We drove the 2025 Polaris Ranger XP 1000 Northstar Premium in Texas. It’s not all-new, but Polaris fixed a bunch of our biggest gripes with the utility side-by-side. Is this the best Ranger ever?
Check out the story at https://www.utvdriver.com/utv-videos/polaris-ranger-xp-1000-northstar-ultimate-analysis-review/
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Check out the story at https://www.utvdriver.com/utv-videos/polaris-ranger-xp-1000-northstar-ultimate-analysis-review/
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/
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SportsTranscript
00:00This is the 2025 Polaris Ranger XP1000 Premium.
00:04We're here in hot Southern Texas.
00:06We're gonna show you around the rig,
00:07take you for a little ride,
00:08and tell you exactly what sets it apart
00:10from its predecessors.
00:11Then we're gonna give you a quick rundown
00:12of some of the things that impress us the most
00:14about this machine.
00:15And finally, we're gonna tell you who this rig is for.
00:18Polaris says this is the best-selling side-by-side, period.
00:21It's the F-150 of the UTV world,
00:24which is why you see them on just about every farm
00:26and ranch in the country.
00:27Polaris has been listening to owners
00:29and included a bunch of simple updates
00:31that really set this machine apart from the 2024 model.
00:34That starts with the new front end.
00:36The Ranger's always been a handsome rig,
00:37but the new bumper and grill do a smart job
00:39of bringing this machine in line
00:40with models like the Ranger XD1500,
00:42Expedition, and Ranger Kinetic.
00:44The XP1000 also comes with 29-inch tires for the first time,
00:47and the extra sidewall helps the rig look a little beefier.
00:50Those taller tires also help
00:51in the ground clearance department.
00:52All Ranger 1000 and XP1000 models
00:55come with a poly roof as standard equipment.
00:58That's huge.
00:58These models also get a 4,500-pound Polaris winch,
01:01and that is a huge one for us.
01:03The poly line is standard equipment,
01:04no more messing with tangled braided steel winch line.
01:07But the change we're most excited about is inside.
01:09Polaris finally addressed one of our biggest complaints,
01:12the transmission, or more specifically, the shifter.
01:15I cornered an engineer,
01:16and they said they went through the whole transmission
01:18with new machining, updated gears,
01:20to make the thing shift 50% easier.
01:23It is so much better than the 2024 model.
01:26You can literally shift this thing with two fingers.
01:29There's no hunting for gears.
01:30There's no fighting the transmission lever.
01:32This fixes a complaint we've had with Polaris vehicles
01:35since the dawn of time.
01:36Polaris also fixed another huge gripe of ours
01:39on lower trim models, those terrible mesh doors.
01:42Now they have a single point.
01:43You just grab a buckle, clip it in,
01:45and you're good to go.
01:46Excellent.
01:47And finally, Polaris changed the power steering
01:50on this Ranger.
01:51They canned the entire power steering unit
01:53and replaced it with one from an automotive supplier.
01:56It reduced effort at low speed.
01:58It also gave the Ranger return to center for the first time,
02:02just like in a normal car where you let go of the wheel
02:04and it wants to return back to a straight line.
02:07This does that now.
02:08Other changes inside include JBL audio.
02:11No more Rockford Fosgate.
02:12This is an upgraded audio system.
02:14It sounds excellent.
02:15Otherwise, the Ranger is pretty much the Ranger
02:17we know and love.
02:18This is a workhorse.
02:19This is the thing that does everything you need it to do.
02:21You can also get around and poke around on some trails,
02:23have a good time with your buddies on the weekends
02:25if that's what you need to do.
02:26You still get a 999cc parallel twin
02:28that's good for 82 horsepower.
02:30You still get a traditional CVT gearbox.
02:32You still get selectable on-demand all-wheel drive
02:36with turf mode, which as we all know is massive
02:38if you're trying to take care of a pasture or grass.
02:41Importantly, the 500 pound box capacity
02:44and 2,500 pound towing capacity say the same for 2025.
02:48It's also still a huge value.
02:50The XP1000, not the fancy North Star with the cab
02:53and all that, but the regular XP1000
02:55starts at under $21,000.
02:58That includes a steel bumper with a winch.
03:00That includes a roof.
03:01That's massive.
03:03Now, usually this is where we dive into the five things
03:05we love and the five things we hate about this machine.
03:08But Polaris took care of a lot of the complaints
03:10that we've had about the Ranger for a long time.
03:12So instead of doing that, we're gonna do a five things
03:14that I absolutely love about the rig.
03:16Then we'll get into who this machine is for.
03:18The first thing I love,
03:19overall durability and serviceability.
03:23Part of that power steering switch meant a new ECM,
03:28which helped Polaris reduce service intervals.
03:31So it used to be, if you had a Ranger,
03:33you had to take it in for service every 100 hours
03:36or 1,000 miles, whichever came first.
03:38Polaris increased that by 100%.
03:40It's now 200 hours or 2,000 miles.
03:44That is a massive upgrade and it's gonna save you
03:47a lot of money over the life of this rig.
03:49And Polaris also cranked up the warranty on this machine.
03:52It's now two years instead of one.
03:54A massive improvement over the outgoing model.
03:56Polaris said they changed all sorts of tiny little things
03:59to help make the rig quieter and more durable.
04:02That includes redesigning this rear sway bar
04:05to reduce interference, squeaks and rattles.
04:07Feels just more solid than the outgoing model.
04:10Look, we've got a 2024 in the shop right now
04:13and it feels fine.
04:13It feels exactly like a Ranger.
04:15These doors, however, open and close much nicer.
04:19Polaris has made a bunch of little tweaks
04:20to how the cab seals.
04:22They now have in R&D a rain booth and an ultrasonic gun
04:27to help detect and gate leaks.
04:29And I can say we spend all day riding around
04:32in some super dusty trails in Texas
04:35and look how clean it is in here.
04:37Yes, there's a variable speed AC compressor
04:41and yes, there's a cabin air filter.
04:43But if you have a Ranger with a sealed cab,
04:45you know that before there would have been
04:46all sorts of dust in here and that is just not the case.
04:49Second thing, I can't say it enough, this transmission.
04:53Man, this shifter is such an improvement
04:57over the outgoing model.
04:58It feels confident, it feels quality in a way
05:01that the outgoing CVT shifter simply didn't.
05:04This is a traditional rubber belt transmission.
05:07It's not the steel belt transmission
05:08that you get in the XD 1500,
05:10but this is a massive, massive improvement
05:13and that alone would be enough to get me
05:15to ditch my old Ranger and pick one of these up.
05:18Third thing we love, we're gonna talk about this steering.
05:20Look at this, look how easy this is.
05:22We are sitting here at a dead stop.
05:24We got a trailer on the rear, one finger, just that easy.
05:27The fourth thing we love, all this new standard equipment.
05:3129 inch tires, a 4,500 pound winch with synthetic rope
05:36and a magnetic fairlead will automatically stop.
05:39You're not gonna tear up anything
05:41by holding down the button too long.
05:42A new poly roof as standard equipment.
05:45These seem like small changes,
05:47but they're all the first things you would do
05:49if you bought a Ranger.
05:51And the fact that they now come standard equipment
05:53at less than $21,000 is huge.
05:55It's also worth noting the steel bumper also comes factory
05:59and it's already set up for other accessories.
06:01You can get a big bull bar up here, set up for the plow
06:05if you need to do a bunch of snow removal.
06:07It's a huge upgrade over what you got before.
06:10Fifth thing I love, and maybe this is obvious,
06:12this is still a Ranger,
06:13is that it still does everything you need your Ranger to do.
06:16It's a workhorse.
06:17It tows this trailer with all these square bills around,
06:20like it's not even back there.
06:22Brakes work great.
06:23It is still the machine that has made itself
06:25the most popular UTV on sale.
06:27Is it perfect?
06:28No, there are still things about it that kind of bother me.
06:31We're gonna start with this here,
06:34which is supposed to be one handed.
06:36You're gonna fight it.
06:37It's hydraulic assist.
06:38I wouldn't mind seeing a power lift option,
06:40especially on an upmarket model.
06:42And while the interior is awesome,
06:44very little plastic flashing around.
06:47It looks like a super squared away,
06:50really well-built interior.
06:52There are things outside that let the machine fall down.
06:56This tailgate, oof, feels flimsy,
07:00feels like less than the rest of the rig.
07:03Lastly, let's talk about these pedals.
07:05They're offset at a weird angle.
07:07And if you're trying to transition between gas and brake,
07:10it's easy to get hung up there.
07:12That happened a couple of times.
07:13I wouldn't mind seeing that brake pedal
07:15a little bit farther down.
07:16Do I want more power?
07:17I don't know, 82 horsepower seems like more than enough
07:20for this machine.
07:21The only reason that I would maybe want more
07:23is because I've been in vehicles like the Expedition
07:26and the Kinetic that have more grunt.
07:29They feel more fun to rip around.
07:31They feel more capable when you got a load behind them.
07:33Does this need that?
07:34No, because it's also way cheaper
07:37than either of those rigs.
07:38There's very little to complain about.
07:40Who is this machine for?
07:42Well, it's for the person that it's always been for,
07:45which is someone who needs to get a bunch of work done,
07:48wants a side-by-side, and doesn't want to break the bank.
07:51It just happens to be better than it has ever been before.
07:54And it happens to be a better value
07:56thanks to all of that standard equipment.
07:58The machine is nicer.
07:59It feels better built.
08:00It's gonna cost you less to operate.
08:02If you've got an old Ranger,
08:03you know how good these machines are.
08:05We just did a video in which we compared
08:08a 10-year-old Ranger to a new Ranger.
08:10And the 10-year-old Ranger kept up the fight
08:13because it's still a good workhorse.
08:16This thing takes everything that made the Ranger popular,
08:19polishes it all up, and puts it in a nicer package.
08:21I'm gonna get out of the heat and find some air conditioning,
08:23maybe in the cab of this Ranger.
08:25You can check us out over at UTVDriver.com,
08:27where we'll have a full review and buyer's guides
08:30on this machine up real quick.
08:32We'll see you there.