They said the carb would wheelie much easier and had a ton of low end grunt.
They said in a drag race they were very close.

I would think the EFI would beat the carb in a drag race. A few years ago a magazine said that Polaris put a hotter cam and something else on the EFI. I don't remember exacly what it said. Is this true?

Would someone please give us some real world info on the comparison of the 2 machines?

I'm sure polaris5610, Aaron, could shed some light on this topic.

 

I'm not sure about the "Hotter" cam, but I do know for sure the EFI has a better cylinder head with a bigger exhaust valve.

 

What magazine was it?

Last weekend I was hell bent on buying a Polaris so I drove for two hours to a dealership in Ardmore, OKlahoma. I drove every single Sportsman from the 500 H.O. to the 800 EFI. My "seat of the pants evaluation" was that the SP600 would run with a SP700, it even felt stronger down low (0-30). The SP700 felt stronger than the SP700 EFI. Of course the 800 EFI was CLEARLY faster than any of them.

 

Jeff, I have the magazine. My EFI beats my friends '04 carb'd model, although they are pretty close.

The biggest advantage, mine runs at altitude alot better than his, especially over 10,000 feet.

The other big advantage, starting. The EFI starts everytime without hesitation, where carbs are carbs, can be a pain especially in cold weather.

dave

 

I drove both an EFI 700 Sportsman and a carbed 700 Sportsman. both were 2005's with no miles. I was able to do a side by side comparison. The carbed version had NO more power than the EFI version, but didn't really have any less. Both were nearly identical under throttle. The throttle response and smoothness of the engine was slightly better with the EFI model.

 

I tend to agree with you RJF. When I say "stronger" it was very minimal. The only true difference I noticed between any of them was the difference between the 800 EFI and the rest.

 

fuel economy is a BIG difference between the two.
as a prev owner of both a 700 and 700EFI one VERY clear difference between the 2 is MPG. the 700 carb i owned was a 2002 and it was a PIG on gas......and i mean a PIG!

the 700EFI was a MAJOR improvement on MPG.

if you guys care about MPG avoid the carb. i will never buy another carb 700.

 

Our '02 700 seems to be a little thirsty too....

 

What everyone has said is pretty much right on. However on take off the EFI should edge out the 700twin, however on topend a 700twin usually comes out on top by a MPH or two. The EFI doesn't have that "snap/pop" the carb has, just a smooth take off thanks to the new better clutch on the EFI. It seems like I read somewhere that the EFI has 12% more HP than the carb. Both are great rides, but I would buy the EFI for 3 reasons over the carb: it runs smoother, starts no matter how cold or hot it is, and seems to be more reliable than the carb.

 

I read when the 700 EFI first came out in 04 it had a hotter cam and a few other performance advantages. Now in 05 they probably use all the same parts except where the efi is applicable.

I raced silverbullets stock 04 700 EFI and he beat me repeatedly and he weights probably 50 lbs. or more than me.

Jim