The new Arctic Cat looks real interesting but after thinking about it overnight there are a couple of things that come to mind.
1. For reliability and maintenance I much prefer one carb over two. Remember when you put two holley 650's on your edelbrock intake? Or trying to keep a big V6 outboard with 3 carbs in tune? I like fuel injection even better but so far that is not an option.

2. I don't know how the locking diff works but Arctic Cat says their 4wd is electric. Sorry, but with the amount of water around here, the thought of electric motors and extra wiring gives me chills.

3. The fully indepentdent rear has always gotten them bad reviews at anything over slow speeds. Without a major engineering change I don't see anything different now. Except this, now you will have a big 650 V twin's speed to deal with. Some users will only use that torque and power at the working end but some are going to have to wring it out. Will the suspension handle it or will it kill you? Kawasaki has detuned that engine for the prairie. Arctic Cat will probably do the same. So why pay the extra for it?

4. Whenever they come out, the price will be unrealistic with a lot probably being sold above retail. There are people around here who bought SP 700's when they came out and the high price they paid plus the financing, means they must sell them higher than a new one will cost to come close to breaking even.

5. It will be a new model, with all the new model problems. Whereas the 03 and newer SP's have had most all the major bugs worked out by the factory. Especially the belt issues and moving the lock to the diff instead of the hubs. If for nothing else, that one factor alone makes the Sportsman's the better value.

Now that that's been said, I have a question; For anybody who has ridden both, which handles best in the tight places in the woods, the 500 HO or the 600?

For what reason should one be bought over the other?

 

arctic cat might have a hit on thier hands if they put on a steering damper and some sort of sway-bar on thier quad . well that and a major make-over . the looks of thier machines might have looked acceptable in the 80's , but arctic cat didn't even make atvs back then . we are now in the 21st century and the styling on the quad might not matter as much as the performance , but its important enough that i could'nt spend that much for a quad that is behind the times in the looks department .

 

Well if you ask me I think the 400 DVX and the 650 are not bad looking machines especially the sport atv I am glad for Artic Cat they are trying to keep up and it is only good for our sport the tighter the race and technology the more choices for the consumer the better the prices.
The 650 is kinda a boxy looking but the front looks mean and I hope they do well , the sport is very nice looking sort of got a DS 650 look.

Keep up the good work to all manucfactorers because it will benifit me the consumer in the end