The Kawasaki Teryx, off-roading with the big boys: Motoramic TV

What has four wheels, fuel injection, power steering and costs around $15,000? Yes, a cheap car! And also something that’s not a car at all, the Kawasaki Teryx4 750 4x4 EPS LE.

That mouthful of nomenclature denotes a four-wheel-drive machine that seats four, has a 749-cc motor, electric power steering and some spiffy aluminum rims. Other than the diminutive size of the motor, it sounds like I just described a truck. And the Teryx, like other side-by-side recreational off-roaders, occupies a gray area between trucks and ATVs. It’s kind of what a small truck might look like if there were no rules.

But can it hang with a truck out on the trails? To help figure that out, I recruited a couple guys who think 35-inch tires are small and a 5-liter V8 a minimalist form of propulsion. Keith Wilson is the owner of Wilson Off Road in Fayetteville, N.C., and Shawn Godbold is the WOR vice-president. Keith brought his compact Toyota pickup that now packs a GM 5.3-liter V8 and solid axles; Godbold showed up with his Ford 302-powered Jeep Wrangler. Both trucks wear tires big enough for an all-terrain Soviet ICBM launcher. The Kawasaki would be mixing it up with the pros.