I’m very interested in the space of vehicles that aren’t exactly cars, but, at the same time, really are very much cars. Things like the Changli fit into this blurry gray space, and the whole class of side-by-side utility vehicles – sometimes called UTVs (Utility Task Vehicle, or something) – definitely fit in here, too. I was just loaned a very exciting Polaris Ranger XD 1500, which is one of these kinds of vehicles. So what the hell should I do with this thing?
I realize these are primarily intended to be off-road work vehicles, ideally in places like farms or ranches or cult compounds or dilithium mines or off-road trails or stuff like that, but I don’t really have anything like that handy. I have a house with a yard and two driveways, both of delicious, chunky gravel, but it’s hardly enough to justify something as capable as this Ranger.
What I’m thinking is that for the time I have it, I’ll just try and use it like a normal car. Because, really, it seems as capable as one – it has a 1500cc inline-three engine making a shockingly good 110 horsepower, over twice what my normal daily driver Nissan Pao makes, with an engine about 500cc bigger.
That engine is also located under the bed, ahead of the rear axle, making this one of the vanishingly few mid-engine ICE pickups you can get in America today.
This thing is no joke; I took it for a test spin and found that it’s shockingly comfortable and smooth to drive. I went over these huge speed bumps my neighborhood has – called, goofily, “speed tables” – without braking at all and it just glided over like I was on a sheet of plywood with a bunch of cubic feet of marshmallow fluff sprayed underneath it.
I got it up to about 50 mph or so, and it did great. The cabin is comfortable and has power windows and a heater and, get this, three speedometers for some baffling reason.
Oh oh oh get this – the bed tilts, like a dump truck!
Now, these things are not cheap: I think this one goes for about $40 grand. This is real car money.
So what do you want to know about this thing? What do you want to see me do with it, given that I don’t feel like getting a trailer for it, and I’m in a college town, and I’m willing to take it on the roads.
At first, I was just going to take it on the roads with my usual cavalier and idiotic lack of consideration of the law, but as it turns out, these seem to be street-legal in North Carolina!
If the beautiful mountains and lovely beaches that birthed aviation and being the home of O.Henry, Edward R. Murrow, singer Libba Cotten, and ex-Globetrotter Curly Neal aren’t enough for you, then you have to admire North Carolina’s delightfully permissive automotive laws.
I have a tiny and oddly capable little truck. Tell me what you want to know about it!
Do what Mr Beast did when he desecrated that Lambo. Oh Wait, you are just loaned the it to review. That would certainly test its mettle against duct tape.
Side by side comparison with the Pao. Which is more practical, and which is more fun?
You can legally drive on the beach around Kill Devil Hills from Oct 1 to Apr 30. You need a permit from the town, but it’s readily available on line. December 17 is the anniversary of the Wright Brothers seminal flight. If you’ve got the loaner that long, it’d be cool to commemorate that event with a dash along the sands they overflew. Make it an Autopian meet up and get Mercedes to fly in, too.
tow rope and trailer hitch… play tug of war with the Chang Li, and then with an F-150.
Hot Tub.
So many great things we could do here.
Fill with shrimp, find out if you can entice enough sketchy bed shrimp to empty it before it turns (I mean, I might’ve ate sketchy bed shrimp as a broke college student)?
10. Bed full of shrimp, cocktail sauce in the cupholders.
Suggestions just for Jason:
See how the bed holds up to a chainsaw.
See how it holds up in a collision with venison.
Setup a ramp and jump it over the changli.
See if it is equipped with full self driving.
Use it to check your mailbox.
Invite David over to do some mud bogging in your backyard.
Take Otto to school every day in it!
This!
This!
Put it in the back of your F-150, take it up to the mountains and have a good time. There has to be some great trails/roads around you or maybe a dedicated off-road area. Strap Otto in the seat (with a helmet of course) and let it rip. You will not be able to wash the smile off your face for days. These things are super annoying unless you’re the one behind the wheel. Take full advantage.
I can not even imagine trading forty thousand dollars for something like this. People is dumb.
You are not the target market for this…ranchers are.
Ranchers might be the target market for these, but I assure you there are TONS of people buying these because “ain’t it cool”. There’s at least three of these in my neighborhood that I can think of off the top of my head, and our lots are all about an acre. Every so often my neighbor gets his out and drives it to the back yard with logs or something, I think just to justify having it. And we don’t have road-legal UTV laws where I live.
These things are as much as a real car and I have no idea what people here “need” them for other than they apparently make too much money.
My neighbor has two of these….one for him, one for wife…room for all their kids..idk how many.
They frequently go tearing around our neighborhood in these for fun, go to Sonic, Idk.
Did I mention we live in an older downtown urban area? Qtr. acre lots.
He does load them up on a big flatbed trailer pulled by his obnoxiously loud F350 and go riding somewhere, coming back with them covered in mud.
I’m sure they all have a blast!
He’s a mechanic at local Cadillac dealer.
Polaris is a lot like Porsche, the options list is extremely long and extremely lucrative for them.
Here’s a brand new Ranger for $13,999.
https://www.windycitymc.com/New-Inventory-2024-Polaris-Utility-Vehicle-Ranger-1000-EPS-Polaris-Villa-Park-15316785?ref=list
How are the depreciation on these things?
Better than you’d expect. The move for SXS’s, imo, is to buy a 2008 Yamaha Rhino for 5K, have fun with it, and sell it for 5K.
Tax write off
See if you can convince your local DMV that it’s a Kei vehicle and get some plates
Will it baby?
This vs changli on errands
This vs changli on how many of ottos friends it can transport
Will it wheelie?
Can it date night?
How close are you to the Tail of the Dragon?
He’s on the other side of the state but that would be hilarious!
“That engine is also located under the bed, ahead of the front axle” ???
Oh, the trouble my younger self would get into with that!
Looks like a 4 kegger!
I meant the rear axle, and I fixed it!
Find some construction sites to offroad around, get it airborne. Use it as an uber for drunk college kids, put them in the bed, and literally dump them out at their destination.
Up here in the missing bit of the world my 28 tear old neighbour, who is a real proper hill farmer made one of the UK versions of this upside down in less than a minute. Now you have a target to aim for!
The president of my company is a full send type of person. He has had his upside down many times, although not quite that quickly.
He has also come back from an ATV trip with one wheel in the bed and others with it hanging on for dear life.
There is always one, Keith rides about on old ATV things all day,always open and with a sheepdog on the back. I think the shock of a farm tool that costs more than his house did was the trigger. That and his delicious bride to be giving some encouragement.
Changli Comparison, handling, drag race, features.
I was thinking drag race with the fleet.
They’re legal all over WV and MI. You can’t take them on the freeway or any large divided highways, but they’re the go-to choice in the rural areas I haunt.
You’ll need a license plate and insurance and I’m guessing you’re fucked if you get into a time/space continuum disagreement w an F-150.
Turns out F-150 matter can exist at the same time and place as the matter of the Polaris.
Talk about entangled particles though!
You keep your spooky action at a distance!
I didn’t realize they were bosons.
Body swap it with the Chang-li and see if they notice?
Beat me to it. Nice
“It’ll go places you can’t even walk!”
People actually do this with VW Beetle bodies over UTVs to make street legal UTVs.
It’s faster, safer, and costlier than half my cars! Are there any ATV trails nearby? Take Otto and let him drive it.
The closest legal trails would be about 90 minutes from JT although the entire trip there and back on a route limited to roads 55 mph or less would probably be just as interesting.
Yeah, but he and Otto could spend the whole day out there (Uwharrie National Forest) riding their 20 miles of trails. That would be awesome!
Does it have traction control? Can you turn it off? Can it do a burnout? How long are the tire tracks it leaves? These are immature questions to ask, but crucially, they are very stupid too.
Swap out the Pao’s motor for it and act befuddled when they question what happened?
Wheelbarrow full of shrimp II: The UTV Takeover.
It’s probably not street legal without side mirrors and turn signals at a minimum.
SxS usually require some modifications to be streetable, even where they are “legal”.
Drive it to California.
For David’s wedding!
Ha this was going to be my answer too. Cross-country road trip, David’s new wedding car!
One that actually runs and isn’t literally dissolving into rust particles right before his eyes 🙂