UTV Driver Editor’s Choice: 2022 Can-Am Commander XT-P

The rec-ute segment continues to hold some of our favorite UTVs, all with an excellent blend of style, performance, and functionality. It’s not an enormous segment, but it is crowded with heavy-hitters. The likes of the Polaris General XP 1000 and the Yamaha Wolverine RMAX2 1000 and RMAX4 1000 make competition close. Any of the rigs in this class will happily bang out laps on a short course all day, run you to the top of Moab’s Pritchett Canyon, or take you hours out into the sticks for an overlanding adventure. But the 2022 Can-Am Commander XT-P is a standout as an overlanding platform thanks to its capability and size.

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The 2022 Can-Am Commander XT-P boasts 14 inches of suspension travel, arched A-arms, and cool-looking 15-inch beadlock-style wheels wrapped with 30-inch XPS Hammer Force tires. It’s also equipped with Can-Am’s Trail Activ system and Smart-Lok differential, which senses slip and automatically locks up. We threw one at Fins and Things in Moab right off the showroom floor and it never missed a beat.

The 2022 Can-Am Commander XT-P shines in wide-open terrain, thanks to its long wheelbase, wide stance, and planted handling. It gets outshone by the likes of the Yamaha RMAX when rock crawling, but that’s not a consideration when you’re headed out on a camping excursion.

Because the XT-P has a more generous cargo box than either the RMAX or the Polaris General, and a nicer ride and more sure-footed handling than either, it edges ahead when you need to get far away from it all. Add to that excellent fit and finish, a near-perfect driving position, and excellent seats, and the Commander runs away with it.

Other manufacturers could stand to learn a thing or two from the Can-Am’s cargo capacity and cabin comfort.

We unabashedly love the orange faux beadlock wheels, and the 30-inch tires front and rear make all the difference on the trail. They transform the Commander from a basic rec-ute machine to a trail weapon.

We cannot say enough positive things about the chassis on the whole. From sure-footed handling to excellent brakes and steering feel, the Commander is great fun to drive quickly on open two-tracks, and that sets it far apart from its competition.

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We’d love more visibility over the front end in technical sections, as big rocks and drops disappear under the front bumper far too quickly, leaving you guessing your way over tricky lines. We’d also probably look at fitting a manual front locker, as the Smart-Lok system outsmarted itself a couple of times, leaving us at the bottom of obstacles that the RMAX and General cruised over.

As stated above, both the 2022 Polaris General XP 1000 and the 2022 Yamaha RMAX2 1000 Sport are close competitors to the Commander XT-P. Both are nimbler through the rocks than the Commander, and would be our pick for tricky trails.

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