It’s Official: Honda Sport UTV is Coming!

Rumors of a Honda Sport UTV have been swirling for years and diehard Honda fans have long been keeping their fingers crossed hoping for one. The wait appears to be nearly over, as Honda says it will unveil its first ever Sport UTV on November 27, 2018.

The release of the new Sport UTV is being done in conjunction with the launch of an advertising campaign called “Life is Better in a SxS.”

Two years ago we uncovered a trademark application by Honda for a Side-by-Side vehicle/part with the name “Talon.” While we don’t have any official confirmation, the Honda Talon tame sounds awfully sporty to us. We wouldn’t be surprised at all if the Talon name is attached to the November 27 unveiling.

No manufacturer has a richer ATV history than Honda, so it’s a bit of a surprise that a Sport UTV has taken this long to appear. To be fair, Honda entered the Side-by-Side market a little later than some with the original Big Red in 2009. The Pioneer soon replaced the Big Red, which spawned several iterations including the Pioneer 500, Pioneer 700 and Pioneer 1000.

The big question for us is how aggressive will Honda be with its new Sport UTV. Will this be a race-ready machine with horsepower numbers that match Can-Am and Polaris? Will it be naturally aspirated or turbocharged? Will it be narrow and set up for tighter trails or wide and long to better handle desert conditions? Will it make use of the highly regarded dual clutch transmission? Will privateer racers flock to it like they do the TRX450R Sport ATV?

Unfortunately, we don’t have the answer to any of these questions just yet and Honda is highly unlikely to tell us anything before November 27. Until then, we will have just have to be patient. It’s going to be a really long seven weeks.