Ask The Editors: You Down With ADC?
It’s all about those descents.
I’d like to know what ADC is and if my quad may have it. It’s a 2007 Polaris Sportsman 700 EFI with a 2008 800 EFI engine. Thanks.
ADC stands for Active Descent Control. This is a feature of automatic ATVs whereby the engine is left at least partially engaged during steep descents to provide a degree of braking using compression for greater control.
Think of it like this – if you were trying to work your way down the side of a mountain with the clutch fully engaged, your machine would be freewheeling (rolling), with your only option to slow coming in the form of the brakes themselves. ADC keeps this from happening by letting the natural resistance generated by the engine’s own compression to keep speeds in check (also called engine braking).
According to our research, ADC was a feature available on 2007 Sportsman 700 EFIs – you would typically know at a glance by the transmission modes available to you. 4×4 ADC would be one of the selectable options.
What makes your case a little tricky is you claim it has the engine from a 2008 800, which starts to beg the question where do the swap modifications stop? Is it the transmission from the 700 or 800?
In either case, the way to be absolutely certain would be to check for the hydraulic fluid reservoir that accompanies any model equipped with ADC. Here is the page of the owner’s manual that shows where to find it and how to change the fluid yourself.
If, in your research, it’s telling you a given engine oil is safe for both ADC and non-ADC equipped machines, it means exactly that – you can run it either way. Just remember that the fluid in the ADC circuit is not standard oil but rather a type of hydraulic fluid you can get from any Polaris dealer known as Polaris Demand Drive fluid.
