Hidden Content
If you think the horsepower wars of the performance car market are excessive, you're not quite ready to see what's going on in the world of off-road-only vehicles. Ungoverned by most regulations and all common sense, ATVs and side-by-sides are getting faster and more extreme. Extreme enough that they should be able to out-drag instant-torque, high-performance EVs.That thesis was proven in a new video from UTV Driver, run by former Road & Track senior editor Zach Bowman. Ever the ideas man, Bowman says he noticed that the 181-hp Polaris RZR Pro XP 4 Premium was electric-car quick. Since it also has all-wheel drive, no conventional transmission, and room for four, he decided to pit it against a similar-in-theory machine that accomplishes its goals in entirely different ways.The Ford Mustang Mach-E may also seat four, but it seats them in fully protected leather seats. Both may be high-horsepower affairs, but the Mach-E uses electric motors to generate its 346 hp. The Polaris, on the other hand, burns gas using a 925cc twin-cylinder. Power-t0-weight comparisons favor the Polaris, but reason suggests that the Mustang's instant torque should give the Mach-E a fighting chance.Reason doesn't mean much on pavement. The Polaris jumps out ahead of the Mach-E and never relents. On a cold runway, it's touching 60 after 5.1 seconds. The Ford doesn't get there until 6 seconds have elapsed. There are, of course, electric vehicles that could dust either of these machines. But the fact that the side-by-side moves quick enough to embarrass a Mach-E, VW GTI, Hyundai Veloster N, or Subaru WRX is a sign of how wild this market is getting.