I am looking at these two atv's to purchase in March.
I will be doing a lot of trail riding, possible towing and occasional sand dunes. They make almost identical crank HP numbers. Which would you choose?

 

i would go with the king quad of those two....

 

I think the Wolverine would be more fun on the trail,just one look tells you that, Does a Wolverine have a low range?

The wolverine's 420cc puts out 26hp and probably more torque as well.
The KQ400 is really a 376cc with 23hp.That may sound small that 13% more power on ATV is large, there are $500 stage kit people buy to gain that.

When Polaris made the 35hp 500 H.O out of the regular 30 hp 500 motor it did not sound like a lot but a H.O is a more powerful feeling motor.

 

The Suzuki has a manual trans! An automatic trans is a killer for me (I'll leave them for the ladies and little kids, thanks.) The Suzuki is more of a true utility, so pick it if you want to do more technical riding (and can't find a Honda Rancher 420!).

My buddies wife has a Wolverine, and it is kind of fun. It attempts to be a hybrid, and is probably one of the few true sport/utes out there. Pick it if you want to do lots of fast semi-technical trail riding, but it's not for the nasty technical stuff.

 

I would have to disagree that the Wolverine isn't "for the nasty technical stuff", I think that's exactly what its made for. However, if you plan to to do any towing, then don't get a Wolverine. It may be able to mount a hitch, but its a riding machine not a work machine. The suspension isn't set up for it.

 

A hybrid machine is actually the type of quad that most folks probably need. Not a big heavy utility, but with 4wd just in case you get into trouble out there on the trail. The "old" Wolverine was closer to the ideal machine however, than the new one is. Good semi-technical trail machines, but I wouldn't go rock crawling on one.....

For me, I have sport quads for riding that isn't extremely technical, and utilities for full-on technical stuff, so a hybrid that splits the difference just doesn't make any sense for me.

 

it is very true that the one fault in yamahas new 450 model wolverine is that it is fully auto. but anyone that i know with a suzuki has had many problem yamahas last forever as long as you take care of it and change the oil.It is true that the wolverines suspention is not great for towing but as long as what your towing isnt too heavie the wolverine has plenty of power to get the job done.