Life & times of the yamaha rhino

**Timmi** · 04-05-2019, 07:20 AM

It’s been over 15 years since Yamaha unveiled the Rhino 660, the vehicle that introduced the world to sporty performance and a whole new kind of off road fun. Released in 2003 as a 2004 model, there was nothing like it at the time. Vehicles that launch a whole new sport don’t come along very often. People in the ATV industry didn’t know what to make of the Rhino, but its performance won skeptics over in a hurry. The phenomenon even caught Yamaha off guard as they we expecting to sell the vehicle to the hunting crowd in the central and eastern parts of the country. They had no idea what the guys out west had planned for the new fun machine.

The Rhino has its roots in a project for a military vehicle based on the Grizzly, which was powered by a carbureted, five valve, single overhead cam engine. The civilian vehicle was a huge hit from the beginning, and it started a thriving aftermarket industry and a sport almost instantly. At one point, Rhino modification and customizing shops seemed almost as common as Rhinos. Yamaha followed the 660 with a less expensive 450 version, and then a 700 version powered by a fuel injected, four valve engine.

The Honda Odyssey, introduced in 1977, and the Honda Pilot in 1989 were not four wheel drive. They are off road vehicles that you sit in and drive, but both lack one of the key elements that made the Rhino and utv's that followed so explosively popular, the ability to take a passenger along for the ride. Utility value was also a big factor in the Rhino’s success. It was a standard setting sport machine for its time, but with a big bed for cargo, the Rhino also offered as much to utility users as it did to sport minded drivers. More than anything else, it’s the Rhino’s immense popularity and the way it inspired similar vehicles that make it so special.

Utv's with less and less utility features have become the fastest growing category. There’s no sign that performance is taking priority over taking friends along, though. Arctic Cat, Can-Am and Polaris all offer four seat versions of their pure sport models. Don’t scoff at four seater's because they hold more people; racers and other aggressive drivers are finding their longer wheelbases make them faster in whooped out terrain.

Without the Rhino and the success it had, Polaris may not have released the RZR 800. Without the RZR 800, would there have been a Wildcat or a Maverick? Yamaha’s five speed YXZ1000R and the new Sport Shift YXZ broke new ground, and Honda has finally jumped into the game. No matter what you drive, give the next people you see in a Rhino a thumbs up. Utving wouldn’t be what it is today without it.