By Ken Fletcher

k.fletcher@thesf.co.uk

THE FIRST thing that you notice about John Deere’s new XUV590i S4 crossover utility vehicles is its sheer size.

It has to be so, because it has the ability to carry up to four people and still retain a decent-sized load box on the rear of the chassis.

It’s powerful twin-cylinder 586cc petrol engine has enough go about it to get up to 48mph and develops a handy 35bhp. Even when fully-laden, ie four people and up to a little over half-a-tonne in the tilting load space at the back, the engine seemed to cope quite well.

There’s also enough pep to tow 500kg too, with the towing ball coming fitted as standard. Add to that its independent four-wheel suspension and the XUV590i gives a pretty decent balance of performance and work capability in its class.

The gearing is a well-proven and easy to use CVT unit which gives operators the choice of high, low, neutral and reverse on an easy to use and coded lever fitted to the dash. The high range gives stepless changing up from 0-48mph in high and 0-22mph in low.

Also on the dash is a lever to actuate the four-wheel-drive system, which has a limited slip front differential and the ability to lock up the rear diff, should the terrain necessitate it.

The instrumentation in front of you is backlit and provides information on speed, engine rpm, fuel level, coolant temperature and warning lights for the likes of power steering, maintenance reminders and seat belt reminder.

A noticeable improvement to the Gator design is its much lower noise and vibration levels, achieved by isolating the powertrain from the chassis and using sound-dampening material around the engine and CVT intakes.

Stepping in and out of the vehicle is easy and the flat bed foot well is one of the reason why many are changing from conventional ATVs to these step-through side-by-side designs.

It’s very much easier for those with joint problems etc, to get in and out of and there’s a handy side meshing with fast clip connection to the front roll bar. This gives a feeling of safety and also keeps the majority of the muck thrown up by the wheels off of you.

How long these will last under ‘real’ conditions might be another thing, but there’s also a full seat-belt set-up to add further safety.

One of the main issues with the longer wheelbase on the S4 version, is the fact that the ground clearance is compromised and, indeed, to get the strength of chassis needed to cope with the extra weight, the clearance is 30mm less than the short wheelbase version.

That and the length mean that this is not the best beast for sprachling over rocky terrain – that’s probably best left to the XUV 590i shorty which has a clearance of 267mm.

One useful design is the ability of the rear bench-style seats – unfortunately they come in that rather lurid John Deere yellow – to fold down to create another load space behind the front seats.

That’s a great space to keep dogs in for instance and I could see imaginative farmers making a box to fit in there just for that very purpose, freeing up the rear load area for feed, bales etc.

UK Gators get power steering as standard, plus an 875 Watt, 65 ampere alternator to run auxiliary attachments off of, like lights, winches and sprayers.

It’s aimed at doing a long working day too, with a 28 litre fuel tank to keep it running longer between fill-ups. There’s also a handy bit of sealed storage under the front bonnet, plus little spaces available in the glovebox, centre console and under the seat to keep your daily bits and pieces in.

There’s a variety of ‘shoes’ available, with the striking optional aluminium alloys on the test vehicle looking the part. But if you are doing a lot of off-road work, then it’s probably best to get it fitted with either of the two steel wheel options.

The base UK list prices of these new Gators are: the XUV 590i, is £10,358, while the XUV 590i S4, is £11,666.