Concept

Just about anybody’s who’s ridden an ATV has taken it into shallow water at some point, but up until now nobody’s been able to zip across an entire lake. The Quadski aims to change all that.

Due to hit U.S. retailers before the end of 2012, the Quadski transforms from an off-road four-wheeler to a personal watercraft in just four seconds. And unlike amphibious vehicles of the past, the Quadski promises high speeds (45mph) on land and on water.

“Quadski represents an investment of more than $200-million and two-million man hours of work over a period of 15 years,” says Gibbs Sports Amphibians Inc. founder Alan Gibbs. “With the introduction of Quadski next month, our dream of providing high-speed amphibian transportation to consumers will become a reality.”

The most notable feature of the Quadski is its wheel retracting system built into the suspension. While the suspension is said to provide “superb ride and handling” on land, it retracts at the push of a button on the water. When you want to go for a spin on the lake, you simply ride in and push the retract button and in four seconds you’re ready to go. Gibbs hasn’t released a full spec sheet at this time, so we don’t have any information on suspension travel.

It’s been rumored for a while, but we can now confirm that BRP will be unveiling a brand new Can-Am Commander at the Sand Sports Super Show in Torrance, Calif. on Sept. 14, 2012.

We thought Can-Am would be looking to introduce a four-seat Commander, but the Canadian manufacturer released a teaser image that looks very much like a machine aimed at the Polaris RZR XP 900 and Arctic Cat Wildcat 1000. We put together a comparison photo of the teaser image next to the Commander 1000 X to give you an idea of the differences.

Dubbed 2011 Project X “Spider Monkey,” this project transforms the Polaris Ranger 6×6 into an off-road tamer to be behold. It comes outfitted with a wagon (making the 6×6 a 10×6!), as well as a turbo engine, air suspension, lights galore, extra fuel containers, a booming sound system and a tent.

If you want to see how the “Spider Monkey” was put together, you can check out the Destination Polaris Show on the Outdoor Channel every Monday through August 1, 2011. Click here to view the first episode.

John Deere’s Gator XUV side-by-sides are known as hard working and rugged machines. However, a group of college seniors has taken the Gator XUV a step further – by having it drive itself.

Five seniors from Olin College (Nicholas Hobbs, Jacob Izraelevitz, Daniel Grieneisen, Ann Wu and Arash Ushani ) have been working with Draper Laboratory for the past nine months to continue a collaboration to build a capable, autonomous off-road vehicle. The Gator XUV that they were working on can now drive itself through complex environments that require the vehicle to detect paths, and identify and avoid obstacles.

News of a sporty new side-by-side from Arctic Cat unveiled at a dealer show quickly spread through the off-road media a couple of weeks back, but Arctic Cat was very tight lipped on the matter. Only now has the Minnesota-based manufacturer had anything to say about it.

Below is a press release we received from Arctic Cat about its intriguing new machine. There really isn’t much new information about the vehicle (no pictures were included in the release), though it looks like it may be in dealerships within the next 12 months. We will keep you posted as soon as we hear anything else.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Arctic Cat showcased an unexpected ROV dubbed “Wildcat” during the close of their 2012 snowmobile dealer show in Nashville, TN.

Arctic Cat has strived to bring innovative designs and technology to their customers since 1962. With 2012 marking the brand’s 50th Anniversary, the bold off-road styling cues of the Wildcat’s bodywork coupled with its aggressive sport stance and interior suggest Arctic Cat will move to the forefront as the industry-leader in the pure sport ROV segment.