I have narrowed down my choice for my next ATV to the Arctic Cat 500 Auto or the Polaris Sportsman.
I got to ride the Sportsman thru some rough terrain and loved the suspension. I am concerned about the stories I hear about it's reliability. Also, I have always been less than impressed by Polaris snowmobiles in the past.
I have not heard nearly as many horror stories about the Cat. Are they that much better, or is it because there are less of them out there? I have had good luck with my A/C sleds and my dealer has not yet let me down. I know the Cat has more than adequete torque. I am concerned about the reliability, ride quality and ergonomics. I am 6'4" and want to be able to ride for a good part of the day thru the mountain trails etc. with out taking too much of a beating.
The Polaris does have an excellent ride, but I am leary of the other issues. I am 80% sure I will go for the Cat, but I would appreciate some input from you Cat owners before I do it.
Thanks in advance,
John

 

I have the 500 auto, but that aside. I don't think that you can wrong with either one. They both have strong and weak points. The Polaris has a better ride, but not that much. The Cat isn't as fast as the Polaris. There is NO 4WD going down hill with the Polaris. 4wd is automatically selected for you with the Polaris. You will get muddier if you ride in the mud with a Polaris. The AC costs less. Is easier for overall maintainance. Polaris seems to have more dealerships nationwide. Like I said they are both excellent machines, the choice is yours.

 

I've only had a problem with the master cylinder not building pressure. Fixed under warranty in less than 30 minutes. Works great now. Everything else is great. Ilooked at the sportsman too and had the same reservations. I got tired of reading about burned up belts and a few other things. I got a 500 manual cat. The suspension is plush and the axle is still solid so it is strong and reliabale yet independent enough that my mom and dad can ride it all day and they are in their 50's. So it is tame and calm but I like to unleash it and ride fast or do some good pulling and mudding. I've never felt a need for more power, it's got some torque where it counts. I rode with a guy(texascat) last weekend who is 6'4" and 300 pounds and his 500 auto cat rode great with him on it. I'm 6' and 280 pounds and I ride all day sometimes and feel great. I like the stability too. Very sure footed and lots of traction. Good price and features too. I've only had to do general maintance so far and all the fluid changes are easy and the brake pads change out quick. I have zero rattles so far. I don't like to take shots at other quads but my buddy's polaris shakes like a jack hammer. He only has 400 more miles than my cat. It's not a sportsman so it could be a different story. I hope you enjoy whatever you decide on.

Dakota R/T
http://lonestar.texas.net/~eeyore/atvhomepage.html

 

drt
i won't lie to you. the cat will begin to rattle a bit. those plastic rivits seem to be the culprit. they do what they're supposed to though. you save $ when the flaps come off and not the whole fender. and ac plastic is much cheaper to replace than most other quads. next time i "rip" something off i'm gonna try some silicone around the holes before i rivit it back together, might take away some of the looseness. where the panels meet under the tank just use a 1/2" self tapping screw and it'll shut up.....works for me.

jrc
just to add to what minehunter said. the polaris doesn't have 4 wheel engine braking, is a bit top heavy and has a ton of zerks fittings that need to be addressed. other than that it's a gread machine. you might want to consider the fact that if you put a ton of weight on an irs you will loose ground clearance at the rear where the cat won't get any lower under the rear pumpkin.
as far as my cat goes, i'm very happy with it. i doubt any machine can match it in the work it will do. it's extremely comfortable at low to moderate speeds and will climb like a goat. other than one trip to the dealer for some warranty work on the rear master cylinder, it has performed flawlessly. if speed is your concern, don't look to the cat in that department. the polaris seems to be built for speed but that isn't what i wanted in a quad. if body roll is a concern, that can be addressed real easily with a trick that cowboy has told some of us about. it helps with weight and roll. good luck. you really can't go wrong with either one.

 

Thanks for the tip. I'll keep it in mind.

Dakota R/T

 

"and my dealer has not yet let me down."

That counts for a lot, especially if the Sportsman and the Cat are close to being equal in your evaluation. My final choice also came down to the Polaris and the Cat. One of the reasons that I chose the Cat was the dealer. I have only had my Cat for a short while but I have been happy with the machine AND the dealer so far.

I personally liked the manual transmission but my dealer claims that he hasn't had any major problems with the auto models. He used to be a Polaris dealer and still does repair work for his old Polaris customers. (I noticed that he had more Polaris machines than Cats in the repair area.) While he claimed that the Auto Cat had better engine braking than the Polaris, I think that the manual is even better in that respect.

 

17 grease fittings that the book says should be greased after every water or mud ride scared me off from the sportsman 500

 

tree
no doubt about the manual's engine braking, can you even roll down a hill in 1st/low range? lol

 

It will go down hill in low range but it is a crawl. Even in high range it walks down steadily. Like I said that's why I let my parents ride em. There is nothing "iffy" about them. I can't say enough good thing about my dealer either.

 

I live in the mountains of western North Carolina and most of my riding is in steep and wooded areas, often without trails. Low range allows me to carefully pick my way around and between obstacles. It also allows a smoother application of power which tends to make me (new rider) a little more comfortable on sidehills. Plus it doesn't spin the tires and tear up the terrain which is important to me, especially when I'm off the trail.

I don't want anybody to be able to follow my trail when I've been out gathering "sang" or ramps.