In what is clearly a move to dominate the ATT (All Terrain Truck) market Polaris unveiled the most outrageous Ranger yet for 2005.

The Polaris Ranger 4×4 lineup has been re-engineered for 2005 to include a new IRS rear suspension, longer travel front suspension, a lowered engine mount for a lower CG, new bodywork and improved attachment possibilities with a variation of the lock and load system used on ‘05 Sportsman ATVs.

So what’s so outrageous about all this? Their flagship 4×4 Ranger will be powered by a full-on Sportsman 700 EFI twin! Like, wow!

The new IRS chassis transforms the Ranger into what feels like an off-road racing buggy. Huge bumps – even jumps can be covered with the Ranger ATT at insane speeds.

Just in case you would like to limit those insane speeds, Polaris has developed a special electronic ignition key which will limit the top speed of the Ranger.

This is for job site vehicles and vehicles being driven by inexperienced pilots.

It’s a great idea and one we’re sure will be copied by other OEMs.

According to industry sources, the ATV business will top the 900,000 unit mark this year. This number comes from totaling production of the eight OEMs we are all familiar with: Honda, Yamaha, Polaris, Suzuki, Arctic Cat, Kawasaki, Bombardier BRP and John Deere.

What isn’t clear is the actual numbers of specialty ATVs – many of which are not included in this total.

It’s widely suspected the number of kid’s sized ATVs sold will eclipse the 150,000 unit mark this year. Some of these mini units are accounted for in the total sales of the aforementioned OEMs.

However, much of this number is not included because the largest number of kid’s ATVs are sold by off-shore makers like E-Ton, Kasea, Dinli, Kymco – the list goes on. At this time, these makers are not all reporting their sales.

Here’s more interesting numbers. The sales of ATTs like the Polaris Ranger, John Deere Gator, Kubota RTV900, Club Car and the Yamaha Rhino are estimated to be near the 100,000 unit mark.

If you take a wild, stabbing guess it’s not hard to tally over one million ATVs being sold this year.

Arctic Cat called off their 2005 Press Launch slated this past June as a result of their prototypes being vandalized after a cross border excursion for a show in Mexico.

As of this writing we haven’t been able to sample the 2005 AC lineup including the all-new, domestically built 650 Hemi engine.

The Hemi is being assembled in Thief River Falls, Minnesota in an all-new facility dedicated to 4- stroke ATV engines.

We’re slated to visit the plant later this year and hope to bring you a full report.

Yamaha’s new YF-Z 450 has taken the ATV racing world by storm. Seems start and finish lines at sanctioned ATV motocross races across North America are predominantly blue.

The YF-Z 450 has uncovered an interesting nuance of the ATV business. The reputation of the YF-Z’s YZ motocross motorcycle engine has given the new 4-wheeler an incredible boost in popularity with the racing/Pure Sport fraternity.

Seems ATV racers are very much affected by the success of motorcycle motocross racing and identify strongly with the YF-Z’s motorcycle heritage.

At the rate the YF-Z 4-wheeler is cleaning up race tracks across North America we wonder how long it will be before the rest of the motorcycle manufacturers begin identifying with the YF-Z’s success.

Polaris has stepped out of the box with the intro of the all-new Phoenix 200.

This all-new model has been conceived and designed here in North America but is built entirely off-shore at Polaris’ mini-ATV manufacturing facility.

This is the first time we’ve seen one of the big eight manufacturers bring an off-shore (excluding Japan) full sized ATV to the market.

We haven’t been able to ride the Phoenix as the prototypes on display at the 2005 Polaris press intro where not operational.

Obviously, the cost to manufacture price sensitive models here on these shores is driving OEMs to look for ways to make low dollar 4-wheelers more profitable.

The pricing just released for the Phoenix looks extremely aggressive at $2999 US.

Rumors are rampant throughout the industry of even bigger ATV engines in the works. It makes sense rumors would surface of bigger powerplants after the blockbuster introductions of Kawasaki’s new 750 Brute Force and the Polaris Sportsman 800.

Understanding how rumors originate and giving some weight to the reasoning we’ve given here for these rumors, we’d like to fuel the fire with this comment: we believe there’s a 1000 cc V-Twin Sport Utility ATV in the works at one of the OEM’s test sites right now.

We’re convinced this mega-beast will surface as a production model in the next 18 to 24 months.