As usual, this started with me running my mouth. When Polaris dropped off the 2021 RZR Pro XP 4 Premium, I celebrated by goosing the throttle on my way into the shop. The rig responded by spooling up its turbo, digging in, and launching like a bottle rocket. With no windscreen between you and glory, you feel like you’re strapped to the hood, the world whipping by your helmet. This thing is fast. And not just for a side-by-side or a UTV. It’s fast by sports car standards. It produces the kind of acceleration that I’m used to from electric vehicles—instant and brutal. “Hell,” I said, “It’s probably quicker than the new Ford Mustang Mach-E.”
But after looking at the numbers, it wasn’t immediately clear which machine would take the checkers in a 0–60 mph sprint. When we put the RZR Pro XP 4 Premium on our scales, it weighed in at 2,185 pounds with a full tank. With 181 hp from its turbocharged, 925cc twin, it has a power-to-weight ratio of 0.83 hp per pound.
The Mach-E makes way more power. The electric motors spit out 346 hp and 428 pound-feet of torque, but the car’s also much, much heavier. Ford says the Mach-E tips the scales at 4,920 pounds, which gives it a lower power-to-weight ratio of 0.70 ponies per pound. In this game, a lower ratio typically means a slower vehicle.
When I said this to the UTV Driver staff, someone wisecracked that we should find out. With a few phone calls and a couple of vague assertions about what we were up to, we had both machines lined up on an abandoned airstrip out in the county. Who came out on top? You’ll have to watch the video to find out.
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