I got to ride a prairie over the weekend and got to see it go in the woods and on the road and i like it alot. I am going to put a 4x4 next to my VForce in the garage.

Why would i choose one over the other and what are any known trouble spots with them.

I have the VForce for speed now i want something for mud and snow

By the way that prairie is fast I would say it is as fast as the kfx 400, when i was on my brothers 400 I had to give it all it had to keep up on the road. me and my brother were shocked to see it run so fast.

 

if you like the 650p. check out the new ac 650 it has the prerie 650 engine and the locking front diff.arctic cats rule because ground clearance rules.and the ac has it all.my ac is a500i manual. and the reason i got the manual is that there is no belt to get wet, slip, or mantain.but if you dont want to shift gears and you dont plan to go in alot of water then the auto might be the one for you. the arctic cats are a sweet machine and not much electronics to screw up on them eather. it takes a bit of time getting use to the hight of it but once your past that you'll never look back. also when riding the trail i tend to hang back and watch everone else and see what they can and cant do then i try it. its a little big for tight spots, like going between two trees, but if its tight i just find another way around, they will go over almost anything including small trees. i have gone through spots where my freinds just shake there heads at and wont even try.there is no substitute for ground clearance.-ARCTIC CAT rules.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] PS check out my page its got some pics of my cat in action, and youl see why i say ac rules.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

mudblaster is right. I have a 500i manual and love it. I ride with a grizzly and it is a very nice machine but I would take mine over his. What mudblaster said about electronics is right, the cat is very simple to work on and clean. The power between mine and his seem very close, if I can't pull a tree branch he can't either. Aside from top end speed they are very close. Ground Clearance is the most important when it comes to mudding or trail riding. Even though it is only an inch difference, that is one more inch of stump or mud that I am not going to bottom out on. Rack capacity is the highest on the cat, and the suspension travel is great.(I love my independent suspension). I can't say much for the prairie. I have never ridden one, but have ridden with a guy that had one. They are fast. The only thing that I didn't like about the prairie was it seemed to be built more like a sport quad then a utility quad. It looked like it was not very beefy and that some of the things that I do with my cat would break the prairie in two. Definetly look at the Arctic Cat they are really a great machine.

 

I sold my '02 500i and picked up a P650, its awesome and does everything my 500i did and some things better. The automatic tranny kicks so much *** in the mud though. Don't think ground clearance is everything, it does help but I pick power over ground clearance, its nice to spin the tires enough to clean them. The Praire is not built as tough as the Cat but what quad is, but its no wimp either, I was rock bashing over the weekend and the skids took it well, it performed better in rocking crawling compared to my 500i because of the front locker. The 650 Cat should be good and might be what you are looking for.

 

All three are great machines. I chose the Grizzly for ground clearance and locking diff. And the Arctic Cat 650 wasnt out yet either. The p650 is a sweet machine with loads of power, but is lacking in ground clearance. Either choice you make is a good one. Also the grizz and ac 650 have IRS also.

 

HEEEEEEEEEEEEERE'S......................BERTRAM. he's a ac hater in a ac world. bigone, you already have a prairie 650 in your garage its just not 4x4. the grizz-good power and very sporty and a locker. i would take a look at the ac 650 when you get a chance, i am afraid the 500 won't be fast enough for ya.



be the wheeler

 

thanks for the replies.

I looked at the AC 500 an grizz today and liked the AC more, the grizz looks tippy and it looks narrow to me. The guy said the 650 AC wont be in untill october and I am not waiting that long.

Right now I am leaning to the kawi 700 there is one here now I can get (green), price 7100. I can get the AC 500 for 5600 thats alot of extra money for bigger tires and stuff. Im getting stressed.

How fast will the 500 AC go and is quick I dont want something slow.

 

I think the lt80 with the tuna big bore kit would win, especially if oyu put red bull in the gas tank!

 

Ive never ridden an arctic cat. So guys dont bash me for this. Ive heard they are slow. The 650 coming out may be a different story with the vtwin from the kawi. Ive heard the 500s are around 50 or so. I may be completley wrong though. Again never ridden one. But my brother-n-law were out testing a few before i bought mine and he rode the arctic cat 500, I wasnt interested, and then he rode a grizzly and said the power difference was amazing. He changed his mind fast, and is now looking at getting a grizz of his own or the new ac 650.

 

I had the privelage of riding the arctic cat, and I liked it