I don't know about you, but for me, trying new things is always a great recipe for a case of first-day-of-school jitters. And I'm pretty sure I'll still feel that way if I live to be 100, too. It's just how I am.
I'm always excited to learn about the new thing, of course. And at the same time, I'm also anxious about what I've forgotten (either to bring, or to do). Sometimes, I have trouble sleeping the night before because my brain is just so wired. (At least I nap pretty well?)
So, it was with a sense of both excitement and more than a few nerves that I approached my first-ever side-by-side driving experience. While I've been riding motorcycles for over 15 years (and driving cars longer than that), that was something I'd never done before.
Obviously, the Oregon Dunes are a good place to try a bunch of side-by-side driving for the first time, right? Especially in a trio of Polaris' latest RZR Pro performance models.
Not at all an intimidating plan, right? [Grins nervously.]
As it turned out, I didn't need to worry, because Polaris sent me out with one of its in-house off-road experts to make sure I had a good handle on what to do and when.
"One rule: Don't roll over," my coworkers had jokingly told me when I first put the Polaris RZR dates on our calendar. And, you know, they're not wrong. You're essentially inside a giant roll cage, and you're definitely harnessed into those seats pretty tight, but it's still probably not anyone's go-to move.
So, I went in cautious. Maybe a little too cautious. Because the other thing is, while I've ridden motorcycles for almost two decades, most of my riding has been on the street.
I didn't grow up riding off road, so off-road riding in general isn't in my blood. I want to learn more, but because it's not something I've been doing for ages, losing traction is still a bit scary. I'm getting used to it riding trails on e-bikes lately, so that's helping. But I'm nowhere near as confident as I'd like to be.
Anyway, I thought it would be less scary on four wheels than two, though, and that's what I told myself when I was getting ready to go check out these RZRs. And it was!
A large part of that came from my instructor that day, Mallory. She grew up on dirt bikes, but she also remembered the experience of learning to drive SxS for the first time. So she's made it her mission to help those new to powersports (and especially women) to tap into what makes it so fun.
I'm here to tell you that she is very good at her job. I went out on my own first thing, and I was slower and more tentative than I should have been. After a short stint riding shotgun with Mallory, I quickly learned that one of the cardinal rules of off-road riding also applies to driving side-by-sides off-road: When in doubt, throttle out.
In a straight line, though. That's key. Straight line, and you'll be fine. Try to throttle through a corner, and that's when things can get hairy. That's when you can roll when you don't mean to.
When you're riding in the dunes (or up hills in general), you need good momentum to carry you up to the top. That's particularly true in sand, because the texture and character of sand in different places is absolutely not the same.
If you aren't really giving it the beans going up a dune, it's incredibly easy to bury yourself in the sand. Like I did in this short video clip, where I'm at the wheel of the 2025 Polaris RZR Pro XP. I later joked that XP stands for "experience points," and I mean, clearly it does.
In this clip, I'm riding with another Polaris off-road person named Jenna, and it's her hand you see. I immediately tried backing it down the hill in a straight line so I could build up momentum and then try again, but I was dug in too deep, so someone else from the Polaris team came over and helped.
As we waded through the sand to get to the top of the dune, it was a valuable learning experience. See, the sand right around where I'd managed to bury the XP was deep and loose. I also kept thinking the word "fluffy" in my head, if sand can ever be described that way. It wasn't heavy, clay-y, or cloying, and it most definitely wasn't hard-packed.
But up at the top of the dune, the sand was packed much more firmly. Neither people walking on it (like me), nor vehicles rolling over it, really sank in much up at the top. And that's an important thing to understand if you're trying to get up and over the thing, right?
The whole time, I couldn't stop thinking about a discussion I had earlier in the year with 2024 Red Bull Scramble Series champ Corbin Leaverton about, of all things, sand. He talked about how different it is in different places, from the Jersey Shore to Baja and beyond. And while I could understand it in my head, it was a different thing to get a physical feeling of what he was talking about.
Just saying "sand" isn't really enough to describe it, because sand can be so very different from place to place. And thus, any vehicle you drive or ride across it will behave differently, too.
Anyway, another important thing that both two- and four-wheeled vehicles have in common in an off-road situation is that you have to get comfortable with the steering moving around on you a bit as you're going. If you maintain a death grip on either the bars or the wheel, you're going to have a bad time. But if you instead let your vehicle and its suspension do its thing, you'll end up relaxing into it and giggling your head off as you go faster and faster and start to get the rhythm.
What About The 2025 Polaris RZR Pro Lineup? I Thought This Was A Review
Hold your horses there, champ. We're getting to it, I promise. I just needed to set the scene for you first.
Because, you see, I started the day a little bit intimidated by both the vehicles themselves, and driving them. But as I got to know them, I was very quickly whooping and giggling as it felt like we were going much faster than we actually were over the sand.
The 2025 Polaris RZR Pro lineup consists of three different machines: The RZR Pro S, the RZR Pro XP, and the RZR Pro R.
The 2025 Polaris RZR Pro S and RZR Pro XP both share a turbocharged, 181 horsepower engine, but the stances between the two (and how they feel and behave on terrain) is/are quite different. The S has a wider 74-inch stance, while the XP has a much narrower 64-inch stance for tight, twisty trails.
Both have bumpin' Rockford Fosgate sound systems installed, which is honestly quite nice for spirited riding. I don't know about you, but I love music in my helmet on my motorcycle, too. It sounds and feels great, and is a big plus if you don't love the drone of chugging along at the lower speeds inherent to off-roading.
Up at the top end, the 2025 Polaris RZR Pro R stands out for multiple reasons. The first is the 225 horsepower, naturally aspirated two-liter engine. For us motorcycle types, that's 2,000cc. The interior is a bit more plush, with seats you sit in rather than on (both the S and the XP have seats you sit on, and they're fine, but your butt can and will notice a difference once you spend time bumping over rough terrain with them).
All three have snug, secure harnesses that you strap yourself in with, and that take a little getting used to. Once again, the S and the XP have the same harness setup, while the R gets a slightly fancier one that really holds your thighs in place, not just your waist and upper body. In a weird way, it's like you're being swaddled so you can go absolutely HAM with all that extra power.
Gallery: 2025 Polaris RZR Pro Lineup - First Drive Experience
Because all three members of the 2025 Polaris RZR Pro series are good at different things, we tested them on different terrain. The Oregon Dunes Recreational Area is massive, and there are multiple things you can experience while you're there.
In the S, we did some of the smaller dunes, and a small amount of less intense trail driving. We also hit the beach, because it's impossible not to if you're in this park.
In the XP, we hit some mild dunes and did more technical, tight trail riding with moguls. It was a little bit nerve-wracking for me, I'll be completely honest, but that had more to do with my lack of experience at this type of driving than it did with the vehicle. From my beginner perspective, the XP made me the most comfortable, because it had the most 'car-like' feel that I could relate to as I piloted it through the twisties. (It's absolutely not a car. But the track was reassuring to me in that way.)
And finally, the R. Like opening bands going on before the headliner, they saved the flagship 2025 RZR Pro SxS for last. As I mentioned previously, you strap into this one. It's plush, the seats are super comfy, the Rockford Fosgate sound system is once again bumpin', and it's a great time as long as you a) have sunscreen and b) remember to hydrate.
To demonstrate what the RZR Pro R could do, we went up the biggest dunes we had all day. And that thing just ate them up like it was nothing.
Cresting big dunes also means big drops, though, which only served to undergird a thing I'd been thinking since the morning: Driving side-by-sides on dunes is like riding a roller coaster on land.
Only you're in control, with both the fun and the gravity that entails.
If you know what you're doing, you're going to have a great time in any one of the 2025 Polaris RZR Pros. It's just a matter of choosing which one is right for the type of driving you want to do, as well as which one fits your budget. The 2025 Polaris RZR Pro XP is the least expensive of the three we tried, starting at an MSRP of US $23,999. The 2025 RZR Pro S starts at US $26,999, and the 2025 RZR Pro R starts at $34,999.
You might not have a lot of change in your pocket if you buy one, but you will have a lot of memories. And probably also a lot of sand (which I'm still finding a week later, seriously). Be prepared for grins and giggles, no matter your experience level, though.
