My 2003 AC 400I was stolen from my driveway last week. Looks like home owners insurance is going to take care of it thankfully. I liked the machine, but I noticed it placed last in every shootout in every magazine. Seems like the Eiger always wins. So now I'm wondering, as much as I liked the AC 400I, I wonder how great the Eiger must be. Does anyone have any riding experience with both machines?? I will be doing 50% trail riding, and 50% hunting. The hunting is in bottomland with lots of mud. It will usually be pulling a trailor with 2-3 people on the trailor along with duck hunting gear through creeks and sometimes deep mud ruts. I know th 400I is up to the task, and I'm wondering if the lower stright axle on the Eiger could be a problem?? The Eiger's is more nimble from what I hear, so I'm confident it would be more fun to trail ride, the straight axle would be fun to corner with as well. Price isn't an issue: (2005 Eiger Auto w/winch $5300) (2005 400FIS Auto w/winch $5670) The Cat has a 2yr warranty vs 6months on the Suzuki. The Cat also has a Diff Lock and tons of ground clearance. I just can't ignore the magazine reviews. How can the Eiger rate so much higher?? Do they test them on high speed trail riding primarily?? Any input would be appreciated

 

well I have a new 400 and the locking diff is sweet, I'm thinking the motor and tans are the same, you might just look into the options, plus 2 years is a really nice warranty is nice. so after basically your going to pass on the year half warranty, locking diff, and IRS to save $300.oo? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

Go with your nature, I rode Polaris, yamaha, Suzki's and AC, The cat gave me the best bang for the buck and shes a work horse, if I lost mine today I would be at the dealer getting a new one. It's your money buy what you like, you have to ride it, plus there was a reason your bought an AC before. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

Don't worry about the magazine shootouts, they are totally bogus. They have no idea what kind of riding you are going to be doing and what kind of work you are going to be putting your ATV through. If you are planning on doing 100% trail riding then I would go for the Outlander 400, but if there is even a chance of serious work and hunting you can't beat the Cat. When I went moose hunting a few months ago there was NO WAY a SRA machine could have packed out my moose. And I needed every inch of that rack space. Stay with the Cat, you are familiar with it had seemed to have good luck with it.

That said, if I was in your situation, I would be at Gander Mountain picking out the 2005 Cat 500 4x4. I love that new body style. Good luck Wooderson, just don't get all dazed and confused about the situation... [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

when i bought my cat i checked out and rode the eiger and even the vinson. and for my money I got the 400 cat. u just cant beat the ground clearance and ability to do real work reliably. i think that u would run it to probs with the solid rear axle with kind of riding u are describing and it is hard to beat the two years just my 2 cents

 

While I haven't owned one, my buddy has an '03eiger and I've ridden it, and compared to my brother in laws '03AC400 as well as my '05AC500... That said, I second the notion that you should ignore the mags... You need to look for what you want, not what they want. Every shootout I've read has the AC line labeled workhorses, and they never get high marks for handling at speed, etc. My take on that is that these are UTILITY quads first, and sporty second. To me, they always seem to score them the other way around.

Me personally, I approached the question like this... would you rather get stuck when your working or playing? Rather get hopelessly mired when you have all afternoon to get out, and when getting stuck is part of the fun, or get stuck just before dark on your way to get your deer, while it's raining, and you've got someplace to be in 2 hours...?

The eiger definately blasts ahead of us cats on the open trails we ride, but so far we've spent time freeing the eiger from stuff the cats have negotiated... Every time it's the lack of ground clearance and the solid rear axle that does it in... I'm glad that happens when we're out having fun, not when we need to be somewhere...

 

I enjoy reading the stuff in the mags, simply because it's about ATV's, and I love anything ATV. But as far as taking that stuff to the bank - forget it.

I read a review of the 04 400i Cat on the ATV TV web site last year and old Doug made it sound as if my machiine wouldn't even qualify as a good boat anchor. My experience has been totally opposite. I've been pleased with it (as has my wife as well) in every way and if they were stolen today, we (like Cattywompus) would be at the dealer tomorrow buying the new locking front diff models. And it would be another 400 model too, not some 7-800 monster.

 

I bought my 05' AC 400 auto prior to duck season this year. I have nothing but good things to say about it too. I hunt river bottoms and Texas gumbo mud rice fields and it hasn't once let me down. I researched ALL brands...since this was my first ATV. For my money...you can't beat the standard options that the Cat comes standard with. What really won me over, was the front locking dif. The only other in it's class, was the Prairie 400 that comes with a front locking diff and it couldn't compare to the Cat. Everyone that kind of gave me crap about going with the Cat, now is wishing they would have went with a Cat too. It is just a mean machine...period! Sit on a Cat and you'll feel the difference right away. I sat on them ALL..as soon as I sat on the Cat...my decision was made. The MRP rack options/accessories are nice too. A bit pricey for some of them, but well built. I bought a side fender box to hold my Qbeam, that way I have the front rack for decoys. I also bought a rear drop basket from Cabela's. The only problem was attaching it. I had to drill a few holes in the rack and bolt it directly to the rear rack, but no biggie. I replaced my stock tires with stock size Kenda Executioner's. They're an aggresive mud tire and I got them for $209 for the set. The stock tires were fine, but for in the Texas gumbo, I wanted something aggresive. I stayed with the stock sizes, so I wouldn't loose any of my power curve due to larger tire/gear ratio changes.

I decided on the 400 class due to budget retraints. I really didn't want the heavy bigger bikes anyway. The 400 is light enough that you don't feel like your handling a tank. I rode the 650 and that sucker just wasn't as nimble. I might have went with the 500, but couldn't afford the extra $1000. If you can afford it, I might consider the 500. My dealer had a 04' 500 that he was going to give me for about the same price as the 05' 400, but it didn't have the front locking diff. I haven't had to use it yet (the locking dif), but I'm sure one day it will be a life saver. Stick with the Cat ...you'll be totally happy.

 

Thanks for your service to our country, Gunny.

Yeah, I might have considered the 500 when I bought mine/ours, but since I was buying two at the same time, the difference in price was way too much.

400's forever - ha.

 

Thanks for your kind words, Mr. Tommy. Great pictures...I guess NV is more than just gambling and hoochie MaMa's...lol

 

If you liked the IRS from your 03 quad, then forget the Eiger. Eiger might win a race due to being lighter and what not, but I'd take the AC over it any day. Especially the 05 with the locker. Most shootouts between heavy 4x4 quads in magazines always come down to sport handling, acceleration, and speed. That being said, shootouts never really tell the tale for what most of us are looking for. If everyone went with shootout results, AC would never sell a quad other than maybe a DVX.

But like you said, you wonder about the fun factor and the handling. If so, then you might prefer the Eiger, so you might look into it and ride it if you get the chance. The only one you will need to please is yourself, so its worth it to check out all options while you can.