Just a few hours after news about the new 2016 Polaris RZR Turbo EPS was really circulating, one of my colleagues called and asked what I thought about the new $25,000 Polaris vehicle.
When he asked me that, there was no mention of that Polaris side-by-side being a turbocharged vehicle boasting 144 hp. To me, that’s a pretty important part of the $25,000 equation.
Yes, $25,000 is a lot of money for a “toy.” No doubt about it. And I admit when I think of that kind of a price tag for a “toy,” it does make my head spin a little. But when I get to ride it ... well, I’m pretty sure my head will really be spinning.
My colleague isn’t the only one who has groused a little about the price tag of off-road vehicles. And I remember when Can-Am introduced its Maverick turbo (for 2016, the 131-horsepower Maverick RS Turbo has an MSRP of $23,999) there were some raised eyebrows, too.
Perhaps I don’t pay enough attention to all the price tags on side-by-sides and ATVs these days because when we’re fortunate enough to get a media loaner from one of the manufacturers, we get to test it for a period and then turn it back in. When we get those loaners, we focus more on the vehicle’s features and capabilities than we do the price tag.
Having said that, the Dirt Toys staff does talk a fair bit about whether the features really add up to what the vehicle is worth. Do the features and benefits of this ATV or that side-by-side really justify the price tag? It really is true: you get what you pay for. There are very few exceptions to that rule and that is especially true in the off-road powersports business.
While the price tag on powersports vehicles has steadily increased over the years, so have the features. And that features list is long and getting longer. Amazingly tough tires. GPS-enabled vehicles with sweet gauges that track just about everything. Suspension systems with shocks that can take a beating. Stock engines with close to 100 hp. Stock turbos that push that horsepower number to previously unheard-of figures. Electric power steering. Adjustable bucket seats. Winches. And on and on and on.
Let’s choose just one of those features and talk about its value. I think it’s definitely worth the extra dollars to buy a power steering-equipped version of just about any off-road vehicle rather than the non-EPS version. I get it that even a few dollars might mean the difference between getting a vehicle or not. But most people finance big purchases like an off-road vehicle these days and that few extra bucks is not going to make your payments last years longer.
I was once again convinced of the value of EPS on my recent test ride on the Grizzly 700. Yamaha chose to introduce that ATV to the media at Windrock Park near Oak Ridge, TN. And within that riding area, Yamaha chose a rock and boulder-strewn trail that really put the Grizzly to the test. It was a great trail and lots of fun to ride but the fun factor would have been much lower had we had to ride the trail on a non-EPS vehicle. The power steering absorbed
