OK, so it's lighter and more powerful, and the RZR also has a lower center of gravity than the competition. What else about the RZR makes the Rhino a potentially threatened species? Its low-slung, slinky chassis is great for high-speed turns, and while ground clearance is slightly less than that of the Rhino, we still found the RZR's rock-crawling capabilities to be respectable, provided you're very careful with your line selection. Double A-arm suspension up front with 9 inches of travel paired with 9.5 inches of independent suspension travel out back make for a smooth-riding machine, as well. A 77-inch wheelbase and 50-inch width make the RZR the "only trail-capable side-by-side," as Polaris puts it. By comparison, the Rhino 660 offers four-wheel independent suspension with 7.3 inches of travel at each corner, a 75.2-inch wheelbase and a 54.5-inch width.
Add up all these features and you'd probably wager that the Polaris RZR 800 is one fast machine-and you'd be right. The 760cc parallel-twin engine is big, powerful and sounds good, too. An extra cylinder is never a bad thing in our book and makes for a smoother, torquier engine. The RZR also has electronic fuel injection (EFI), so throttle tip-in is very responsive. Stomp the pedal from a dead stop and the RZR will flat-out boogie all the way up to an electronically limited 55 mph. That's a heaping 15 mph faster than the Rhino's top speed, and it makes all the difference in the world. Fast, open trails that are a bore on the Rhino due to its 40 mph limit suddenly turn into a hoot on the RZR. Every time we saw a hump in the road, we got an uncontrollable urge to jump the fool out of it on the RZR. Even our friends at Dirt Rider took notice when we parked the RZR in the Primedia garage. "Hey what's that thing? It looks pretty cool!" "Eight hundred cc, huh? It sounds pretty wicked!" Coming from a motley crew of guys-most of whom wouldn't touch an ATV with a 10-foot pole-that says a lot. Bottom line: This is the sports car of the ATV world.
Based on all the praise bestowed upon the Polaris RZR, it would seem the Yamaha Rhino 660 is soon to be extinct-that it's slow, outdated and boring. Not even close.
With a huge aftermarket following and legions of loyal fans, the Rhino isn't giving up any of its habitat without a fight. Our Rhino was a 660 Sport Edition, which includes preload-adjustable piggyback shocks, sweet aluminum wheels, a canopy roof, a Baja-style front grab bar, silver seats and a gorgeous faux-brushed-aluminum finish on the body. It's a real head-turner, but its $11,149 MSRP caused some sticker shock among our testers, especially when compared to the RZR's $9999 price tag.
The Yamaha's build quality was slightly better than the Polaris, and the dashboard layout was a little cleaner, as well. A large, easy-to-read LED display with a soft-green glow adorns the cockpit of the Rhino. Questions about speed, mileage, fuel level or simply the time of day can all be answered with a quick glance. A headlight switch, choke knob, 4WD switch and 12-volt DC charger receptacle round out the instrumentation on the Rhino. The Yamaha's dashboard also has a glove box, which is a welcome cubbyhole for storing a tow strap, candy bars, cell phone or anything else you can think of.
In lieu of a glove box, the Polaris RZR instead offers the passenger a big T-handle with rubber hand grips to grab onto. This is nice to have, but some type of interior storage would have been appreciated. A pair of cup holders (which the Rhino doesn't have) are mounted right below the shifter of the RZR, but things tend to fly out of cup holders, especially when you're driving a machine as fast as the RZR 800. A combination analog/digital gauge is the RZR's main focal point, along with a 12-volt DC receptacle and a smattering of switches here and there (display cycle button, backup light toggle switch, headlight and "AWD" toggle switches).