RZR S or Commander ??

[Sand84]

RZR S      I drove one this past saturday and was ready to sell the raptor     I will have a RZR S in the future

[Gunz]

The RZR s is 2" wider then stock, that'll work for me. Aftermarket is around $2-3000. I would mode the motor though, most likely turbo kit and clutch kit or a weber conversion.

[Mad Dog]

The RZR s is 2" wider then stock, that'll work for me. Aftermarket is around $2-3000. I would mode the motor though, most likely turbo kit and clutch kit or a weber conversion.

2 inches wider than the commander, but just over 10 inches wider than a stock RZR.  That's due to the +5 a-arms.

[Troy]

The RZR s is 2" wider then stock, that'll work for me. Aftermarket is around $2-3000. I would mode the motor though, most likely turbo kit and clutch kit or a weber conversion.

Mikey the RZR S is 10" wider than stock, 60" vs. 50" at the wheels.  If you were asking standard RZR vs. the can am I'd say probably the can am, but the s model rzr gives you alot more goodies than you could possibly buy for the 4 grand over std. that it cost.  To make an s model yourself from a stocker you'd spend over 6 and closer to 7.  Keep in mind that RZR's have had their issues and still do to an extent, any new model is going to and especially when you are talking about Polaris or Can Am, they are both plagued in the snowmobile world with faulty products due to putting them on the market too quick without proper testing.  Popo has the better aftermarket by  a mile for sure.  As much as I'm trying to get at least one of my buddies to get the can am, I'd say get the RZR  

[Mad Dog]

The RZR motor is the same 760cc mill they've been using in their atvs since 2005, I don't know of any MAJOR issues with it since they started putting it in UTVs but then again I'm not as up to spec on these things as others.  The RZR has some small changes for 2011, the RZR-S was new for the 2009 model year, the RZR was new for the 2008 model year.

My father bought a 2010 Polaris Ranger XP and we've been quite happy with it from a reliability standpoint and would recommend the powerplant to others.  I say this as my Step Father sits on two polaris atvs from 99 and 2000 that have been riddled with electrical gremlins. 

[Troy]

I have an 08 RZR and the powerplant is golden, the only issues with the motor has been the air intake that let dirt in on the 08 models, they put out an update kit and that issue was resolved.  The issues have been in the rest of the utv itself, diffs, trannys, etc.  Polaris really started dropping the ball with their snowmobiles in 2005, starting with the RMK 900, that turd and all of it's problems has converted more hardcore Polaris riders than I care to mention.  I have also seen the same with the 06 turbo sleds, those were riddled with problems with the engine management that Polaris wasn't willing to fix, thankfully we on the forums got it ironed out and life is good.  Ski Doo has had the exact same issues since around the same time, 04 or 05, so I think it's pick your poison between the two brands.  It comes down to dealership support that will make your experience good or bad with each product.  I just wish Polaris would put the 850 motor in the RZR, then it wouldn't even be a choice for me between the two, 70+ horsepower in a stock RZR would be a very nice start.  I know there are alot of people out there that hate Popo, but despite the problems they've had the past 5 years I'm still a fan 

[Langford]

I have never been a big polaris fan, some friends of my family had some mid 90's quads and they seemed to have more than their fair share of problems (at least compared to the Honda's and Yamaha's that everybody else ran in the group). 

Back in '07, I was looking to buy my first UTV.  It was down to the Rhino, and Ranger...I had owned nothing but Yamaha and never had any problems with any of them, so I was leaning towards the Rhino.  Well, not long after I started looking...the RZR information started coming out, and I was hooked.  As soon as my local dealership got one in, I went and checked it out and fell in love.  I went home and watched some of the youtube videos, and went back the next day and picked up my first RZR.  I put over 1100 very hard miles on that thing, and I only had to replace a wheel bearing.  Fast forward a year and I'm really getting into the sand dune thing, and not long after that the RZR-S was announced.  I was at the point to where I was either going to go full long travel on my standard RZR or trade it in for the S model.  After crunching the numbers, I decided to just trade the '08 in towards a new one.  You can spend anywhere from $2500 for a cheap LT kit for the RZR, to around $8000 for one of the +8 or +10 kits.  I couldn't justify spending that much money on the old one, and decided to go with the S model which came stock with the +5 LT kit, a few more HP and a new warranty.  I still have the S model and have LOVED every second of it...I have beat the piss out of this thing for around 600 miles so far, and not one hiccup. 

The one major issue that the early RZR's were plagued with was the air intake setup.  There is a rubber coupling that goes between the filter can and the throttle body, and it attached to the TB with a hose clamp.  Once the filter got dirty, they were known to pull dirty air from between the rubber boot and throttle body, which trashed the piston rings.  Also, the stock air intake location is right behind the drivers seats, pretty much between the passengers and drivers shoulder.  When you put a full windshield on the RZR, dust really accumulates behind it...everything thrown up from the front and rear tires swirls right back into the cab from under the seats and behind the bed, and gets drawn directly into the air intake.  With a full windshield installed and a dusty trail, it was easy to overload the stock filter and start pulling dust through it once it was clogged up.  After a 130 mile trip in Michigan's Upper Peninsula in the dustiest conditions I have ever seen, I believe I pulled some dust past my filter even with my RZR snorkeled with UNI filters and outerwear covers on the snorkels, and an amsoil air filter in the stock can...seeing the inside of my throttle body added to my decision to trade the 08 in towards the 09 S model. 

The 09 and later models got a little "lip" on the throttle body which helped the hose clamp stay in place, and prevented dust from being pulled in there.  The intake is still in the same location, and can still fall victim to the same dust issues if you don't keep an eye on the filter...so thats just one thing to look out for (and I think Polaris increased the size of the filter to help prevent overloading also).  A replacement air can setup like the UMP or the Dragon Fire Racing setup is supposed to cure this issue, I picked up a used UMP for mine recently but haven't installed it yet.



Now to the original topic...lol.

One thing to consider besides the size difference between the RZR and the Commander is the seating position.  On the Commander, the engine is up under the seats...this allows the larger dump bed to be installed, but it also pushes you up higher and makes you deal with a lot more engine noise and heat.  The RZR has the engine back behind the seats under the bed.  This does limit the depth of the bed, but allows you to sit much lower and gives you a "sit in" feel instead of the "sit on" feel of the commander and other UTV's.  I went even further by installing a set of seat lowering bases, which drop you another inch and recline the seat back a little more. 

Yes, the Commander is a beast with its 85hp...but in my opinion, it is a better comparison to the Arctic Cat prowler 1000, or the Kawi Teryx.  It is built with some utility aspect, and you sit on top of the engine like the other machines.  Plus it is a big heavy brute.  The RZR is the only true "sport UTV" on the market.  You just have to decide what you want to use the machine for.  If you are a duner, the RZR-S is hard to beat in stock form.  And like most of us enjoy to do, they can be modded to your liking.  Eventually there will be a decent aftermarket for the Commander, but the industry has a TON of goodies on the market for the RZR already....from bolt on turbo or supercharger kits which will get you around 100hp, to the weber swaps (130hp stock turbo 750, 170hp turbo 750 on race fuel and more boost, 240hp with the stoker and a rumored 350hp with the turbo stroker big bore engine), to the extreme with the Apex 1000 swaps that MC-X is now producing (350hp with the basic turbo apex swap, to whatever you want to push it to...there are vids of the apex sleds making over 500hp with these engines). 

Right before Can Am released the Commander, I was really excited to see what they were going to release to be the "RZR killer" like everybody expected.  While they did make a beast of a machine, I don't think Polaris has much to worry about when it comes to their RZR sales.  Yes, a bigger motor RZR would be nice for a lot of us...but for the majority of the owners, the stock 55hp is more than enough (one of the sponsors on RZR forum claimed that the "duner" crowd only makes up for around 3% of RZR owners).  Needless to say, I don't plan on trading my RZR-S for a Commander.  I'm just going to keep modding the RZR to fit my riding needs more and more as time goes on. 

[Peelz]

great writeup Langford. 

[Sand84]

+1 and his RZR S is badass post some pics kyle

[Langford]

Gracias.

First RZR:



RZR S:

[rappyfreak]

Yes, the Commander is a beast with its 85hp...but in my opinion, it is a better comparison to the Arctic Cat prowler 1000, or the Kawi Teryx.  It is built with some utility aspect, and you sit on top of the engine like the other machines.  Plus it is a big heavy brute.  The RZR is the only true "sport UTV" on the market. 

This was what I was trying to say, elocuently said Langford!

[socalrappy700]

I say go with the clam chowder.   

[Troy]

great write up Langford, I have the Weber engine sitting right beside the rzr so one of these days I'll get that swap done and it should be cool 

[Langford]

great write up Langford, I have the Weber engine sitting right beside the rzr so one of these days I'll get that swap done and it should be cool 

Yeah, those engines are awesome...just too damn expensive for me. But I guess after you sell all of your factory stuff, it isn't that much more than a good turbo setup, and a whole lot more reliable.  Did you buy a kit from Wasteland or just buy an engine from somewhere? 

[Troy]

I've had that engine since 06, it's sitting in my FST turbo sled that I made a full on mountain mod sled out of.  It should be right at the 185 horsepower mark now but I'm going to probably swap the turbo out for a gt25 series, the sled guys are pushing around the 225 mark pretty easily with those and still 100% stock internals.  It was 150 horsepower stock, the only differences I'm aware of in the horsepower ratings are the sled motors have two throttle bodies instead of one and the electronics are different for the engine management.