The 2008 model year saw the introduction of the RANGER RZR 800, the first Sport Side-by-Side with razor-sharp performance. With its 50-inch, trail-capable width, fastest acceleration, patented design that put the engine behind the seat for the lowest center of gravity and agile handling, the RANGER RZR 800 changed the entire Side-by-Side category.

For 2009, Polaris introduced the pure-sport RANGER RZR S 800 that offered an 800 H.O. engine for more speed and power, and a premium long-travel suspension for the dunes, desert and wide-open spaces.

Model year 2010 saw the first Robby Gordon Edition RANGER RZR 4 800, the world’s only four-seat sport Side-by-Side that offered Razor Sharp Performance for 4.

“Model Year 2011 continues the undisputed leadership with improvements across the RANGER RZR line,” said Matt Homan, president and general manager of Polaris’ Off-Road division. “Polaris was the first manufacturer to offer Side-by-Sides that offered razor-sharp performance and we will continue to innovate and lead the category.”

For 2011, The RANGER RZR family receives aggressive front-end styling that increases cooling airflow area by 29 percent, with new side protection for easier ingress and egress, a new in-cab accessible glove box, High/Low headlights for increased night visibility, and a new fuel management system coupled with a new tank that offers a 30 percent improvement in range with better slow speed drive-ability. Quality improvements include better clutch/belt cooling, improved front and rear drive durability and sealed dash switches. The units also will feature new easier-to-use side nets.

The RANGER RZR 800 will offer more razor sharp trail performance with six percent more power in 2011 with the addition of an 800 H.O. engine giving the RANGER RZR 800 53hp and quicker acceleration corner-to-corner. Built for the trail, the RANGER RZR 800 also will include new trail-friendly rear rack extenders to make it easier and more convenient to carry more gear. For hunters, Polaris also will offer the vehicle in the new Polaris Pursuit Camouflage pattern.

For 2011, the RANGER RZR S 800 will continue to offer all the razor-sharp performance features off-road enthusiasts have come to love: long-travel suspension, the fastest acceleration with a 63 mph/101.4 kph top speed, superior ergonomics and On-Demand True All-Wheel Drive for ultimate traction. Along with the full-line improvements, the RANGER RZR S 800 also will receive new ITP 900 XCT tires, big bore shocks and will be available in two premium painted editions along with a standard edition, which will receive a new lower price.

The RANGER RZR S 800 is the first vehicle to feature the ITP 900 XCT brand tires as standard equipment. ITP is the No. 1 aftermarket tire and wheel brand that is well-respected in the industry. The new tires were built for high-performance, cross country trail riding, and feature a knobby, aggressive tread pattern for even more impressive cornering ability. They’re perfect for rough, rocky desert terrain where the RANGER RZR S 800 thrives. Coupled with the new Sachs shocks that have a 2-inch bore providing greater cooling capacity and improved fade resistance for a smoother, more agile ride, the 2011 RANGER RZR S 800 will continue to be the choice of performance-minded, off-road enthusiasts.

Introduced last model year, the RANGER RZR 4 800 was the first multi-passenger sport Side-by-Side and the industry’s only four-seat, high performance machine. For 2011, the RANGER RZR 4 800 will be available in two Robby Gordon packages, a painted black and red limited edition and a power steering version that includes Robby Gordon-inspired graphics.

Polaris also will offer the following Limited Editions: RANGER RZR 800 EPS Orange Madness, RANGER RZR 800 Indy Red/White, RANGER RZR 800 Sonic Blue/White, RANGER RZR S 800 Gloss Black Carbon Fiber/Orange Madness and RANGER RZR S 800 Gloss Black Carbon/Indy Red.

Visit RZRForums.net for all your Polaris Ranger RZR discussions: http://www.rzrforums.net/

Polaris officially dropped their new 2011 lineup on us today! Although their aren’t any drastic changes to the performance numbers, they have made some nice cosmetic and ergonomic changes. Checkout the videos below and stay tuned for a complete press release.

Due to it’s longer wheelbase, the RZR4 is the perfect platform for a big motor swap or a whoop skimming desert racer. I didn’t think it would be long before one of the top names in UTV racing took a crack a modifying a 4 and I was right!

Holz Racing Products dropped us this delicious photo of their raced out RZR4 the other day over at RZRForums.net. They didn’t go into too many details, but we do know that we’re hungry for more!

Here’s what we do know:

It’s a two seater with the fuel tank and battery located behind the front seats. 99% of the chassis and sheet metal is complete and they still need to dial in the shocks and bolt on some different wheels and tires.

Either way, here’s a peek into what we can expect from future RZR4 racers!

***Update***

New photos are in and man it looks tough from every angle!

When a group of good people get together, great things happen! The membership over at RZRForums.net is one of the most generous group of UTV enthusiasts on the planet and so is the manufacturer behind the popular product that they ride, Polaris Industries.

When Frank or better known on the forums as FJK,  heard about Cody Johnson’s story from BigMike58, he began to organize a fund raising campaign to support his cause. After talking with Cody’s father, they decided that the Foundation Fighting Blindness would be the best recipient for the funds and would continue the race to find the cure for blindness. From this spawned The Tour for the Cure. A tour set up and organized by BigMike58 and Flashgordon of RZRForums.net. These two outstanding members not only traveled over 8,100 highway miles, but they also rode their Polaris RZR-S and RZR4 at every stop along the way with other UTV enthusiasts across the county.  Between their tireless efforts and the products donated to the cause by supporting vendor auctions held on the site, they managed to raise about $10,855!

This amazing display of charity and kindness also gained the interest of Polaris Industries. Thanks to Jan Rintamaki of Polaris, they donated a brand new 170 to assist the site and help them achieve their goal of raising $20,000. Polaris provided the unit along with two kids helmets and Rosedale Motorsports of Albuquerque, NM provided the set up and pickup of the unit free of charge.

The raffle for the Polaris 170 was held at the Rally on the Rocks on May 15th and the winning ticket that was drawn was purchased at the rally! The Gould family of Farmington, NM were the luckily recipients of the brand new 170 and received personal delivery of their brand new RZR to their home on May 16th by 4Nines, the co-owner of the UTVForums.net network.

Up to this point, all of these efforts have yielded $18,455 in donations toward the race to cure blindness! Even though this is an unbelievable accomplishment, the commitment by the site and its members is to raise $20,000. With just about $1,500 to go, several more vendors have joined the efforts to make sure this goal is reached. Please check in to RZRForums.net for weekly auctions and your chance to not only win great accessories for your UTV, but to also be apart of an incredible achievement!

Once again, a special thanks to all the members and people involved in this great effort:

• FJK
• BigMike58
• Flashgordon
• Polaris Industries
• Pitbull Tires
• ProArmor
• Alpine Sand Toys
• AXIA Alloys
• ATR
• Dragonfire Racing
• Dirty Dawg Performance
• Factory UTV
• Side x Side Customs
• Thunderhawk Performance
• Wasteland Performance
• Racer Tech
• Rubberdown
• Dunertunes
• Ventracing
• Rally on the Rocks
• Dakota Digital
• Rosedale Motorsports
• Lonestar Racing
• UTV Crap
• Patterson Air

In an effort to improve its long-term competitive positioning, increase operational efficiencies and position the company for future growth, Polaris Industries Inc. (NYSE: PII) today announced plans to realign its operations and refocus on its core strategic manufacturing processes. The Company will create manufacturing centers of excellence for Polaris Products by enhancing the existing Roseau, Minn. and Spirit Lake, Iowa, production facilities and establishing a new facility in Mexico.

The Company is currently evaluating several possible locations in the Monterrey/Saltillo area of Mexico for the new facility. The realignment will lead to the eventual sale or closure of Polaris’ Osceola, Wisconsin manufacturing operations over time. The realignment allows the Company to dedicate capital for strategic investments in painting, welding and assembly operations by outsourcing certain non-strategic component manufacturing processes. The Mexico facility is expected to maintain Polaris’ industry leading quality while improving the Company’s on-time delivery to customers and provide significant savings in logistical and production costs.

“While this was a difficult decision for us, given the impact on our employees at the Osceola facility, we believe the creation of these manufacturing centers of excellence will strengthen our company over the long-term and enable us to maintain our lead in a competitive market,” said Scott Wine, CEO, Polaris Industries Inc. “Pursuing opportunities in new markets outside the United States, while concurrently evaluating our cost structure to improve our long-term competitive positioning are key components to our growth strategy. This decision was based on a thorough review of our worldwide operations and will allow us to improve our ability to meet the quality, delivery and cost standards desired by our dealers and customers.”

The realignment of Polaris’ manufacturing footprint will strengthen the Company’s position in the powersports industry, as it will enable Polaris to have production facilities closer to customers in the southern United States and global markets the Company currently serves or expects to serve in the future. When the manufacturing realignment is completed the Company will have capabilities to manufacture ORVs (both ATVs and side-by-side vehicles), which represents more than two-thirds of the Company’s sales, in multiple locations depending on customer demand.

Snowmobile assembly will remain in the Roseau facility and Victory motorcycle assembly will remain in the Company’s Spirit Lake facility. As part of the manufacturing realignment, certain Osceola manufacturing processes will be moved into the Roseau, Spirit Lake and Mexico facilities to more effectively utilize Company resources. In addition, certain manufacturing processes and equipment are intended to be sold to suppliers whom will continue to supply components to Polaris. Other non-strategic component manufacturing operations currently performed in the Osceola facility will be outsourced. The realignment will begin immediately and is scheduled to be complete in 2012. The Company will look to have the new production facility in Mexico operational beginning in the first half of 2011.

Polaris is currently in negotiations with several suppliers to sell certain non-strategic component manufacturing processes and equipment in the Osceola facility. If successful, Polaris’ intent is that the suppliers will continue to manufacture these components in the current Osceola location. Polaris will operate the Osceola manufacturing facilities during the transition period. Upon completion of the transition, Polaris will provide the affected employees severance benefits and work closely with the Wisconsin Department of Labor and other state and local agencies to offer employment assistance and other services.

The Company expects to record pretax transition charges to its income statement in the range of $20 million to $25 million and incur capital expenditures up to $35 million over the next few years related to the implementation of the manufacturing realignment. The Company expects the Osceola facility exit costs, comprising largely of one-time employee termination benefits, to amount to approximately a third of the total transition charges, while the start-up costs related to the new Mexico facility and other centers of excellence will comprise the balance. Transition charges to be incurred in calendar year 2010 are expected to be in the range of $8 to $10 million. The Company’s current earnings guidance of earnings per share of $3.48 to $3.60 for the full year 2010 will not change as a result of this announcement.    The realignment is expected to generate pre-tax costs and expense savings in excess of $30 million on an annual basis when the transition has been completed. The Company expects to begin realizing some of the cost savings as early as 2011.

Conference Call and Webcast
On Friday, May 21, 2010 at 10:00 AM (CT) Polaris Industries Inc. will host a conference call and webcast to discuss Polaris’ manufacturing realignment. The call will be hosted by Scott Wine, CEO. A link to the audio webcast will be posted on the Investor Relations page of the Polaris web site at www.polarisindustries.com/irhome.    To listen to the conference call by phone, dial 800-374-6475 in the U.S. and Canada, or 973-200-3967 Internationally. The Conference ID is #75828289.

A replay of the conference call will be available approximately two hours after the call for a one- week period by accessing the same link on our website, or by dialing 800-642-1687 in the U.S. and Canada, or 706-645-9291 Internationally.

About Polaris
With annual 2009 sales of $1.6 billion, Polaris designs, engineers, manufactures and markets off-road vehicles (ORVs), including all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and the Polaris RANGERTM, snowmobiles and Victory motorcycles for recreational and utility use and has recently introduced a new on-road electric powered neighborhood vehicle.

Polaris is a recognized leader in the snowmobile industry; and one of the largest manufacturers of ORVs in the world. Victory motorcycles, established in 1998 and representing the first all-new American- made motorcycle from a major company in nearly 60 years, are rapidly making impressive in-roads into the cruiser and touring motorcycle marketplace. Polaris also enhances the riding experience with a complete line of Pure Polaris apparel, accessories and parts, available at Polaris dealerships.

Polaris Industries Inc. trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “PII,” and the Company is included in the S&P Small-Cap 600 stock price index.

Information about the complete line of Polaris products, apparel and vehicle accessories are available from authorized Polaris dealers or anytime from the Polaris homepage at www.polarisindustries.com.

Minneapolis, May 18, 2010– Just three short weeks since the catastrophic fire at the Silver State 300 race where the Jagged X / Polaris racing 1919 race car literally burnt to the ground, the team rebounded to a second place finish in the Best in the Desert Blue Water Grand Prix, in Parker, Arizona.

Jagged X raced their Project X Monster Rock RANGER RZR as an interim race car. While the car had a good deal of the required structure in place it still required some long nights and some hard work to ready transform the purpose-built rock crawler into a competitive desert racer.

The Parker race was problem-free from flag to flag. This is the team’s only race with a full field land rush start where they came up a bit short and fell into the pack around sixth. After two laps, Brandon Schueler and co-pilot Mike West battled their way into the second place position but could not quite reel in the first place runner before time ran out.

With the points chase for the BITD championship very tight, Jagged X looks toward August and the famed “Vegas to Reno” to kick off the second half of the season.

Jagged X is sponsored by Polaris Industries, Mountain States Contracting, Elka Suspension, CR Designs, S&S Off Road, Simpson Products, ATL Fuel Systems, Tire Balls, MTA, Vision X Off Road, OMF Performance, Affordable Powder Coat, Robby Gordon Off Road, Trophy Engineering, Fullbore Innovations. 

About Jagged X 
Jagged X is a family owned business located in Phoenix Arizona. Formed in 2003 from a passion for off road vehicles, Jagged X quickly became a pioneer in the custom side by side segment and is known for bringing their customers quality and innovation with their own brand of style. In 2007 Jagged X formed an aftermarket partnership with Polaris industries with the introduction of the exciting new RZR. They continue to lead the pack in the development of exciting products for the RZR such as long travel suspension, billet and tubular accessories.

UTVForums.net and Polaris Industries team up to support the Cody Johnson Tour for the Cure and to help race to cure blindness.

Polaris Industries has kindly joined the race and donated a Polaris RZR 170 to show their support and help us raise $10,000 to reach out goal!

Donation tickets will be offered at the price of $25.00 per ticket, with the option to purchase five tickets for a total of a $100.00 donation at the official Race to Cure Blindness website. Each donation will be issued a unique ticket number and the tickets will be placed in a drawing box to be drawn at the dinner of the Rally on the Rocks in Moab, Utah May 12-15, 2010 (where the Tour for the Cure ends). The winner will receive a new Polaris RZR 170 and shipping to anywhere in the lower 48 is included (shipping to be paid by the RZRForums.net Moderator Team).

Don’t miss out on a chance to win a wonderful RZR 170 for your children and support a great cause at the same time! We’re confident that we will reach our goal with the support of the UTVForums.net membership base and also help a great cause and fellow member at the same time.

We would like to personally thank all of the vendors and members who have donated so far and a special thanks goes out to Polaris, FJK, bigmike58 and Flashgordon of RZRForums.net, for all of their support and for making this happen!

We are currently at 53% of our goal and with this wonderful donation from Polaris the end is now in sight.  Please use the enclosed link below to make your donation and help us race to cure blindness!

http://www.fightblindness.org/goto/polaris

More information about Cody Johnson and the Foundation Fighting Blindness:

Cody was born profoundly deaf, and finally at 1 1/2 years old, he was diagnosed as so. After coming to grips with his deafness, his family started to look into his options, and tried to figure out what to do. After hours of searching on the web, and researching what was out there, they decided to go with a cochlear implant. The implant has been nothing short of a miracle of technology. Cody went to a school for the deaf and hard of hearing from age 2 to 6, and then had progressed far enough in his hearing abilities to be mainstreamed into public school at age six, and go to kindergarten with all his neighborhood friends. A pretty amazing thing for a kid who didn’t hear until he was 2. At age 9, after having a routine eye exam, he was referred to a specialist to look at something that was going on in his eyes. Having already dealt with his deafness, and all the emotions, denial, etc. which came with that, he was seemingly dealt another blow, as he was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa. The easiest way to describe this disease, is that he first looses his night vision, then he will slowly loose his peripheral vision, until he is basically seeing through a straw. To say the least this is a scary thing for him and his family. As of right now, Cody has lost the majority of his night vision. His peripheral is still OK, but over the past two years, they have noticed that he is not seeing things on the ground, and tripping over simple things that we as normal seeing individuals take for granted.

The foundation for fighting blindness, has been the site that his family go to keep up on the latest clinical trials and what the future holds for Cody with regards to his site. As with Cody’s cochlear implant, there are things in progress for the cure of blindness, and even the restoration of lost sight which are truly a miracle for many family’s like the Johnson’s. It is hard to believe, but something as serious as blindness often takes a back seat to many other conditions, as many people know so very little about it.

The foundation, has funded some pretty amazing things already. Just over a year ago, a gene therapy was shown which was able to take two individuals with LCA ( a related disease), and give them sight!

With all the diverse terrain in this world and extensive riding conditions, it almost seems as though there should be a custom tailored UTV to fit each individual need. Well, Polaris Industries has done just that. Polaris seems to have a RZR for every rider and the all new 2010 Walker Evans Limited Edition Polaris Ranger RZR fits a niche, and fits it well. Weighing in at 945 lbs and keeping the slim 50” width, this RZR is definitely a gate slipping, dirt ripping trail-machine!

Only have access to tight trails, woods, or limited on space? No worries. This LE RZR will squeak through those tight pesky ATV trail gates or fill all your special needs and still give you that sporty aftermarket ride. What about power you ask? It has gobs of it and this LE wouldn’t be wearing the RZR name if it didn’t. Even at 5,000 FT. elevation with hot dry air, it still had great low end torque and a 60 mph top speed to keep you grinning and your passenger white-knuckling the standard and much used grab bar. Thanks to the adjustable, remote reservoir, 2” bore Walker Evans Racing Shocks, this UTV  feels rock-solid and inspires confidence even at those high speeds. Not only does it feel good out of the box, but these beefy looking shocks also give the rider the ability to dial in the compression and preload and still keep that oh so needed 10” ground clearance. All that with a factory warranty, a killer looking graphics package and the performance to boot!

On this outing I was accompanied by several fellow RZR owners that all agreed, the custom Walker Evans Racing graphics package looks sharp. The colors are vibrant and the contrast between the black and the Indy Red just makes it pop. Not only do you get cool graphics, but it also comes with custom cut and sew stitched black and Indy Red deluxe seats, along with 12″ black Crusher rims. A win win! The graphics also have a touch of white that ties in nicely to the Bright White painted front and rear suspension springs.

Okay, so we know that this RZR is set-up for trail riding, but we decided to take it out to the dunes and see if this Walker Evans LE is really a one-trick pony.

First impressions when we got to the sands, wow 50” is narrow! While the other UTV pilots that were with me were driving RZR-S’s they made this LE look like a true razor – thin and sharp. Shortly after we all started riding I found out where this slim RZR would come in handy. Our testing grounds is in the heart of the Southwest so our dunes also come with narrow sandy trails lined with mesquite bushes. While we’re doing our best to carve them out to the RZR-S’s porky 60” width, the slim Walker Evans LE just maneuvered effortlessly through the windy trails. Chalk one up for the LE!

The Walker Evans LE was also very good in the flats. Even though the RZR-S comes with a H.O. version of the same 760cc, it has to spin those gnarly Maxxis Bighorns that come standard and push the added weight of the extra cage and longer suspension components. The LE wasn’t as quick in 2WD on the sand because of the narrow stock tires, but switched into 4WD it was very quick and had a lot of punch. I could definitely run down the S – in the straights that is! Keep in mind that this RZR is engineered for the trails and it is taller than it is wide. So, in wide open spaces it does well in a relatively straight line, but it doesn’t give the confidence that the S model does when you flick the wheel from side to side.

The factory settings on the Walker Evans Racing Shocks performed nicely right out of box. It glided over the desert terrain and rutted-up sand with ease at moderate speeds. Along with the narrow width does come some compromise though. For one this means less wheel travel. That’s 3” less than it’s bigger brother, RZR-S. This became apparent when hammering through the whoops. Although the LE did a lot better than expected, at high speeds it would start to buck and the back end seemed to wander. However, with a couple of quick clicks on the easily accessible compression knobs on the top of the Walker Evans Racing Shock reservoirs, the dialed-in LE RZR soaked up the whoops a lot more efficiently. Usually with factory equipped shocks and suspension it seems as though adjustments have little to no effect on the actual ride or behavior of the vehicle. Well, the partnership between Walker Evans Racing and Polaris Industries has changed that! The quick, on-the-side-of-the-trail adjustments made a noticeable difference, not just through the whoops, but also across the uneven desert terrain and in the general ride quality itself. Sometimes when making small adjustments like this it seems as though there might be more of a placebo effect than a real improvement, but multiple riders confirmed that the ride was noticeably better after the adjustments were made.

All and all the Walker Evans LE RZR was a blast to drive! Even though it was out of its element, it took on all the challenges that were thrown at it and it exceeded all expectations. It’s not the first choice if you’re a sand or dune rider, but it’s definitely one of the top choices if you have a wide array of riding terrains at your disposal. It also has all the amenities and features that you come to expect from a UTV wearing the Polaris badge and is just down right fun no matter where you are!

Stay tuned for Part 2 of the review of this Limited Edition RZR where we take it to where it feels more at home, on the trails!

Minneapolis, March 23, 2010 – For the second year in a row, Off-Road Enthusiast CJ Rena Johnson is on a mission, a mission to cure. Johnson, along with her Pink Polaris RANGER RZR, is visiting private, public, local, state and federal ATV and OHV parks around the country to spread the word and raise money for various charities including American Cancer Society, American Breast Cancer Society, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and St. Jude Children Research Hospital.

“2009 was a huge success,” said Johnson. “Once again, we are going to take the nation by storm as we take on challenges in a way that will affect our community in very positive and profound ways.”

“OHV Tour for a Cure” works by having sponsors, groups, businesses, participants, spectators and other riders pledge donations to the charity of their choice. People interested in pledging or joining one of the rides can visit http://www.cjrenajohnson.com/ for an updated list of places “OHV Tour for a Cure” will stop. Johnson attends every event and rides along in her Pink Polaris RANGER RZR which has become a symbol of the tour.

Minneapolis, February 18, 2010–Polaris Defense, a division of Polaris Industries Inc. (NYSE: PII) today announced the company was awarded a new contract with the General Services Administration (GSA) to sell the Polaris all electric, on-road and off-road Low Speed Vehicle (LSV), known as the Polaris EV LSV, to Government Customers.

Polaris Defense currently sells a portfolio of vehicles via GSA, on Schedule 78, but under the new contract, the company can sell its EV LSV under Schedule 23V which is specifically for vehicles that meet the LSV requirements. The Polaris EV LSV is the only 4 wheel drive vehicle on GSA Schedule 23V.  Polaris Defense’s new contract number for the Polaris EV LSV is GS-30F-0017W.

“The award of this GSA contract allows Polaris Defense to provide an innovative, leap-ahead four-wheel drive, electric vehicle to our government customers, while giving them a centralized purchasing point to buy our products,” said Mark McCormick, managing director of Polaris Defense. “Using electric LSV vehicles such as the Polaris EV LSV directly supports the US Government initiative to ‘Go Green’ on its installations and facilities.”

The Polaris EV LSV is based off the RANGER EV platform, Polaris’ first off-road, electric vehicle, and includes the necessary features including horn, turn signals, automotive-quality windshield and rear view mirror, for on-road use. With its 30 horsepower electric motor, quiet operation, 50 mile range and 25 mph top speed, the Polaris EV LSV is the most-capable LSV available for government use. Tough and reliable, it boasts a 1,000-pound payload capacity, 1,250 lbs. of towing and On-Demand True All-Wheel Drive for harsh terrain making it a strong work partner. More information about the Polaris EV LSV can be found at www.polarislsv.com.