RANGER VS DEFENDER: Mudding Edition

UTV Driver

https://dirthammer.com/ is the best place online to buy and sell side-by-sides! No more Facebook Marketplace weirdos, no more “is this available,” no more sketchy parking lot meetups. Just buying and selling side-by-sides, simplified. Check out www.dirthammer.com for your next side-by-side purchase!  Polaris has dominated the Utility segment ever since the release of the 3/4-ton Ranger XD1500. But this year, Can-Am came out swinging with an all-new generation of Defender, the HD11. So how do they compare? While we could sit around and talk towing/hauling, we decided to have a bit of fun and take both utes to Windrock Park for some Spring mudding. Let's bury these things and see which one comes out on top!  Become a Channel Partner: https://octanemedia.co/home/become-an-advertiser/ Looking to buy? Get prequalifed https://octane.co/vehicle-selection/?partner=A8PrQQB&a=298&flow=long-prequal&appTheme=3a49337c5724d18079602a4ca5a91626 Favorite Gear:  Packtalk Edge ORV: Code 'octane' for 10% off https://cardosystems.rfrl.co/z8qy5   For more stories, reviews, and first-looks check out https://www.utvdriver.com/   Want to see even more shenanigans from the UTV Driver team? Give us a like and follow:  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UTVdriver/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/utvdrivermagazine/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/utvdriver/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@utvdriver

Transcript

00:00Boy, this triple dial, man. This is good stuff.

00:05There we go.

00:07It's one of the best rigs I've driven.

00:09Today, we are going to paint a masterpiece at Windrock.

00:13We are going to cover both of these rigs with Tennessee mud.

00:17I'm Anders Carlson, editor at UTB Driver.

00:19This is Jackson Cooper, content editor at UT Driver.

00:21And today, we have a Polaris XD1500 Northstar.

00:25And we have a Can-Am Defender Limited HD11.

00:28And we're going to take these things out on the trails.

00:30And we're going to paint a masterpiece on these rigs while we sit inside these rigs with not a drop

00:35of mud on us.

00:35It has been a very rainy week in East Tennessee.

00:39So we're expecting a lot of mud, which is going to be awesome for these things.

00:43Because we're going to be nice and tight inside these enclosed cabs with HVAC, air, whatever we need.

00:49It's going to be great.

00:50While we're out there, we're also going to be pitting these things against each other.

00:53Now, this is a four-seater. This is a two-seater.

00:55So take that with a grain of salt.

00:56We're going to see which one should you actually buy.

00:59The top utility rig from Polaris or the top utility rig from Can-Am.

01:03I think we're all winners for playing.

01:04But, you know, there's going to be some comparisons.

01:06We're winners just for having these out here.

01:07We're winners in life, in general.

01:09All right, let's get on the trail.

01:10All right, first startup of the XD1500.

01:14And man, that is so smooth.

01:15This thing actually uses an inline-3.

01:18It's a triple. It's great.

01:20It makes really great power.

01:21It's super smooth, and it also goes through a steel belt transmission, which means you're probably not going to have

01:27to change the belt on this thing.

01:28I'm sure all of you are used to getting out on the trail and getting stuck, burning up a belt.

01:33That's just not a thing in this.

01:35That still has a rubber belt.

01:36So I think we're going to have an advantage here, especially when we get into those mud holes.

01:40I want to be able to just keep on spinning my tires.

01:43All right, so like we said, it has been raining for the past three days.

01:46I'm really expecting these trails to be an absolute mess.

01:50I've also got that really nice AC going, and I'm kind of living the dream here.

01:55This thing is awesome.

01:57All right, first trail.

01:57This is trail two at Windrock.

01:59This suspension is more plush than a sport rig, which it kind of makes sense.

02:03This is pretty sick.

02:04I'm enjoying this.

02:05Oh, there we go.

02:06That's a nice one.

02:06I never get to listen to music in rigs because they're always open.

02:10This is exciting.

02:11This is the first time I've actually really enjoyed an enclosed rig with music as a passenger.

02:19Now, this windshield does actually fold out, which is really, really nice on a day like

02:22this where it's not too hot, not too cold.

02:24But the problem is when you have it up on trails, it can get caught on branches.

02:28If you're going a little bit too quick, you can get caught on something and just kind of

02:31mess it up.

02:32So that's why I don't have it out, and that's why I'm running the AC.

02:35I should really reiterate how good this suspension is.

02:38You see a utility side by side, and you're like, okay, that suspension is fine for a U, right?

02:41Like, it's fine to get around the farm, but like, this is actually good for the stuff out here.

02:47You can say what you want about Utes, but it really just feels like old school wheeling.

02:51In this, you actually have to pay attention to your line.

02:54You have to make sure you're not off camber.

02:56You actually have to pay attention to where your wheels are going.

02:58This is 64 inches wide, right?

03:00Like, it's maneuverable.

03:01Even the four-seater, I forget how long the actual wheelbase is.

03:05It's shorter than most other four-seater side-by-sides.

03:08Look at that, America.

03:09There's your Smoky Mountains.

03:10Are you in four?

03:11Four wheel drive.

03:13Oh, yeah, yeah.

03:13I don't think either of our blocks right now, though.

03:16So we did all that without a dent block.

03:18Yeah, I don't think so.

03:19And I really thought it was our buddy.

03:21We got it pretty good.

03:22Well, we're getting close.

03:23It got in the cab.

03:25Oh, see?

03:26Nah, that seat.

03:27See, in automotive terms, we call that road feel.

03:29You really get a feel for the road, the feedback or whatever.

03:32You want it in your shoe.

03:33Yeah, you got a mud feedback on the floorboards.

03:35That's a feature, not a glitch.

03:36See, I want it to where you can't tell what color this thing is.

03:40Right.

03:41That's my goal for the day.

03:42I really thought that was going to be a lot more muddy.

03:44We're going to head to the overlook.

03:45There's a weight down that should have all the mud we want.

03:49It's usually completely packed, even on, like, dry days or dry weeks.

03:53There's a ton of muddle, so we'll try that.

03:56I'd like to point out that you have an unfair advantage in your camo.

03:59You could just claim that that's all mud.

04:01I mean, you know, it's very realistic.

04:04Let's see.

04:04We got rocks.

04:06Oh, boy.

04:07Oh, yeah.

04:07Absolutely nothing.

04:09So, a cool thing about the XC 1500, too, is that it doesn't really have a high and low

04:12mode.

04:12Because of that steel belt, you don't really need it.

04:15And the smooth power delivery from that inline triple kind of makes you in the right gear

04:19at all times.

04:20It's kind of just like putting an automatic car in drive and letting it eat.

04:24Where that HD 11 back there, I can guarantee you they're pretty far behind me because they're

04:29constantly stopping and starting to change out of high and low.

04:32I've yet to drive the HD 11, so I'm saving all judgments until I actually drive it.

04:36But, man, this XC 1500 is one of the best rigs I've driven.

04:41Oh, my Lord.

04:42This thing is awesome.

04:46Alright, now we're getting to the actual mud holes.

04:48Let's take this line.

04:49Oh, you can already see how much mud I have on my windshield.

04:53Look at that.

04:53Look at how nice that is.

04:57There we go.

05:03Are we in sport?

05:04Uh, I think so.

05:06Yes.

05:06We are sporting.

05:16No.

05:17Around it, no such thing.

05:22Oh, there she is.

05:25Good play there.

05:26Yeah.

05:29That was my helmet.

05:31Oh, yep.

05:31That's what he wearing for.

05:35Man, this trail feels a lot easier when you're on, like, a, kind of like a Pro-R.

05:40I go through this bit at, like, 30 miles an hour.

05:46Oh, wonders.

05:48That was spicy.

05:49A little tippy.

05:50Alright, we are back on the rocks.

05:52This was my favorite part a little bit ago.

05:54We were kind of bouncing everywhere.

05:55Kind of just felt like old school wheeling, you know, driving your old Jeep.

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06:54Now, back to the action.

06:55Dude, I think this is the biggest mud hole at Windrock, and we just sent both of these through it

07:00without an issue.

07:01Yeah, well, I had an issue, and I think that we were getting a really great coating of mud, and

07:05I think that actually washed off some of the old mud, so I'm a little disappointed.

07:09It covered mine.

07:10I think once this dries, you're not going to be able to tell that there's a camo underneath, but I

07:14mean, this is like an inch thick of mud.

07:16No, this is fine work, people. I think we're doing the Lord's work here.

07:20Yeah, that's right. You're right. You could barely tell the camo. Maybe it's not camo. Maybe that's the tree that

07:25we ran through.

07:26Okay, what did you like about this one? Going through it, what did it feel like going through the mud

07:30hole?

07:30Because I haven't driven this one yet. I'm going to drive it on the way back to the parking lot

07:33just to get an idea of it.

07:34Because this one went straight through it, like without an issue.

07:37This one, you know, I think it's because it was in trail mode. I didn't have the diff locked front

07:41or back, so it just kind of like went in like a hippopotamus and just kind of wallowed around, but

07:46eventually made its way out.

07:47It's a lot of fun. Honestly, if we did it again, just lock the diff.

07:50Our buddy Kurt was driving this one, and I was outside filming it, and he said that the wheels just

07:55felt like they kept spinning, and it wasn't doing that.

07:58The wheels were slowly moving, and it was merging the thing along, so it has the traction. These tires have

08:06the traction, even in these giant mud holes, which is kind of insane to think about.

08:10You think about side-by-side tires, and you're like, especially the factory ones, they don't put the best things

08:14on there, but these are pretty incredible.

08:17People upgrade pretty quick. I do feel like I was losing, like the front end was washing out a lot.

08:21It was on the trails, not in the mud hole or whatever. The front end was like washing out a

08:24little bit. I was getting a little bit of understeer.

08:26But again, that could just be like locking the diff. Also, the tires are, they're 50-50 tires. This is

08:31a rec-cute.

08:31We're not hitting, like, bounty holes with this thing. You know, the tires that are meant to do, well, you

08:37know, there's a media bounty hole.

08:38I don't know. They're meant to do kind of like all the things or whatever, so I'm not complaining.

08:41And this thing is so much fun, and like I was talking about in the rig to myself, in my

08:45thoughts, my head, I just love, like, two-seaters, and I love, like, the short wheelbays, and I love the

08:49bouncy-bouncy.

08:50And honestly, I also really love narrow rigs. 64 inches wide, this is just great. I love the lean. I

08:55feel, I don't want to get tippy, but getting close to tippy, that's a lot of fun.

08:59That's kind of why we're out here.

09:00I was kind of getting close to that with that. The 64-inch width, it really just makes the difference,

09:04especially out here.

09:05Yeah.

09:05Where, like, two weeks ago, we took the Maverick R out here through this trail, and it felt like I

09:10was running into everything.

09:11I didn't have a line choice. I didn't have anything like that.

09:13But in these, you do. Like, you can actually pick your line, and if there's a huge rock, you can

09:17actually avoid the huge rock.

09:19Yeah, you can be sort of like a mountain goat, you know? You can just sort of pick and choose.

09:22You're narrow. You can, like, aim for some rocks for fun.

09:25Or, you know, find paths and tracks through them or whatever.

09:28Sport rigs are great, and lord love, we love our Pro-Rs, we love our Mav-Rs.

09:31It is kind of fun taking, like, recutes out here and doing sporty things with them.

09:35We talked to our audience a lot about, do you need a $30,000, $40,000, $50,000 side-by

09:40-side?

09:40And we just put out a video about, you know, a $50,000 versus a $25,000 side-by-side.

09:46These kind of just reiterate our point from that video that, like, you don't need it to have fun out

09:50here.

09:50Yeah.

09:51In the desert, that's one thing. You want to go fast. You want to go around these, you know, huge

09:55dust bowls and all that.

09:56For these out here, like, I am having, this is some of the most fun I've had in a side

10:00-by-side in a long time.

10:02No matter what trail you're on, it feels like you're doing something, you know?

10:05Yeah. Dear Can-Am, we didn't do anything we're not supposed to do, but we are kind of doing stuff

10:10that we're not really supposed to do with the Defender.

10:13In my defense, I went to the Can-Am Derby and I saw the Can-Am Ambassadors beat the snot

10:17out of a fleet of new HD11s and everything.

10:20Fun fact, this was one of the Can-Am Derby rigs.

10:23Oh, see? It's already broken in then.

10:24I'm so serious. Yeah, our Can-Am contact, when he sent us this thing, he was like, just so you

10:27know, it was in the Can-Am Derby.

10:29We just, like, took the wrap off. I'm a little disappointed it doesn't have the wrap on. The wrap was

10:32really fetching, I thought.

10:34So, it's seen its fair share of abuse and all that. I feel like the stuff you're doing here, it's

10:39just, like, it's the thought of, can it do it?

10:41You know? Where it's, like, big sport side-by-sides, wide open side-by-sides, the Pro-R, the Mav

10:45-R, the H2.

10:46You see something and you're like, can it do it? Of course it can do it.

10:49Yeah.

10:49It's, like, the best side-by-side in the world.

10:51But, like, these things, you see a tiny hill or, like, a small rock climb and you're like, is that

10:56gonna actually get over that?

10:58And that's the fun. We're out here answering questions.

11:01If you're in a sport rig, the answer is always yes. It's not even a question. Of course it can

11:04do that.

11:05The fun part is answering the question, I don't know, should I do this?

11:08And the answer is yes, you should! Because it can!

11:11If you get in any trouble, these have winches on them. They both have 4,500-pound winches. You'll be

11:15fine.

11:16We're gonna try to get them stuck later. No promises, though.

11:18Alright, we're gonna get a little seat time in the HD11 here.

11:22Well on our way to painting this thing windrock brown.

11:25I don't believe we're in, uh, trail mode now.

11:28A little stiffer.

11:29Really, it's pretty nice. It's a nice balance of, uh, you know, there's a little bit of rocking and rolling.

11:34Man, it's really nice being on 30s.

11:36Suspension aside, just having 30s instead of 29s is, uh, I think really nice.

11:41I think it's a major upgrade.

11:42Once you're riding around something that's on, like, 27s or whatever, it just feels like you're on, like, a little

11:47tiny, uh, like, scooter.

11:48I think we went up to, uh, went from 82 horsepower in the HD10.

11:54Now we're at 95, I believe, in the, uh, HD11.

11:57You can feel it at your foot, man.

11:58This is a fairly quiet cab, too, I have to say.

12:02There we go.

12:04Yeah, there we go.

12:06Ooh, look at that.

12:08Yeah!

12:09Jackson, find us some mud holes!

12:10We are definitely feeling all the fun parts.

12:13But it never really gets tippy.

12:15I gotta say, it feels like we haven't had a single pucker moment yet for this whole trip.

12:20Brakes are pretty nice, too.

12:21Usually these brakes are, uh, they only have, like, a suggestion of a feel.

12:25These are pretty good.

12:26These are some of the best, uh, can-am brakes I've actually tested.

12:28Windrock Brown, color of the year.

12:30There you go.

12:31That's the spirit.

12:32Normally, Jackson hates getting muddy.

12:34I feel like these enclosed rigs really bring out his inner, inner kid.

12:44Oh, man, that's funny, all the mud definitely, uh, definitely kind of affects the brakes a

12:50little bit, but that's pretty standard.

12:52All right.

12:55Ooh, that was really clean water.

12:57Make sure we hit some more mud.

12:59There we go.

13:04I gotta say, I'm kind of impressed.

13:06Ordinarily, I really kind of like parallel twins.

13:08Just because they're sort of more gutty, torquey, whatever.

13:11Boy, this triple's dial, man.

13:13This is good stuff.

13:14Let's see if I pick the right line here.

13:16I'll bet you I can.

13:21This is a good reminder to, uh, switch to low sometimes.

13:24Oh, look at that.

13:25We're making it.

13:26I don't even think we've hit the skid plate yet.

13:28I'm kind of impressed.

13:32There we go.

13:34All right.

13:34So, initial thoughts of the HD11.

13:36I like the seating position in the XD1500 a lot more.

13:41You're a little bit closer to the, uh, the windshield.

13:44Visibility is a little bit better on the XD1500.

13:46Throttle response on the HD11 is better, but it has less power.

13:51Both of them are kind of not great in their own ways where the XD1500 has a very, very slow

13:58throttle response where you mat it and it takes like a solid half second, second to get going.

14:03Where in this one, it's just like, it'll get going, but it ain't got the power behind it.

14:08The ride is a little bumpier, but it does feel more stable than the XD1500.

14:13Right now, visibility is kind of annoying me a whole lot.

14:17I can't really see anything out of this, this corner.

14:20All right.

14:20So, Anders, beginning of the day, I said I wanted to cover these in so much mud that you couldn't

14:24tell what color they were.

14:26This one, I think we succeeded in.

14:27Yeah.

14:28This was originally a blue color and it's like brown now.

14:31This one, on the other hand, it's, you can still see the camo through.

14:33So, I don't think I quite succeeded with this one.

14:35We did do a great job at getting these things absolutely filled.

14:39Honestly, let's not be too hard on ourselves.

14:40We went through so much mud that the new mud we went through washed off the old mud.

14:44That color right there, that is, I'm going to call that a dusty wind rock.

14:47We're going to trademark that and I think that that should be a K&M color.

14:50Get at us about that.

14:52You know, we'll sell it to you cheap.

14:53But the better question, I think, is which one did we like better?

14:56Because we spent, you know, we got here at what, nine o'clock?

14:58We spent, you know, three, four hours driving these things around.

15:00I spent most of the time in the XD1500.

15:02You spent most of the time in the HD11, but we did swap at the end.

15:05I got to say, I think I like the XD a little bit more.

15:08That works out just perfect because you can keep the XD, which is planted and fun and stable and you

15:14can put kids in the back.

15:15All that's great.

15:15That, the HD11, is more fun.

15:18That thing rocks and rolls.

15:20It tips.

15:20It gets sideways.

15:21You feel like you're doing something that you're not really supposed to do in it, but it's capable.

15:26It's basically, you get to go to the trail and just ask yourself the question, can I do this?

15:29And the answer is always yes.

15:31Whereas with this, it just feels more safe.

15:33It felt more like driving a golf cart on a golf course where you're just kind of like, you know,

15:38driving along, sipping your Coca-Cola.

15:41Yeah.

15:41And just like not really caring about anything.

15:43Like pretty much any obstacle we came over, the suspension on this was perfect.

15:47There was one little section that got a little rough.

15:50I saw you bouncing this thing off of almost everything and I was trying to follow your line and we

15:55were getting absolutely jumbled in the XD1500.

15:58So I got to give you props.

15:59You were kind of going crazy with the HD11.

16:01You were really putting it through its paces.

16:03Well.

16:04But still, the XD1500 followed it along just fine.

16:07And I think that's a testament to how good it is.

16:11It's also worth noting that the XD1500 is about seven grand more than the Defender HD11 we have behind us.

16:17This one starts at $40,999, where this one starts at around $34,000.

16:23So $34,000.

16:25I had $50,000 worth of fun rocking and rolling in that.

16:28And if you were following me and following my line, there's your first mistake because I went out of my

16:32way to hit all this stuff and do all the things that I probably shouldn't have.

16:35And I had a blast and it did everything I asked it to do.

16:38We also answered the question, yes, you can go mudding in these things and it is amazing.

16:43People have been mudding in Rangers and Defenders since they debuted, but these things are completely stock.

16:48Half the time buyers put portals on them, huge tires to actually go into the mud, but these, dead stock.

16:53The tires, the diff lock, all of that worked absolutely perfectly and we had a blast.

16:59The puddle that we went through, I say puddle, but it was more like a pond.

17:02I'm pretty sure it's the biggest mud hole in Winter Rock and these things ate it up like it was

17:07nothing.

17:08I actually want to look at a map. I actually think it's probably a named lake.

17:11I think that's kind of how big it was.

17:13It could be.

17:14We had a ton of fun today mudding these things.

17:16We hope you had just as much fun watching this video.

17:18If you like this, go down below, hit like, comment, subscribe if you feel like it.

17:22And when you're done doing that, head over to our socials.

17:24We're on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and of course here on YouTube seven days a week.

17:28We will see you out on the trail.

17:30You got a bug on you.

17:32Oh, okay.

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