The new atv rider magazine came out recently with a 400-450 utility shootout. In the test they used Arcit Cat, honda, suzuki, can-am, polaris and yamaha. All 4 testers said the cat came in last in all catagories. It seemed like the main gripe was cornering. I ride a 2006 400 L.E. I will admit it pushes through the corners badly, like it has alot of understeer, but I love my cat. I didnt buy it to power slide in the corners though. But to fail in all catagories is crazy. The reason I bought mine was because of the amount of people bragging about the reliability of their Cat 400 4x4s. It seems like they have alot of satisfied owners. Ive heard talk of Arctic Cats not being in many competitions against other atvs. I just wondered what people thought about the standings.

Utility standings Sport standings
#1 Polaris sportsman 450 #1 Yamaha
#2 Suzuki kingquad 450 #2 Honda
#3 Can-am Outlander 400 #3 Suzuki
#4 Yamaha Grizzly 450 #4 Can-am
#5 Honda Fourtrax Rancher 420 #5 Polaris
#6 Arctic Cat 400 #6 Arctic Cat

 

I've read alot of arcticles and the ACs always do poorly for some reason. All i know is that my ol' beat up AC starts every time and will go everywhere the more expensive /newer atvs that I ride with will go. I like my Cat just fine and I don't give a damn what the big magazines say.

 

arctic cat need to fix there poor handling and tippyness or they will never attract the mainstream buyers.

 

Cat owners know the difference. I'm not going to listen to a guy that spends 90% of his time on a track with a sport quad under him. Put him in the mud, or some very technical terrain, and it'll change his opinion in a rush. I like my cat, and would buy another one in a second.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: ArcticKrawler

The new atv rider magazine came out recently with a 400-450 utility shootout. In the test they used Arcit Cat, honda, suzuki, can-am, polaris and yamaha. All 4 testers said the cat came in last in all catagories. It seemed like the main gripe was cornering. I ride a L.E. I will admit it pushes through the corners badly, like it has alot of understeer, but I love my cat. I didnt buy it to power slide in the corners though. But to fail in all catagories is crazy. The reason I bought mine was because of the amount of people bragging about the reliability of their Cat 400 4x4s. It seems like they have alot of satisfied owners. Ive heard talk of Arctic Cats not being in many competitions against other atvs. I just wondered what people thought about the standings.

Utility standings Sport standings

#1 Polaris sportsman 450 #1 Yamaha

#2 Suzuki kingquad 450 #2 Honda

#3 Can-am Outlander 400 #3 Suzuki

#4 Yamaha Grizzly 450 #4 Can-am

#5 Honda Fourtrax Rancher 420 #5 Polaris

#6 Arctic Cat 400 #6 Arctic Cat</end quote></div>


You can improve on the handling - I did. The reason that it understeers is because the side walls on the tires are too soft and the spring to stiff (stiff=straight). I set my tires at 8 or 9 lbs in the front (to stop the roll-under) and the 'preload' on the softest setting (to squat and hold in the turn). The rear lbs at 5 and 'preload' on the second to softest. Believe it or not I passed an Eiger in the corner, he could not believe it and neither could I, so we did it again (I passed him).

I have since put 1" spacers on each corner and the thing is like a go-cart. And the articulation has increased. I got 11.5" of travel and still had 1" inch of shock travel left. It probably is a full 12.5"-13" of wheel travel with the spacers. But the wider stance is great for handling the corners and off-camber situations.

 

buckaroo is right on the money with the handling issues. granted you are gonna lose some stability when having a big tall machine but you are gonna gain in alot of other area's. i just put 6 ply tires on my 650 and everything handles great. and i'm with blue i'm not gonna begin to try to compare my dirtbike to my fourwheeler cause they are designed for two different things. the things they fail to mention all the time is cat's highest rack capacity tallest ground clearance diff lock 2 inch receiver mrp rack system and their plain tough durability which woops the bajesus out of every other manufacturor. i love going out in the mudhole with a bunch of different brands and they all look at me as the under dog cause of what they read from some sport rider in a magazine and i'm the one that drives in behind them and push them out of the mudhole.

 

i stopped reading them magazines also. i cant remember what issue it was but a few months ago they said the arctic cat did bad on rocks. it kept bottoming out, come on they have the highest ground clearence, IRS, and plenty of low end power, but the honda made it!! its a bunch of bull. since i bought one in 1998( an ac 300 4x4) every one was impressed. since then ,off the top of my head there have been 10 people that bought one. one of them bought a prowler and a 400 just last week. know one yet has even thought about trading theres in for something new. unless its a bigger ac. several of them 10 guys had previously owned;

brute force 750, now ownes a 500 ac
z400,now owns prowler and 400ac
polaris, now owns a 650 h1
warrior,now owns a 400 ac
kodiak, now owns a 500 ac
and more continue on( i just dont remember what they bought.)

 

Makes you wonder who is writing these articles and even if they know what they are talking about.
I ride with a lot of different people that have different machines. Some with oversized tires, plenty of mods. They have all seen my AC in action and don't dispute a thing. If I get outdone in the rough it generally is by another AC. With my new tires and 1" spacers some of the other AC's are now going to get a run for their money too. Mine isn't fast but I get there. In the rough stuff I usually end up waiting for the others. Only on top end runs on flat dirt roads do I lag behind a little. If I wanted to drag race then a nitrous bottle could suprise a few. And after two years of playing with my suspension and tire pressures I now can run with the best of them in the corners also. So the AC's can handle, it is just a matter of getting the suspension and tires tuned.

 

ive owned my 06 400 cat for 1 year now and i love it at first i found the cat to seem tippy but not now. I just put mudlites on my machine and what a difference 6 ply really help out . These magazines can say what they want but they guys who trail ride and haul stuff know what these machines are capable of and personally i dont find my bike tippy at all i love my cat

 

they can take there articles and the next time they go take a sh!!t, they can wipe there @sses with it, Ive owned my cat now for over 5 years with only 600 miles on it and I took a 660 grizzly and a 600 grizzly with itp tires down in the minnesota river bottoms with my 400 manual, went up river banks, over trees,over railroad tracks and through the mud better than the grizzlies. So I dont beleive any article I read because I know the truth