Rhino 4x4??

[saltamontes]

went to Off Road Expo and these things were EVERYWHERE.
lots of aftermarket.

they seem capable off road due to their light weight.
limited by tire size however.

less of an "expedition vehicle" but maybe a great trailered out-and-back explorer type vehicle from base camp.

anyone have opinion on these things?

 

[articulate]

They are everywhere. And you can pimp them out to your pleasure. So that's pretty cool.

I'm only shooting from the hip here: Due to the "fun size" factor, I'm concerned that many users may take liberties with trail ethics - they'd be awfully fun to spin 'em around making donuts on top of vegetation and that sort of thing. I'd do it if I were too young to know better or care. Hell, I DID do it.

Dang, bro. I don't mean to stomp on your fun. They're sweet little machines for sure.

 

[jkam]

One from Kawasaki has a 3 cylinder diesel available, that would be a cool platform for a Baja explorer.
Plenty of torque and a payload of something like 800 lbs with 2 people.
It's transformable from 2 seat to 4 seat so once you get to your basecamp, you can unload and then have room for a group to go out and explore.
They are very pricey, once you get it and fix it up with all the requisite goodies, you'd spend as much or more than a street legal rig. I have a friend that wants to take some quads to Baja for a month or so and I thought one of these would make a great suppot vehicle.
http://www.kawasaki.com/Products/Detail.aspx?id=146

 

[OutbacKamper]

I really wanted a Rhino when they first came out, but for half the price of a Rhino you can get a good used Samurai and modify it. The Sammi can go 90% of the places a Rhino can go but seats 4 and is (or at least can be) street legal. So as much as I like the Rhino I am saving for a samurai.

Cheers
Mark

 

[Scott Brady]

too much money for what you get IMHO.

Money would be better spent on a late model Wrangler.

 

[flyingwil]

too much money for what you get IMHO.

:iagree:

I am sad to say that I am prejudice against ATV's. The main reason is lack of education for most of the riders. Every commercial shows them doing things that are not trail friendly. The only company I have seen that helps promote good trail ethics is Bombardier on their 30 min infomercial on at 03:00 (yeah not too much to watch on TV that late at night).

But the manufactures contribute to the problem in their advertisements, and monkey see, monkey do, until they are educated otherwise.

 

[calamaridog]

The Rhino is very cool and the design is way ahead of all the other side by side ATV's for sure. They are insanely expensive for what you get, as pointed out by others.

And BTW, ATV's don't kill trails, people kill trails

 

[whistler110]

Summer patrol at Whistler mountain has a Rhino and it works great, the power to wieght ratio is good and it is much smaller then a sammi making it easier to access the back country with doing too much damage.

 

[calamaridog]

I really wanted a Rhino when they first came out, but for half the price of a Rhino you can get a good used Samurai and modify it. The Sammi can go 90% of the places a Rhino can go but seats 4 and is (or at least can be) street legal. So as much as I like the Rhino I am saving for a samurai.

Cheers
Mark

Mark,

The side by side ATV's are about as narrow as a regular ATV and can be used on ATV only trails which no Samurai can legally use. Of course your Samurai is street legal, but a built one will probably be trailered around anyways.

 

[OutbacKamper]

Mark,

The side by side ATV's are about as narrow as a regular ATV and can be used on ATV only trails which no Samurai can legally use. Of course your Samurai is street legal, but a built one will probably be trailered around anyways.

That is a good point, but I was not planning to travel on "ATV only" trails, just explore the rougher trails that my truck is too big to negotiate and for hunting. Where I live there are not really many "ATV only" trails, at least I am not aware of them. Also, eventually, I would like to tow the vehicle behind a larger expedition camper (I would really like a 4x4 Mitsubishi Fuso/Canter with a Unicat style pop-up hardside camper on the back) and having something that is as small as possible but street legal (rather than a Rhino that is not) would be a huge advantage.

Cheers
Mark

 

[Clutch]

You can make those things street legal in Arizona.

They are cool machines, sad that mostly boneheads own them. They can carry more beer than a regular ATV can, hence the bonehead ownership.

 

[rygo72]

Rode/drove my Rhino 1250 miles from Gonzaga Bay to points south in Dec last year. The thing was Perfect.

http://www.putfile.com/rygo72/images/68298

 

[PCRover]

You can make those things street legal in Arizona.

They are cool machines, sad that mostly boneheads own them. They can carry more beer than a regular ATV can, hence the bonehead ownership.

I own a Rhino and have never carried a beer in it. I know several Rhino owners and they are all sane normal folks that don't drink beer and do donuts.

I have seen many boneheads in TACO's drinking beer and raising hell where as I have not yet seen that kind of activity from a Rhino owner.

 

[ujoint]

I agree wih the cost issue, I have friends that have them. They're awesome little machines.But you give me a 12-15K budget, and I will build something allot more fun!!

 

[PCRover]

I agree wih the cost issue, I have friends that have them. They're awesome little machines.But you give me a 12-15K budget, and I will build something allot more fun!!

$15k is not necessary, you can get them for less than $8k out the door.

I see a major stereotype going on here. All Side-by-side owners are not beer drinking boneheads who just want to go fast and tear up the terrain. Some of us tread lightly and use them to enjoy the wilderness by getting a little closer to it then always being isolated by walls of steel and glass.