Side by side ATVs are sometimes the most fun and entertaining type of ATVs. Their combination of perseverance, agility and grit makes them on every ATV owner’s bucket list. The big question though is, what is under the hood? How much CC do these bad ass, action movie type beasts actually contain? Lets dive into the must know about the power in a side by side ATV engine.
Anywhere from 400-2000 cc can be found in side by side ATVs. Different side by sides with different engines are geared towards different riding styles and uses.
There are a lot of logistics and reasons behind why these engines were designed this way. It is really important to remember ATVs have many purposes and people buy them for many reasons which is why there is this range. We will talk more about this in the article.
Why Such a Large Range?
The big brands know that having a range of size in their side by sides will increase profit because not everyone will need a 1600 cc beast. If they can create a range and diversify their selection their profits will be so much greater because it opens the market up to regular people.
Different engines will obviously perform differently. If you want more of a utility side by side for farm work or chores you will only need 400-700 cc but you cannot ride through massive dunes in a desert on that engine.
Anything above say 800 CC will be more of the traditional dune buggy style and designed for much different tasks. These beasts are more designed for driving on dunes, trails and hard terrain. Something like a Polaris RZR Pro R has a 2.0 litre engine or 2000 cc.
To sum it up simpler a 400-700 cc is generally a helping hand for chores while anything more is recreation-based and more of a dune buggy style.
It is also important to know that some side by side ATVs have big enough engines that we would say litres instead of CC. For example a side by side with 1400 cc could also be called a 1.4 litre.
Pricing for side by side ATVs can vary tremendously. The following chart is a rough summary of what prices you can expect in relation to the vehicles.
| CC | 400 | 800 | 1200 | 2000 |
| Price (cad) | $7,000.00 | $16,000.00 | $31,000.00 | $45,000.00 |
If you liked this article and are interested in other information regarding CC in ATVs, the following links are for the amount of CC in a utility ATV and the amount of CC in a sport ATV.
A Brief Explanation of CC
CC or cubic centimeters measures the volume of fuel and air that can be pushed through a vehicle’s cylinders
Measuring CC uses this formula:
(π/4) x bore diameter squared* x stroke length** x number of cylinders*** = CC
* bore diameter refers to the diameter of the cylinder
**stroke length is how far the piston travels within the cylinder
***number of cylinders is just how many cylinders are in the engine
If you are looking for a more in depth look at what CC is, here is another article we wrote about that.
Why Are Higher CC Side By Side ATVs So Much More Expensive?
If you looked at the chart above you may have seen that a 2000 cc side by side is generally $45,000.00. That is a ton of money to spend on a toy. Why is that so expensive? For example, a 2023 Polaris RZR Pro R is $46,399.00 cad. Is it just the big companies trying to juice everything out of your wallet? Yes, the big companies take their fair share of that cut but in general that price is reasonable for what goes into the vehicle. Making an engine of that size is a long process of designing, planning and executing. It is also important to remember that parts of an engine aren’t cheap. When you add up the process it takes to create this, the parts and people that are needed to execute it and the companies fair share to make a profit, of course the price will be that high.
CC In ATVs Vs CC in Other Vehicles
Some of these numbers that we are seeing in ATV engines are incredible but how do they relate to other vehicles? Dirt bikes for example, are much smaller vehicles but don’t worry they still pack a punch. Smaller dirt bikes will have around 150 while larger dirt bikes will usually top out around 500. They do weigh much less and are really completely different vehicles so comparing the two is hard.
Another vehicle we can try comparing is cars. Obviously a car engine is extremely different to that of an ATV or dirt bike but they still must have CC right? Cars do have cc but it is hard to compare it to ATVs simply because of how different the vehicles are. Car engines are also big enough that they would normally use litres instead because saying 1.4 litres is easier than saying 1390 cubic centimeters. A car’s CC can range anywhere from 800 cc to 6000 cc depending on the type, the brand and obviously the engine.
