New Clutch
To enable all that horsepower to be utilized in an efficient way, Polaris designed a new clutch and redesigned the driveline. The Polaris clutch has the largest ratio in the industry and benefits the work characteristics of this side-by-side. Additionally, the drive belt is 32 percent bigger compared to last year’s vehicle belt. The belt is longer, wider and thicker. To keep the belt as cool as possible, Polaris improved air flow over the belt—two times more air flow—by redesigning the underhood air intakes and designing a new clutch cover. The clutches and belt were designed, in part, for the vehicle’s increased towing capacity.
Even when we had the XP 1000 wound up to speed, the vehicle is relatively quiet, a claim Polaris officials made when they introduced the newest Ranger but one we had to experience to believe.
Noticeable features when just looking at the Ranger XP 1000 while it’s sitting still include new 6-ply 27-inch tires (developed in partnership with Maxxis and one inch bigger), a massive front bumper that looks like it could push over a Cypress tree and full body skid plate. Okay you’d have to look under the vehicle to see that last one but it does offer 50 percent more coverage than last year’s model.
Look inside the cab and there are a host of amenities that make the ride not only more comfortable and enjoyable but practical as well. First, there is an extra five inches of room to get in and out of the vehicle, an additional inch of foam in the seats of the three-person cab as well as a flip-up seat on the passenger side for more cargo room in the cab. It’s easy to flip up and down and can carry any number of things like a five-gallon bucket, chainsaw, cooler, etc. Even if you don’t want to flip the seat up, there is still some underseat storage. In all, there is 17 percent more cab storage, as evidenced by the number of cubby holes in the dash and double glove boxes and cup holders.
Features you won’t readily pick out while staring at the new Ranger is the one-piece frame, which improves the torsional rigidity of the vehicle, larger fuel tank (11.6 gallons—16 percent more than the previous Ranger), 11 inches of travel front and rear, 13 inches of ground clearance and cargo box that is one-inch deeper and offers more divider slots.
Mesh all those seen and unseen features together and you have a side-by-side that can appeal to those who have to work but do have time to play on occasion. The Ranger XP 1000 can do both.
There’s a reason the Ranger is the No. 1 selling side-by-side on the planet.
It flat-out works. It also recreates well, too. And that’s the part we liked best about this new vehicle the best.
