I am considering purchasing a side x side. I do not have any experience with them except for riding in a friend's 06 Rhino. My main use will be messing around in the hills and some snow wheeling in the winter. I will be taking my wife and 2 big dogs along. I have a friend here locally that sells the Arctic Cat's and they look like a great machine. I also like the Rhino's and am not sure which one to go with. I would appreciate any input you may have and the pros and cons of each. I will be buying a 2008 model. Thanks, Justin

After driving the Rhino, Ranger and Prowler we decided to go with the Prowler. A good friend had dome some street and off road testing on them for their aftermarket business, and while all three rolled, he said the Prowler rolled less often. We have a 2 year old, so that was reason enough for me. The largest drawback once we got it home is the lack of aftermarket parts for them. We had to have a roll cage fabbed for and are happy with the work that was done. It just took a lot longer since they had to start at square one. If you are going to add anything on, I would go with the Rhino for that reason. Otherwise, I love my Arctic Cat!

thanks for the info. Most of the feedback I have gotten is that the Rhino has a ton of aftermarket parts available for it.

I am in the same boat as wicked, I bought a Polaris Ranger because I wanted all the extra room, but I couldnt buy parts off the shelf so I had a custom roll cage built and other one-off type parts and it took months to get it the way I wanted it. I love it but if I had too do it again I would probably buy something supported more by the aftermarket dealers. If it was me I would seriously look at the Kawasaki Teryx. A little wider than the Rhino, more power and the aftermarket world is going to be as strong as the Rhino market.

if you want to leave it stock please look elsewhere than the prowler. The stock cage is a joke and if you rolled you would be in serious trouble. Much more than the other manufactures. I was sitting in a prowler at bass pro and my buddy pointed out that my head almost came even with the open cage. Not really good if things go bad.

these are some great things to think about. The first thing I will probably do is upgrade the cage. I was really leaning towards the Prowler, but now the Rhino is sounding like the way to go?

well ive had both of them i now have a rhino just cuz wanted to try something different . pros and cons . prowler great susension for hauling ass and easier to control at high speeds , excellent fourwheeler can tow a shit load of weight, they always start easy . cons .they dont turn as easy or as sharp, seat belts suck but could be changed , are taller than a rhino , rollcage sucks but it does work ive tried it. seats seem like you sit real high in them other than that there great they do have more top end than a rhino even if the rhino has a cdi . rhino pros . easy to drive lower roll cage , a little more comfotable . cons lights suck .... bad . high speeds a little squirly , hard starting after sitting . everyone has one . youll like either one .

I'm glad this didn't turn into a Ford vs. Chevy discussion....thanks for all the replies. One question I had is will a Prowler fit in a standard fullsize bed?....crew cab Duramax. I know the rhino will.

we just picked up our '08 rhino for Christmas and I love it. But not too many aftermarket parts for it yet.....Top speed's at 41mph and I could not keep up with Montana Girl this past weekend Hubby says we'll be good to go once they make a CDI box for the '08. It's just a matter of when these parts will be available Oh yeah, the stock lights on the rhino DO suck, but this is an easy enough fix. Can't really complain too much about it -- I love mine!

I'll measure our Prowler tomorrow and let you know how wide it is. We haven't done anything with the suspension other than bilstein shocks, so it should be the same width as a stock Arctic Cat. Don't know where you are looking, but we got ours at Action Motorsports in Anthem. They were very easy to deal with.

that's one thing that bothers me is the top speed of the Rhino. 41mph wats up with that. I know you can eliminate it with the CDI, but that sux you have to buy that right off the bat. What is top speed of a stock Prowler 50-55?

I haven't picked a dealer yet. I will most likely be trading in a 2006 Sportsman 700 with 22hrs on it. I guess whoever is willing to give me a decent trade-in is who I will use. Not sure of the trade-in value.

sorry to hijack, but wicked, what tires are on your cat?

Right now we have the stock wheels and tires on it and they do better than the aftermarket ones we got. The problem was that without buying spacers or adapters, the only way I could do aftermarkets was to lose the offset of 10's in the front and 12's in the rear.

AZDude, I think top speed prior to adding the weight of the roll cage was around 55? I know I can still haul a$$ when I go pick up Hurly from daycare in it. And the other little kids think it's cool when they see it in the parking lot.

ok...maybe I will get the Prowler. hhahah i don't know what to do...

Sorry, should have been more specific, the ones that are on it in the pic in your signature?

Just get what the Jonses got brotha! You will like either one you get but prepare yourself for the "easy" ration you're gonna get! He will be the one left out when we go cruisin in JV to backdoor.

go buy a new kawasaki and let us know if it is anygood

good point

I know of 3 guys that had prowlers that used the crap out of them and 1 everytime we call to go out was broken axles ,seals ,trans ,oil leaks etc
1 broke a axle 3 times before he gave up and sold it. 1 broke an a-arm fixed that then went off a 2 foot drop at the dunes and ripped a front a-arm completely off the prowler.thats my .02

Seat height is much higher in a Prowler than a Rhino - 29.5" for the Rhino vs. 36" for the Prowler. And it is deceivingly big.

More UTV Comparisons.

unless you want to do a lot of mods get an 07 rhino for about 10k or even the prowler will be fine and you can get them for 9k. The 07 rhino is cheaper and faster (w/cdi) than the 08. However the o8 will be pretty good when they get a programmer and people figure out how to make them faster. But for stock the prowler at about 55mph is hard to beat and the price is even nicer. Sell your quad in the open market trading it in you will get raped.

I love my 06 Prowler. Although I have done the cage, and long travel suspension. I have heard really good things about the 700XTX EFI. They are quicker than my 650 and top end is 58+ stock. You will be happy with a rhino or a prowler. I went the road less traveled...................