger has all six wheels locked and moving together but then we see it spinning some while others are still. Maybe there are selectable lockers on the differentials? If you have one of these bad boys, speak up.
We’re thinking that a BangShift test of a Polaris Ranger 6×6 may be necessary. Hmmmm….they do have a big complex right by the ECTA Wilmington Mile. Speed records, anyone?
We had a pair of Ranger 4x2s at work for the longest time. They had a cable-operated manual locker for the rear wheels even being basic spec, so it’s likely this thing has a locker.