Are you tired of stumbling around your garage trying to decide which trail toy or long-term project you'reready to finish? What if we told you about a turnkey vehicle that comes standard with a selectable locker and mud tires and only takes up about as much space as a side-by-side washer and dryer? We thouroughly abused a '07 Yamaha Rhino over a two-month period, beating the suspension through the desert, scraping it along rocky trails, and blasting up hillclimbs. Even during prolonged intervals with the pedal matted to the floor the liquid-cooled 660cc four-stroke engine never missed a beat. Nor did it give us any problems. The Ultramatic transmission makes this golf cart on steroids an easy transition for any member of the family to drive, with everything from the selectable front locker to the 2WD to 4WD engagement virtually foolproof. The only thing we would maybe like to see on future models would be a little more of a wider stance to keep those side-wheelie acrobatics to a minimum.
Price as Tested: $9,799
Engine: 660cc liquid-/oil-cooled, SOHC, five-valve, four-stroke
Drivetrain: Ultramatic transmission with H, L, N, and R, pushbutton locking differential, 2WD, 4WD, and 4WD locked
Brakes: Hydraulic disc
Suspension: Double-wishbone independent front/rear
Dry Weight (lbs): 1,049
Wheelbase (in): 72.5
Ground Clearance (in): 12.1
Whether launching the Rhino...
Whether launching the Rhino through the trails or blasting around the desert, the fully independent suspension welcomes abuse. It's hard to believe that this 660cc monster weighs in at just over a thousand pounds! Wearing proper safety gear is always a good idea, not only to protect your bean, but also to keep people from seeing the goofy faces we make.
Yamaha did a great job of...
Yamaha did a great job of keeping both the interior and controls user- and element-friendly. The automatic transmission must be in Neutral to start (which becomes a little annoying after a while) and from there you can choose from a high- and low-range in addition to the reverse gear. Park is simply a brake.
With the selectable front...
With the selectable front locker engaged this baby rhino would go just about anywhere you pointed it. The stability factor was the only real issue we had with the Rhino. Although we recognize the vehicle's versatility in varying terrain, it would have been nice to have a wider stance for those tire-lifting moments that occurred not only in extreme articulation situations, but high-speed turning as well.