For farms looking to the UTV market, petrol options are aplenty, with the diesel side always being somewhat the poor relative for choice.
However, Polaris recently launched a new diesel model in the Lake District, the ideal proving ground for testing its credentials.
Coinciding with the Ranger's 21st birthday, Polaris has updated its Diesel Ranger UTV offering to include more comfort, power and capacity.
The old Diesel Ranger had been about for four years and, while not an exciting or particularly enjoyable machine to drive, it could be seen as the best of a bad bunch in performance terms, especially when compared to its petrol counterparts.
While the leisure industry almost exclusively opts for petrol power, farms demand a machine which can perform on a drop of cherry, but face limited options.
However, this could be about to change with the latest Diesel Ranger, which the company claims is all new.
The all new statement is not 100 per cent accurate, however, as it is based heavily on the company's petrol three-seater XP1000, which is no bad thing.
Ride
When we drove the XP1000 last year, aside from its impressive performance, the standout features were the quality of the ride and the finish in the cab, both for reducing noise, but also storage space.
CAB
Trusted by farmers, hunters and homeowners across the world, the Polaris line-up gives customers the capability and strength to overcome any task with features like true on-demand all-wheel drive, VersaTrac Turf Mode and industry-leading towing capacity.
Verdict
The new Diesel Ranger from Polaris is definitely a step in the right direction from the old model, which we were never very enamoured with.
The new engine should be reliable, has plenty of punch and pulls up to its top speed well and is coupled to a smooth and quiet transmission.
The big decision is, if a cab is needed, considering the cost they incur, we would likely settle on front and rear screens and a roof.
The benefits of being able to fill up on-farm is a big plus point and should go some way to offsetting the purchase prices, starting at £12,999 or £13,499 for tractor-spec homologation.
