
Ever thought about knowing the differences between ATV and UTV? If the answer is No. Today, in this article, we will be extensively going through the differences between ATV and UTV.
We will thoroughly explain what are the purposes and why are these built. So without any further ado, let’s start.
So, first of all, let’s talk about ATVs. ATV stands for All-Terrain Vehicle. It is also known as a quad bike, due to its four wheels.
An ATV is basically a four-wheel bike that has a seat in the middle just like a normal two-wheel bike and has the capacity to seat two persons. It has handlebar steering and has the capability to be driven on any type of terrain.
As far as their variants are concerned, different companies including Kawasaki, Yamaha, and Honda make them are sold all across the globe widely.
As far as features are concerned, there are different companies that make ATVs at different price points.
Hence, there are basic ATVs with almost no feature but they are cheap.
On the other hand, expensive ATVs have a higher build quality. More features than normal, and are expensive than the basic ones.
Now let’s talk about the main characteristics and features of an ATV:
Wheels and Tires
ATVs usually have four tires in which Air Pressure is kept low for better stability because in an ATV the handling is quite tough and there is a chance of flipping it if maneuvers are done at a very high speed.
Steering
The steering of an ATV is in a handlebar style just like a normal motorbike. It feels slightly different than a motorcycle but one gets used to it quite quickly.
Speed and Handling
As far as the speed and handling are concerned, ATVs have the design in different weight ranges. What this basically means is that there is no standard size in ATVs. They sized depending upon the CCs of the engine.
Braking Power and Acceleration
Talking about the brakes there are two brakes in an ATV depending upon the type of ATV you are riding.
There are a handle brake and a paddle, both work the same.
As far as acceleration is concerned almost 90 percent of the ATVs come with a push throttle. That means there is a knob-like thing on the right side of the handlebar which is pressed by the thumb of the rider.
Although you can change it to a twist throttle like normal motorbikes, they are risky, as most of the ATVs, you can use on rough terrains.
If accidentally the rider twists the handle on a slope. He can fall off from the ATV that is why push throttle is used.
Photo Credit: Wikipedia under C.C.
Riding Experience & Safety
An ATV is always open it doesn’t have a cabin, that means the rider needs to be extra careful about wearing protective gear like helmet gloves, etc. On the other hand, ATVs, you can use for recreational activities and off-roading for fun.
Cost
ATVs are much more affordable than ATVs because of their comparatively smaller size and less seating capacity.
Enough of the talking about ATVs, Now lets about UTVs what they have for us.
UTV stands for utility terrain vehicles as the name suggests they are used mainly for work than for recreational activities.
These are basically an ATV transformed into a car with larger seating capacity and more power.
You can generally use them to transfer tools, equipment, etc. to places where a car cannot go perhaps in off-road terrain.
Wheels and Tires
UTVs have similar tires to an ATV, although they are bigger in size, as far as the wheelbase is concerned the wheelbase is equal to a sedan car because of the fact that UTV carriers more people than an ATV.
Steering
If we compare UTV to an ATV, UTV is different from ATV such that UTV uses a steering wheel like a car. On the other hand, the ATV uses a handlebar. Which makes quite a lot of difference in handling.
Seating Capacity
If we talk about the seating capacity of a UTV, The UTV basically comes in two sizes, a two-person one and four-person one. Also, there is variation in size.
If we talk about the two-person variant. They sit side by side just like in a sports car, on the other hand, the four-person one has the seating arrangement just like a normal sedan car.
Speed and Handling
As far as speed and handling are concerned obviously due to the bigger size they use bigger engines. Hence, the speed is more on the UTV. But the handling is a little better on the ATVs.
Braking and Acceleration
As mentioned above, UTVs are designed just like cars. Hence, they have both the brake and accelerator in the foot area just like a car.
Riding Experience & Safety
UTVs are fun to ride. They are much safer than ATVs due to the fact that they have seat belts. Further, they have a roll – cage which saves every passenger from injury even if the UTV takes two-three flips.
As far as uses of the UTV are concerned, you can use them to carry stuff around areas where no cars you can take around. UTVs have huge storage capacity and have a small size. So they are great for transferring tools and equipment in any type of rough terrain.
Cost
As far as the cost is concerned the UTVs are much expensive than the ATVs. Obviously, because they are large in size, they can seat multiple people. It also has a bigger engine size and more storage space.
On the other hand, if you decide to buy a customized UTV or thinking about customizing one then, in that case, it may cost much more than the normal price.
Conclusion
So this was an extensive article about the differences between ATVs and UTVs.
I hope that this piece helped you understand the main difference between the two, especially the reason why UTV is more costly than an ATV. If you are thinking of buying an offroad vehicle, make sure to check out ATVA and read their detailed reviews on ATVs and all things offroad!
At last, I would like to request you all to always keep protective gear in mind while riding any of the above rides.
You may also like to visit our recent article- How To Change A Tire Like A Pro- For Better Knowledge.
Interesting to read. After reading this article I got a idea about ATV & UTV and spot their difference.
Very useful share. Please keep it up!
ATV & UTV not are same and you spot the difference very wisely. So I get some valuable information from that.
Keep up the good work. Thank you!