Inside Polaris’ Ride Command

One of the best products Polaris offers is actually free; it’s called Ride Command. In this article, we take you Inside Polaris’ Ride Command to explain its many features. You can download the app onto your phone or tablet and start exploring. You can also take advantage of some Ride Command features at RideCommand.Polaris.com. Furthermore, Polaris sells Ride Command-specific models that have this feature built in, or you can install the complete panel in non-equipped models, screen and all. If you are trying to use Ride Command on your phone or iPad, Assault Industries has mounts and holders for those devices. This way you can actually use Ride Command in non-Polaris-branded machines. You can upgrade older models with the in-dash system for about $1500 at Polaris.com

One of the coolest products Polaris has made is Ride Command. A smartphone or tablet version is completely free. You see, Polaris gets it. The more people that have fun off-roading and do it safely, the more vehicles they will sell. We use Polaris Ride Command in every brand of UTV we drive. Our go-to is on an iPhone using an Assault Industries device mount. See it here: https://assaultind.com/collections/new-products/products/new-assault-industries-mobile-device-holder-mdh.

WHAT IS IT?

We primarily use Ride Command as a trail-finding tool. Every time we have a trip planned to an area we are not familiar with, we go to www.ridecommand.polaris.com or open the app on our phone. We can search the area and see what’s available to ride. If we see a significant number of designated trails, we unload and check them out.

The product is a lot more involved than that, though. On the website, you can plan trips and make your own GPS files of any route, then transfer them to your car, your phone or any GPS device. On the app or with the in-car system, you can track your ride, view, share or save it for a later date.

All of the Ride Command features have been continually upgraded over the years, so it’s worthwhile to explore the website to go Inside Polaris’ Ride Command. The most recent feature to receive updates is the group feature.

This is the Ride Command offered in newer Polaris RZRs, Generals and some Rangers. Its a 7-inch touchscreen display that can track, save and share routes. If your buddies also have Ride Command, you can see their location on your screen as long as you are in close proximity of five miles or less.

WHAT ABOUT GROUP RIDE?

Using Group Ride, you can see everyone you invited highlighted on a map on your screen. If you are using a cell phone or tablet, you must have cell service for this to work. If you have a newer Ride Command-equipped car, the feature works off of FM signals, just like the two-way radios people install in cars from companies like PCI and Rugged Radios. Every car in your group can be tracked and watched. Recently, Polaris added a “follow” feature for all platforms. Now you can pick a group leader, and the follow feature will leave a highlighted line showing exactly where your leader went. You will not only know where the leader is, you can tell where he made his last turn. This is great for wooded terrain or areas with lots of crisscrossing trails.

Here’s a screenshot of a route planning we just completed on a laptop. It’s as easy as dragging a line over a satellite map of the route you want to ride. As you are doing the planning, Ride Command automatically tells you how many miles your trip will be. You can always edit the route later, too.

BLUETOOTH

With Ride Command’s in-car system, you can also use Bluetooth to connect your phone or GoPro camera and operate all of them using the display screen. You can start/stop recording or change modes without getting in and out of the car. You can also leave your phone in your pocket or glove box when you want to access music. When connected, you can scroll through playlists, adjust volume and more.

Here’s a screenshot of a ride area we recently discovered using Ride Command in northern Nevada. All of the brown lines are UTV trails. No matter where you are, you can open up Ride Command on your phone, select an area and see if there are trails nearby. It doesn’t get any easier than that, plus it’s free.

GARAGE

Another helpful tool in Ride Command is the garage feature. This allows you to enter your vehicle’s VIN (Vehicle Identification Number), and Ride Command will keep you informed about service bulletins or just tell you it’s time to change the oil. On vehicles equipped with geo-fencing, you can make adjustments on your laptop as well as in the car.

After you have tracked your all-day ride on your phone, you can save it and send it to your buddies via text message. You can also save it in your phone and hit the places you like best and marked for next time.

WHAT’S NEXT?

We expect Polaris to keep upgrading its systems and adding more trails. On the phone version, we do suffer glitches every now and then when the app just closes. It always opens right back up, but it’s still not perfect. You can use a setting on your phone through Ride Command that keeps the phone awake, which is very helpful.

Finally, Ride Command has a feature that allows you to review your ride on a satellite map, along with embedded photos that you’ve taken along the way. This feature could use improvement for sure. It runs a little fuzzy, and the file is usually large and hard to share over text or e-mail. For this type of feature, we use the Relive app, which is also free. Again, Ride Command is free to download, and we feel it has one of the best databases of trails across the U.S. While the free version on your phone or tablet works well, the in-car system sold in Polaris machines, especially the new ones, includes the Group Ride feature that we love. The only other device that we know of that does group rides is the Voyager Pro system from Trail Tech, which Polaris also owns. If you follow our social media channels, we often share lots of new trails found on Ride Command. With this technology in app form or in your car, you can, too.

See 2021 Polaris UTVs with upgraded Ride Command here: https://utvactionmag.com/2021-polaris-utvs-2/

Inside Polaris’ Ride Command

Related Posts