With practically half New South Wales under wildfire conditions, in Victoria we got violent thunderstorms, torrential rain, high wind and creek up to our elbows. We intended to shoot a creek crossing, as we normally would, but conditions made it impossible. We usually test off-road vehicles at ‘Fat Camp’ on a cattle property near Ipswich (Queensland) to which we have access, thanks to the generosity of the farmer, but this time we did all the driving and filming at the Melbourne 4×4 Training and Proving Ground near Mount Cottrell. I’m a big fan of windscreens on UTVs, to not just to keep the wind off you but also to keep you more or less dry in driving rain.
One accessory that I thought was really practical was the poly windshield where the top half flips down over the bottom half.
#KUBOTA SIDEKICK 850 FOR SALE FULL#
The model comes with half-doors but optional full doors totally enclose the cab, making it a more capable all-weather unit where extreme conditions are common, like Tassie in winter or Tassie most of the time. Among them are brush guards, bumpers, full doors, cab extenders, extra LED lights, headrest kits, electric tilt for the cargo-bed and three types of windscreen. Recreational users tend to spend big on accessories so the Sidekick has its own line of aftermarket goodies. The black model, with alloy wheels, CV guards, extra work-lights, brush bumper and flip-down windscreen.
There are cupholders – though drinking and driving in one of these vehicles would be almost impossible – and storage space aplenty, with a passenger-side glovebox and large bins under the seats. It’s small but bright and lets you know what’s going on ‘down there’.Ī DC outlet charges all the electronic devices from which you’ve become inseparable – phones, iPads, your favourite sausage warmer. This multi-function display comments on all the major operational parameters, with warnings for seatbelt buckle-up and overheating. Inside the cab there’s a sporty steering wheel and gear selector, and a new LCD instrument cluster with white backlighting. Being speed sensitive means the steering feels lighter at low speed and firmer at high speed. Kubota says that even fully loaded this suspension should not bottom-out.Īll models get speed-sensitive power-steering as standard equipment, not the hydraulic design used on diesel models but electric-over-hydraulic. It can vary wildly among manufacturers from Taiwan, Korea and China, in fact the whole suspension thing can be a bit dicey from that part of the world, but the Sidekick gave a plush ride with no lumpy bits. Ride quality turned out to be pretty damn good. The suspension layout is what you’d expect, independent front and rear, but this model gets larger shock absorbers for longer wheel travel and a superior ride over rough ground. The powerplant drives the 4×4 system through a ‘CVT Plus’ transmission, the same as that used in Kubota’s smallest utility vehicle, the RTV400. Two standard models come with either road-oriented or AV tyres The big difference is that the Sidekick has a two-cylinder, liquid-cooled petrol engine from Subaru. The chassis, suspension, steel tray and 60-40 seating arrangement are the same, so all the heavy lifting is being done by a proven platform. The Sidekick has much in common with Kubota’s diesel-powered 1120 utility vehicle. The orange models retail here for $23,500 and Black Bert for $25,000. In some parts of the world they get a RealTree Camo or a green paint-job as well but we don’t get those. Three models are available here: two orange ones with the choice of ATV or worksite tyres and steel wheels, and a spiffy-looking black model with black alloy wheels and a black spray-on bed liner.
The 851cc Sidekick is actually made in the USA, near Atlanta (Georgia) and has already been released worldwide. And it’s done a pretty good job of getting recreational riders as well as property managers interested in its latest side-by-side. To catch up with the rest of the mob then, Kubota had to break with tradition to tempt those who associate the company with tractors and nothing else. Just about everyone these days makes a so-called ‘cross-over’ utility vehicle with a petrol engine and a lot more performance than your average humpy-dump diesel. That’s not following market trends though.
Kubota, more than any other Japanese manufacturer, has till now persisted in the belief that UTVs, side-by-sides, RTVs, whatever you want to call them, are for work not play.
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