Porsche Engineering Modified This Polaris RZR, And Now It Can Be Yours If You’re Cool Enough

Side-by-sides may be a great way to kill yourself, but they’re also a fantastic way to have an absurd amount of ton of fun for relatively little money. The companies that make them are also currently in an arms race to offer even more extreme performance, meaning the best one you can buy today could be old news in a year or two. So why not buy one that’s actually unique, like this 2018 Polaris RZR that was modified by Porsche Engineering and currently listed on Cars & Bids?

If you’re scratching your head because you keep a pretty close eye on side-by-sides and don’t remember Polaris selling a Porsche collaboration, don’t worry. You didn’t miss anything. According to the seller, this was a collaboration between Polaris and Porsche Engineering, and they built it as a development mule. It was also allegedly never supposed to be sold to the public. The word “allegedly” is doing a huge amount of heavy lifting there, but you know what? It’s a cool story. You can also tell your friends the exact same story when this thing shows up in your driveway after you win the auction. 

Oh, and if you live in Arizona, this thing is allegedly street legal. You would probably die instantaneously if you ever got into a wreck, but I mean, it’s Arizona. You could also get killed by a snake or a spider or someone carrying the plague at any moment. Also, it’s not like a motorcycle would be any safer if you got plastered by a 9,000-pound GMC Hummer EV.

According to the listing, Porsche Engineering started with a 2018 RZR XP Turbo S, but they kept the CVT, and it doesn’t look like they did anything to the engine, so the 0.9-liter turbocharged two-cylinder still makes 168 horsepower and 114 pound-feet of torque. In the right conditions, though, it’ll still probably be a lot more fun, since it got a rear-wheel-drive conversion. 

Other highlights include a custom KW suspension, 18-inch ALUTEC wheels, front brake calipers sourced from a Porsche Cayenne S, Audi R8-sourced rotors, front hubs from a Volkswagen Passat, a stretched chassis and rear wing, a roll cage and the seats from a 997 911 GT3 RS. That’s an incredibly random list, but at the same time, if this was built as a development mule, it makes sense that they wouldn’t bother to fabricate all new parts. Even awesome projects don’t have unlimited budgets. 

The good news is, while we’re still talking about a custom-built one-off, it should still be easy enough to service and maintain. You may not love how much R8 rotors cost to replace, but I guarantee they’re still cheaper and less of a headache than they would be if Porsche Engineering had made custom ones for this build. At the time of writing, bidding is already up to $20,000, so you won’t be taking this thing home for peanuts, but considering how much fun you’ll have behind the wheel, why even worry about money?