Polaris has been on a tear lately. No, not the go-fast kind of tear that wins them championships or races, though the Minnesota-based powersports company has been doing that, too. But in the realm of adding all the creature comforts one could hope for in a side-by-side, Polaris has no equal.
After the success of the Xpedition UTV, which basically turned the once-utilitarian side-by-side into an overlanding truck, Polaris got rid of the poverty-spec versions for those with all the bells and whistles. Then, it introduced an RZR with both heated and cooled seats. And after that, it dropped the largest touchscreen-enabled infotainment display this side of a Tesla. At what point do these side-by-sides become regular cars, that's for you to decide.
But Polaris ain't stopping there, as RideApart recently discovered one of the company's latest patents, and folks, not only will your butt be either warmed or cooled, depending on the weather, but your hands are about to get nice and toasty warm. Yep, Polaris just patented a heated freakin' steering wheel for the brand's side-by-sides.
The patent, titled Recreational Vehicles With Heated Steering Components, describes very clearly a heated steering wheel ala most nice cars, trucks, or SUVs these days. And speaking as someone who lives in a mostly snowy, cold climate, and after not having one for most of my life, I'm particularly fond of my Honda Ridgeline's heated steering wheel. Maybe that makes me bougee, but oh well.
According to the patent, "In some examples, off-road and on-road vehicles may include a steering system with one or more steering inputs, such as handlebars with handgrips or a steering wheel," adding, "The handgrips may be heated using wires and/or other circuitry connected to a controller and/or a battery...For a steering wheel, clock springs are typically used to provide electricity to a heated steering wheel."
Basically, Polaris wants to add heating elements in the same vein as the company's snowmobile lineup to both the steering wheel and handgrips for the passengers in the brand's side-by-sides, both open-air and closed cab. However, Polaris recognizes that the heating elements will have to utilize "automotive standards" for "surface temperatures of heated components," as while snowmobile heated grips can provide guidance, UTVs are different machines and not only do folks likely not wear thick gloves when driving them, they're not always open to the elements to cool them off rapidly.
But the idea is to provide both the driver and passengers with heated grips so even in the dead of winter, or during whitetail season in the Midwest and East, you're not freezing your fingies off. And trust me, that Midwest whitetail cold freakin' eats are your fingers making it rather difficult to pull the trigger or get an arrow off.
What do you all think, though? You excited not to freeze your damn fingers off while working outside in the near future? Cause I sure as hell am.
