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Side-by-sides, so called because their occupants ride in them ‘side by side,’ run the gamut in terms of potential use cases. Farmers may use them to clear forage, park rangers may use them while on patrol, ‘adrenaline-junkies’ may use them in a race; in short, people who buy them use them for a whole bunch of reasons. As a result, side-by-side manufacturers produce many different side-by-sides (also called UTVs or SxSs) that cater to every customer’s needs. They often will also produce models at different price points within the same category.

 

The three basic categories for side-by-sides are recreational, work, and sport. Recreational side-by-sides are made for going on adventures with, and usually have limited power output but instead focus on comfort. Work side-by-sides are designed for use in construction or landscaping environments, and generally offer expanded storage space in addition to extra slots for special attachments. Sport side-by-sides are the most powerful, but they provide less towing and storing functionality. Powersports dealers should keep in mind these three categories when they are designing their showrooms and training their employees. No matter what type of side-by-side they will be interested in, a customer should be easily able to find what they are looking for within a few minutes after walking into your store.

 

 

The cheapest option for buying a side-by-side is to buy used, but for the purposes of this comparison we will assume you are buying new side-by-sides at full price. The entry level price for work side-by-sides is $6000 and up. This does not include additional options such as winches, gun racks, windscreens, etc. A popular example of an entry level work side-by-side is the Kawasaki Mule. First produced in 1988, it resembles an ordinary golf cart but packs much more power and has sturdier suspension. The base model has two-wheel drive and halogen headlights.

 

Recreation side-by-sides have more off-road capabilities than work side-by-sides. They also have additional safety features such as roll bars and three-point harnesses, to keep occupants from getting hurt if the vehicle flips on its side. The Yamaha Wolverine ticks all the boxes for a recreational side-by-side and is relatively cheap for its category. This UTV offers 4-wheel drive and long-stroke shock absorbers as standard. Or you can spend a little more and go with the Arctic Cat Havoc which has thirty more horsepower and a more sophisticated suspension system.

 

For a side-by-side that’s all work all day, look no further than the Mahindra Retriever. It comes with tires that are appropriate for concrete and is available in multiple styles, one of which gives you two extra seats and the other extends the length of the bed. But, say you don’t care about hauling buckets and transporting machinery: what if, instead, you cared about taking home first place? The Polaris TURBO S is the fastest production side-by-side on the market today. It has more horsepower than some cars do, and can land jumps that should put it in the Olympics.