Light utility vehicles come is a range of sizes these days, with the Polaris Ranger SP570 representing what you can buy at the ‘smaller’ end and its bigger brother, the Ranger XP1000, at the other. We ran the two together for a week or so to see how they compare.
These two Polaris UTVs have not really changed a great deal since we did our UTV and ATV group test (profi 9/2018) but both the SP570 and XP1000 on test were supplied with the maker’s Full Premium cab, a relatively new option making this a good point to start.
On the two-seat SP570, the cab feels small once the doors closed but this a ‘proper’ cab that feels far more comprehensive than just a set of extra doors. When the widows are wound up the small cab area soon gets cosy, even without a heater. Misting up was a bit of a problem on damp chilly mornings, but one that was easily resolved by winding down the windows. That’s right, the doors have wind down windows, the glass dropping completely to free up some elbow room.
The doors open out ‘backwards’ to fold level with the rear load planform. There is nothing to stop them swinging freely or a latch to pin them open, however, which makes stopping to open gates a bit of a fiddle. The driver’s side can be tied back open or removed but a strut to keep it ajar would be handy.
Moving to the larger XP1000, the enclosed space feels much roomier especially between you and the door. Fitted with a bench seat, offering seat-belted accommodation for three, the doors again seal the cab well enough to make it ‘feel’ more like a pick-up, but are equally keen to swing open or closed once unlatched. Annoyingly, they do not fold back parallel to the rear platform. This means we would probably run with a door removed, somewhat defeating the object of having a cab.
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