Porsche's engineering is known the world over for its precision, speed, efficiency, and just all-out batshit takes on things you or I would gloss over if we were given the ability to design something from the ground up. The brand's engineers sweat every detail, every millimeter, every tolerance, and every instance of material science. It's why the Porsche 911, despite its many competitors and brands routinely attempting to reverse engineer its capabilities, still fall short in every test.
Stuttgart knows how to build something that's within currently available perfection.
But what happens when you take all that German engineering mastery, all that attention to detail, and all that anal-retentive insanity and you apply it to something that's inherently designed for hooliganism? What happens when you take Porsche's engineering arm and ask those men and women who don't know what laughter or silliness is and turn them loose on something like a Polaris RZR side-by-side?
Apparently, you get this monstrosity. A road-focused Polaris RZR XP Turbo S that's lost all its ground clearance and suspension travel to become a track-toy ala the Ariel Atom. And someone just bought it for $45,000.
There isn't much known about this particular Polaris RZR tuned by Porsche Engineering, as when I went to my friend at Porsche, he didn't know anything about it and is determined to find out more and report back. But from the auction listing on Doug Demuro's Cars & Bids, this is a 2018 Polaris RZR XP Turbo S that's been heavily modified by the engineering arm of Stuttgart and turned into a one-off prototype that was commissioned by Porsche Engineering's own engineers, apparently.
According to one of the listing's photos, which is a digital version of Porsche Engineering's magazine, "The idea for a racetrack version of the RZR came to the engineers at Porsche Engineering during a joint project to optimize the chassis and handling of a Polaris off-roader set to be launched in 2021." They're likely referring to the RZR Pro R. However, the engineers saw the "potential" in turning the side-by-side on its head, and how its basic layout could be ideal for the track.
The Pro-Street RZR is the name of this particular beasty, and was completed in just four months ahead of a trade show Polaris was attending. According to the magazine, "A team of eight colleagues at the Bietigheim and Mönsheim locations developed, calculated, and designed the RZR derivative over three months. After that, five Porsche Engineering employees assembled the demo vehicle in four weeks and tested it on site."
Much on the Polaris RZR was touched over those four months, including lowering, extending, and slightly modifying the side-by-side's frame, new wheels and tires, switching from an all-wheel-drive platform to strictly a rear-drive setup, and a host of Porsche parts, including Cayenne S front brake calipers, and two 997-generation Porsche 911 GT3 RS seats.
There's also a custom-designed KW supsension setup to ensure the driver has Porsche-like precision when you toss the RZR into a corner, as well as Audi R8-sourced front brake rotors, and Volkswagen Passat front hubs to make it all work. Staying within the VW family, I see.
The magazine doesn't point to any engine modifications, so it's supposedly still putting out about 170 horsepower from its 2-cylinder turbocharged engine. It's probably enough, if we're being honest. But what's cool is that it actually works, and someone just bought it for $45,000.
That's not bad for a very interesting piece of history, as well as a one-off that was likely never supposed to make it into the public's hands. How it got here, however, is still unknown, but someone definitely has a story to tell.
