HI all,
I just bought the March 2002 issue of ATV magazine. They have a shootout between the Quest, Prairie 650, Sportsman 700, Grizzly 660, Vinson, AC 500i, and Honda Rubicon. They said they chose this group
because these are the top of the line machines from each manufacturer.

Some of the data from the article:

Horsepower from Dynojet Dynamometer:
Prairie 650 - 31.4
Quest 650 - 30.5
Sportsman 700 - 30.2
Grizzly 660 - 29.8
Vinson - 21.8
AC 500i - 14.2

They couldn't test the Rubicon because it's full time 4WD, but they estimated around 20 hp.

The Vinson was the fastest of the 500cc machines. I quote, "Its 20-to-40 mph time is close to that of the 650cc machines. And from 0-40mph, the Vinson is about 1.5 seconds quicker than the Rubicon."

In the sled pull, the Vinson was the best of the 500cc machines too. It was behind the Grizzly (152.6 ft) at 138ft. for the longest pull and average ft./pull.

I haven't finished reading the article yet, but reading these measurements makes me happy I bought a Vinson.

Mark

 

i haven't seen the vinson in action yet, but i have seen the grizzly. it is a beast. the day i saw it, several 4x4s were going through some pretty nasty mud and five quads in a row got stuck. other guys tried to help them out, using polaris and honda 4x4s and couldn't even budge them. the grizzly hooked up and yanked 'em right out. it was really impressive to see. i'm not a huge yamaha fan, but i would love to have that machine. that being said, if the vinson did that good in the tests, it should be a hell of a quad.

 

The article makes it pretty clear that there is a distinct difference between the 650 and greater engine quads and the 3 500cc quads that were tested, especially in power. I was just impressed that the Vinson could even approach the larger quads.

When rating the trail handling capabilities, I'll quote:
"The real sport champ - weighing in with a deficit of 150 cubic centimeters - is the Suzuki Vinson. It corners like a sport quad, has enough power on tap to pull with force out of the corners, and is just an all-around fun ride"

That came as a surprise to me. But it seems like the Vinson is a top contender in the 500 class. I'm happy to see Suzuki finally do something in the ATV market.

Mark

 

I own a vinson 500 only a few days but it kept up with the
YAH grizzly 660 no prob..Its awesome but they have a serious
problem with the shifter. I am lucky if I can get mine to shift
between gears or out of reverse, ect. I have to contact the
dealer tomorrow(mon). This is my first suzuki, I always owned
honda and yamaha but I have ridden some great mid 90's suzuki
machines...dirt and street and was really impressed with their
durability. It figures, my first suzuki is being a pain in the
#*^ !!!! Email me if you know anything about this problem with
the vinson. Thanks!!!
Good Luck!!

 

This seems t be a common trait with the Zuke autos. Rock the beast back-and-forth a bit, this should help it slide in/out of gear for ya. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

Thanks nuke, but i have already tried that from experience with
other atv's i owned over the past 20yrs of riding. There is something
more going on with this machine.... This is from my original post:
I got home, put it in reverse, backed off the trailer and proceeded to sit there in reverse as the machine would not shift into forward (hi) no matter with brakes on or off or with gentle rocking or two
people pushing back and forth. Finally, I looked at the lever
on the side of the transmission that the shifter and cable connect
to. With one hand shifting the shifter and the other pushing the
tranny lever back and forth, finally it shifted. Sorry to repeat again. Hope they fix it. Its and awesome ride once you get it in gear. Hope to be back soon with a positive post on how the dealer and
suzuki stood behind their product and name. Thanks for the reply!