I'm always thinking about what my next ATV will be. I love all the technology and stuff that comes in the new 450s, but it seems like some of the 400s are becoming just as advanced. I guess I just want to know how different they really are.

Here's what I like about each of them:

450s
-Power
-Technology
-After-Market Support
-High-end stock parts
-Handling

400s
-Reliability
-Reverse
-Taller Tires
-Lower Cost

So I guess my question is, how much will a 450 outperform a 400. I'm thinking of Suzuki for myself but we can keep this pretty general. Also, if I were to find myself an LT-R450, would putting taller tires on it make it handle weird, or do they have fully adjustable front ends? The 18s on the LT-R450 just look goofy to me. Also, should I consider a used 450? I've heard they aren't designed to be as long lasting as their 400 brethren. When it comes to jumping, do the 400s stack up against the 450s, or is this where the 450s start to walk away? I like jumping, but I ride trails more than I jump.

I'm just tossed up. I've always leaned towards the 400s, since they have reverse, which is very important to me, but reading a review on one of the 450s will definitely make you excited about them!

What are your opinions?

If you have similar questions, feel free to ask them in here!

 

Well, I'm not gonna race, per say, so I got a kfx400. I may take it to a track and fart around, but not gonna race a season on it. So it works for me. If was, I'd go with the 450 series. Works just as well on the trails. When you're not really getting past 3rd gear, it's all pretty close. Reverse is a plus, but I can see why the 450's don't have it. Extra weight, and how many times would you use it on a track? A pipe, a free flow air filter and a sprocket change is all I'm gonna need to keep me happy. Well, that's what I'm telling the wife.

 

The 450s are sweet if you have some open space to enjoy them. If you spend most of your time on tighter trails, or in the woods, the 400s are more than enough and sometimes better in that capacity.

I love the 450s, but when you add in the added maintenance, and the fact that I only race at the occasional local event, a modded 400 is more than enough...... A z400 with a jet kit and exhaust, will only be behind a 450 by a couple lengths, and to the average rider that won't matter. To a racer it is night and day, but a second a lap to the average trail rider is nothing. Its not like your friends on 450s are going to be so far away you will lose them over the horizon or something....and in the woods a good rider will keep a 400 right behind any 450.

 

One thing I have discovered out on the wooded trails is, acceleration may not be as important as brakes. I just wish the people I rode with knew that. I'm on my third brake light now.

 

I ride trails with 3 400ex's,a host of other quads,and a YFZ450. The ex's are awesome in the trails which range from very wide open to incredibly tight. The 450 is great the only issue it runs into is it's width in the tight stuff. For open stuff 450's are great but when the trail gets tight,wishing you had reverse comes into play pretty quick.

 

A) For most sane paced trailriding, the 400's are just fine.
B) If you have any inkling of racing or even the occasional mx track/sand dune trip, get a 450.
C) Some 450s DO come with reverse. I would also lump the 525's in here as well. They are pretty close to 450's in terms of ridability.

 

Well lets put it this way. i had a 400ex and i upgraded to a z400, I almost bought a 450 until I was convinced otherwise by riding and racing a friend of a friends Z400. The difference was night and day. Suzuki used the Z400 to race against the 450's before they had the lt450r. I believe it was Doug Gust who used his Z400 to win the GNC championship in 2006. Actually he only lost one or two races tops that season. Granted he is a professional rider but still that says something.

I started out with putting a full yoshi RS-3 pipe on it and running no lid. When I raced the 450's stock or piped i would keep right up with them if not beat them. The biggest problem I have is keeping the front wheels on the ground! My buddy has a yfz450 with a slip on HMF and it would be neck in neck or i would beat him every time we raced. Well this past winter i put in stage 1 Hotcams and now a stock or piped/ lightly modded 450 cant come close to touching me, they only really beat me if we race a mile strait away because they have a higher top end but who races that long. As for jumping its great. I take it to a local MX track and it jumps like a champ. In the woods its awsome because of the reverse. And the new 2009 Z's are way ahead of the game in the 400 class with there EFI and everything else they are right on par with the 450's. I dont race really, sometimes just for fun with some buddies but I would have no problem taking it to the track and racing it, it almost stock form. Cuz well i have just a few mods on mine now ;D

But there is nothing wrong with a 450 at all. Im a fan of the yfz and the honda. they are the most reliable and the fastest. If i were to buy a 450 it would no doubt be the yfz or the honda R. But in my opinion the Z400 is the best all around machine for the money. Everyone has there preference. Sorry for babling on about this. I must sound liek a Suzuki spokes person, haha.

 

Well, here is the deal... if you want "advanced" and 400cc... you have one choice...
Advanced is... they added EFI to the Z400 and beefed up the frame so it doesn't crack anymore.
The thing weighs like 425 now though...

Otherwise, there is the newer 400EX with reverse... but using engine technology based on 1987.

Reverse has became important to me too along the way... and my older 400EX doesn't have it. My Polaris Sport 400 has me spoiled I have to say.

My new KFX450R has reverse also... and it's one of the quickest slickest setups I've seen.

Cost... a new EFI Z400 is going to cost you $6,500 plus taxes, fees, etc... So when I went to upgrade from my 400EX, I looked at everything... and wanted a KTM 525 XC... But I had settled on a leftover Kawasaki 400 (green Z400) for the money... and when I went to get it, when they saw I was a serious buyer, I got an offer I could not refuse on a leftover '08 KFX450R special edition.

I walked out the door for under $6,000... you can't beat that.

For an investment of $6,000... nothing you can buy or build will touch it on that budget.


The performance difference.... want to know what it is?... It's a HUGE margin of difference. You have to understand that these 450's are the upgraded replacements for the old 250's. So understand you are rolling up against something that will blow out a 250R. You wouldn't expect to hang with a 250R on any 400... so I do not understand why anyone has the idea a 400 can hang with a 450.

My 400EX has Yoshi full exhaust, K&N filter, lower gearing to pull harder, and holeshots to put the power to the ground... and frankly after all of that, I was disappointed and a bit bored with it's all out performance... (mostly because I also have the 400cc 2-stroke).

Now, I am riding what some consider the slowest of all the 450's. But I do not care to tell you one bit... even a modded 400 is not even close to me bone stock... not in any aspect. It has better technology, lower curb weight, better chassis, better suspension, better handling, much quicker throttle response, and quick explosive power. It's almost quick like a 2 stroke... just a tad off from that, but with more brutal force over a wider RPM band. It's just starting to come alive right about the same point where my 400EX starts to gasp for breath and fade away.


The only down side I can find is that the 450's do not like to go slow. They don't make any torque in the low rpm range. So they can be very hard to ride slow. The bursts of power and the clutch work can be fatiguing.

Even though my 400EX and KFX450R both have the same 14/38 gearing... because of the difference in trans gearing and the difference in power delivery... my 400EX holds the advantage here. But that is the ONLY one I can find that it holds. I think I could lug around a low speed easier on my 400EX in second or 3rd gear than I can lug my KFX around slow in first gear.
However, once the revs pick up and the pace picks up, the power is just so much stronger that I find myself lost in the gears all the time on my KFX450R. It just pulls so much harder through the midrange and topend.

It will just litterally chew up and spit out even a modded 400... and that's on stock tires on a stock machine that is in an incredibly mild state of tune.

Now throw your basic bolt-on intake and exhaust mods, plus the air/fuel to match, and wow... you get REAL results from mods... not just one or two HP. Yes, it's more expensive but just an intake change is good for about 4 hp.




So in the end, it is just all relative to what you want to do with your quad and where you are in skill level. If you want to ride along with your kids, or ride with buddies who have utes... then you don't want a 450.