Let me start off by saying that I am Probably one of Polaris’s biggest advocates. I own a highly modified 2011 rzr XP900 and a 2014 Ranger XP900 dlx le. I have a 30 year background in offroading and have fabricated prototype parts to a ground up Ls1 buggy. I drove to Cheyenne today with my truck and trailer with the anticipation of buying a 2016 rzr 900 4. I did some research, as most of you do before dropping 17 grand on a play toy. I was aware of the front dif noise, but figured it might be a topic that might have been exaggerated. I am also a 30 year commercial aircraft tech with moderate hearing loss, so a little diff noise would probably go unnoticed. I arrived at Boardline Polaris(which I will add are awesome poeple to deal with) and began to go over the newer Polaris platform. The overall size, for a 4 seater seemed perfect. Stance and suspension looked well thought out as well. I checked out the air filtration system and was pleased to see an agricultural type canister filter instead of there poorly designed XP 900 filter box. I was suprised to see the creased inlet tube that was indented to avoid framework and greatly diminished the size of the inlet air tube. I guess it’s large enough to produce they’re HP numbers, so probably not a concern for most.
I started the engine and was happy with the engine noise. Not too loud, and enough tone to feel like there is something propelling you along. What I did notice as I aproached 25 mph was a gurgling, thumping noise coming from the front end. I changed speeds and loads, 2 wheel drive and 4 and the sound was always present. I drove back into there parking lot extreamly disapointed. Why would a company this large continue to produce, market, and sell a defective vehicle? I know that a few here have re shimmed the pinion to reduce the noise, but for me, that was not the point. Why should I spend my hard earned money on a vehicle that I know that needs fixing? Polaris says it’s not a structural issue(for now), but with my experience, any noise from a diff usually ends up bad. I expessed my concerns to the dealer as well as Polaris for what it matters, got back in my truck and drove the hour and a half back home with a full wallet and an empty trailer. Pretty disapointed as I thought I would be enjoying a Labor day weekend with my kids and grandkids in a new 4 seater. Shame on Polaris for not taking care of a known and ongoing(2 model years) problem ! I would only hope that Companies like Yamaha and Honda would step up their game and make Polaris produce top of the market machines as they did in the past…