The Only Way To Make A Side-By-Side Look Cool Is By Putting A Scion iQ Body On It
Side-by-sides are purpose-built off-road toys that are specifically engineered to be durable, safe, capable, and oodles of fun. They're referred to by many names, including UTV, which can either stand for Utility Terrain Vehicle or Utility Task Vehicle. In this case because we're talking about a two-seat UTV, we'll call it a side-by-side. Regardless of what you call them, I've never been a huge fan of side-by-sides, at least until I saw this magnificent Frankenstein build. The Scion iQ is an iconic automotive oddity, partially as it was the world's smallest four-seater when it was sold. It always stood out to me as a cute, silly, and likable engineering exercise. Seeing a lifted one with massive cut-out wheel arches and long-travel suspension mobbing through the desert and gliding over whoops is not only hilarious, but also a million times cooler than seeing some run-of-the-mill side-by-side doing the same thing.
My beef isn't so much with side-by-sides as it is with anything that's not a car; I'm not a big motorcycle person, I'm not a big UTV person. For whatever reason, my interest stops pretty much as soon as the vehicle has less than four wheels, and/or as soon as it's not road-legal. I know side-by-sides are brilliant and capable vehicles that can easily compete with and sometimes beat old fashioned 4x4s when the going gets rocky, I'm not questioning that. I just think road-legal vehicles are cooler for some reason.
Read more: The 2024 Lexus GX 550 Turned Me Into A Believer
The off-roaders at All American Sender have had this Scion iQ for a while now, with minimal modifications like all-terrain tires and coilover suspension to give it some basic off-road capability. After two seasons of sending it harder than an iQ has ever been sent before, the humble city car finally gave up the ghost. Rather than attempting to revive the car with a new powertrain, they made the decision to strip it down and bolt the iQ body structure onto a manual 2019 Yamaha YXZ side-by-side.
The 2019 Yamaha YXZ 1000R has a fuel-injected 1.0-liter three-cylinder engine that produces 110 horsepower and is mated to a five-speed manual transmission. It also has selectable 4x4 drive modes, a locking front differential,13.2 inches of ground clearance, and four-corner independent double wishbone suspension with 16.2 inches of travel up front and 17 inches of travel at the rear. Dropping the iQ body onto this platform is a massive undertaking, but it produces the coolest side-by-side ever.
Unfortunately, the build isn't very well documented on the All American Sender YouTube channel as of now. There is footage of the completed build on their Instagram and on YouTube Shorts, so they may upload the remainder of the build soon. I get a ton of joy out of watching it mob through the desert on their Instagram, so maybe it will tickle you too.
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