LITTLE RIPPERS | Polaris RZR 200 Review

Polaris has always had a dominant presence in the youth UTV market. The new RZR 200 offers a much sportier look and ride compared to other options on the market for younger drivers, essentially looking like you hit a full-sized RZR with a shrink ray. This gives it a flashier look compared to what most people imagine when they hear “youth UTV.”

From the factory, the RZR 200 comes with an array of features intended to give parents peace of mind to let children roam around and grow some trail legs. These options include helmet pairing that disables the starter without a helmet in the cab, adjustable speed limits, and even geofencing to limit how far the RZR can go. It also has a good amount of range, letting you stretch out and roam that extra bit farther without having to worry about carrying additional fuel. A complete feature set like this feels mature for what it provides and is fantastic for letting kids have some independence and explore.

One of the more obvious shining points in the RZR 200 is its suspension, offering a great deal of ride quality and control for younger drivers wanting to explore the hobby. Our driver, Kash Hook, says it feels right at home in the Arizona desert, even with rocks and unforgiving terrain to contend with. The RZR 200 comes with a factory speed limit of 29 mph, minimizing how much risk one can put themselves in, but it doesn’t struggle achieving that limiter by any means. Having a wide range of safety features to help make it more accessible as a children’s RZR is great for the parents, and the capability and fun factor is ideal for those thrill seeking youths.

While being designed for younger drivers, the RZR 200 still manages to have a reasonably roomy interior with wide swing doors. It’s a simple interior, but not cut short on design. Like any true enthusiast, we reached out to some great brands to add a few safety and comfort items. To keep those small bodied passengers in place, we bolted in some 2″ Moose Racing harnesses and wrapped the the top side of the car with a  UTV Speed Inc. roll cage. The cage is adds both safety and aesthetics. The flat lower roof line and the intrusion V-bars gave it the sporty look, but the integrated rear bumper was needed – what pre-teen doesn’t want to nerf their friend! The cage may be small, but it’s built tough with proper supports and cross bars in all the right places.

Purely for cool kid highlight, we added a Moose Racing Soundbar and single row LED light bar. We knew the electrical system can’t handle a huge load, but these accessories thankfully don’t draw much.

The 180cc four-stroke engine may not be the huge horsepower we talk about in the big boy’s toys, but it is a huge improvement and more than enough to have fun within safe limits for a youth-oriented model.

The UTV Speed Inc. cage and bumper make the RZR 200 look fantastic, but the factory cage with available roof are always an option. Let’s be honest, likely not need for the average recereational family but as the kid gets comfortable you’re going to see some air time or even that desire to get onto a race course. So might as well get it now! 🙂

While you’re at it, then for that additional safety and some peace of mind, we opted for an Axia Alloys fire extinguisher with Quick Release mount, something that hopefully won’t need to be touched.

While the RZR 200 is rear-wheel drive only, it still handles terrain deceptively well. So, to the moms out there, you can be thankful that 4WD is not in the cards (yet!). As you would expect with any vehicle with RZR down the side, the acceleration on tap is no joke. When the driver gets comfortable and it starts to get loose, the suspension does a good job of keeping things planted. It feels far more stable than other youth UTVs. To improve the handling even more so, some Raceline wheels wrapped in GBC Mongrel tires really brings the chassis to life, with some great grip when you need it most. 

This RZR does a great job providing fun performance at a level where you don’t have to be a natural born driver to get something out of it. While it is more than capable of being built into a full-fledged race car, in its mostly stock form it is more than we ever had as kids to keep up on trail rides. It’s a ton of fun at an accessible entry level for the UTV market, and great for someone learning or otherwise improving their abilities. There’s no single hindering factor in the RZR 200.

The RZR 200 feels at home in the desert. Taking it into the dunes, you feel a bit of desire for more power and more sand-focused tires. But for general-purpose fun in the Arizona desert, it’s a fantastic option. It has all the great looks of more “adult” UTVs with an impressive performance in the areas that matter. It makes it an extremely attractive option in the world of youth UTVs and certainly feels like Polaris has another winner in the segment.