I am saving my money and will soon purchase a Outlander 800. I have a few questions about the 4 wheel drive system on the Outty 800. When you put it in 4 wheel drive does one front wheel always stay locked in? In other words when coming down steep hills does the front end free wheel (like a Polaris) or does at least one front wheel stay locked in to help hold you back. Also does it lock up both front wheels when you need it? If so how hard is it steer when both front wheels are locked? I just want to know more about Visco-Lok.

 

Watch this, it will help believe me!

 

Well the engine braking will slow you down to 3 mph and the 4th wheel locks when the third senses slippage. I don't notice much of a difference in steering when in 4WD. The EBS is pretty solid and sometimes you even have to give it some throttle if you're going too slow this COULD cause a freewheelling sensation but is easily managable.

 

I've driven in all kinds of terrain including steep rocky climbs and decents with my 800 Max. Going up the hills, I have not noticed any transition from side to side (one front wheel vs the other). As I understand how Visco-Loc works, if one of the front wheels starts to loose traction, then power is transfered to the other wheel after some minor slippage. I believe that if you stay with the stock tires, you won't ever notice the slippage. Going down steep hills, it is very controlled. I tried in 4 wheel drive in low range and the machine decended at about 3 mph which was really too slow for all but extreme hills. I tried the same hill this time in high range with the 4 wheel drive and it still decended in a very slow controlled manner at about 4 or 5 mph. I would say in most instances some throttle will need to be applied which is alot better than sliding down uncontrolled.

I've only been stuck in mud once and that was because the machine was hung-up on the center frame spar. The great thing about Visco-loc is that if you wanted to, you could leave it engaged all the time including during fast trail riding. It doesn't make the machine harder to steer and it gives it more stability coming out of turns, it kind of pulls you through the turn like an Audi Quatro. Its hard to hang-out the rear end of the machine when its engaged. Of course, when it isn't engaged, you can enduce a very controlled oversteer pointing the machine in the direction you want doing what I call point and shoot. Overall, I love my machine and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Hope this helps!

 

If you ride boulders 3' diameter, and you have only 2 or 3 wheels touching, you probably want to get diff lock. Very few riders can handle diff lock and this kind of riding safely. Takes a lot of practice, money and broken bones.

If you ride average technical, 3 wheels touching, viscolok will bring you through.

I have ridden in 4 wd for as long as a half hour before I noticed it. It feels like 2wd, at least it does to me. Descents/ascents are stress free in 4wd. Especially the descents, you will get bored going straight and slow down the trail. I have ridden mountain trails all day in 2wd and 4wd and very seldom used the brake except to stop and shift.

The only riders I know of that have problems with viscolok ride other brand quads, not Outys. Yeah, their standard BS is how much better theirs is than ours. Those are the only problems I hear about.

Read the forums. Believe me, if Outys had 4wd problems, we would be reading about it and we would be talking about it.

 

My dad has both a BF750 with a dynatek CDI and a Outy 800 he bought this week and I haven't had any problems to speak of but in my personal preference I like the manual locker over viscolok from a predictability standpoint, however in every single other area there is no comparision between the two the Outy is in a class all it's own. I still can't believe how great this thing steers for having a locker!

 

Neither is better than the other, i like to have a manual locker so all 4 are locked at all times. The Visko is like an "AWD" system, which as stated transfers from one to the other. Both systems work fine. You will be happy with either 4x4 system.

 

In steep down hill situations, with 4 wheel drive selected, I have never noticed any tire slippage or any signs of one front wheel releasing or grabbing and no tugging side to side on my Outlander 400 or 800. In normal climbing situations the visco lock works geat with no real added steering effort. In rugged climbing situations and in snow there is a lag in the visco lock engaging the other wheel. In these situations I jab the throttle to get it to lock quicker. Once fully locked it acts similar to my grizzly with the front differential locked - increased steering effort and searching side to side as one wheel gets more traction than the other (although not as bad). About the only time I really notice this is when climbing a hill in snow using a lot of throttle. I have had considerable riding time on the Grizzly with the locker and a Sportsman 500 and prefer the Can Am Visco lock overall. I do admit however, I prefer the Polaris system in climbing situations but the Polaris totally sucks on the down hills.