Kawasaki's MY25 CARB Certification Hints at a New Four-Seat RIDGE
The Kawasaki Ridge is a unique UTV, a rare combination of work-meets-play that just so happens to be powered by a beefy four-cylinder engine. As is the trend in the side-by-side world, it was only a matter of time before Kawasaki supplemented its two-seat Ridge with a four-seater, and that time appears to be coming for the 2025 model year. At least according to some public data recently released about Kawi's new certified lineup. And our team "decoded" the information to reach this exciting conclusion... (Let's review the evidence.)
Documents published on the California Air Resource Board's (CARB) website indicate that a number of Kawasaki Ridge models appear to have passed their mandatory emissions testing. The documents don't say this outright, but the clues are there: In Kawasaki code, KWF denotes two-seat models, while KWT is for four-seaters. Both designations are present in the 2025 filings.
While there are already a few different two-seat Ridge models, with the "base" model and the up-scale XR, CARB shows the addition of a few others as well. KWT1000CS, KWT1000ES and KWT1000FS are all indicative of four-seat Ridge-based UTVs. Of them, two appear to be the 116-horsepower XR trim, with the remaining being a standard 92-horsepower four-seat Ridge.
News of this isn't official just yet, but past patterns usually means that passing CARB tests is one of the final steps before a product announcement and the eventual start of production. Fans of Kawasaki, the Ridge UTV, and bringing more than just a single passenger will likely be pleased when we hear more.
Ross hosts The Off the Road Again Podcast. He has been in the off-road world since he was a kid riding in the back of his dad’s YJ Wrangler. He works in marketing by day and in his free time contributes to Hooniverse, AutoGuide, and ATV.com, and in the past has contributed to UTV Driver, ATV Rider, and Everyday Driver. Ross drives a 2018 Lexus GX460 that is an ongoing build project featured on multiple websites and the podcast and spends his free time working on and riding ATVs.
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