I have been very fast in my life. Try 130mph+ in a 16 foot boat. Mach 1.5 in a jet or 180 in a dragster(I'm old and know they go faster now) and I have no idea hou fast the jeep would be. It's been 50 mph, but made me nervous as it wandered arounf a lot. I've run my quad as fast as it will go when riding with the sportie boys, but it is more work than it is really worth and I've found that if I slow down, they wait for me at the next intersection. So slow is easier on the old body, as I was 47 before I truely believed I couldn't die. A deer and a motorcycle and an ambulance ride and surgery and a hospital stay and a year of recovery to about 2/3 of what I once was convinced me otherwise.

 

Someone's gonna die yet, these quads keep getting faster and faster. The new Bomb 800 hit ~ 75mph or so. Wonder when they're going to start making speed rated tires for them. Ridiculous if you ask me.

 

I forgot to mention that the is quick and there is fast. Quick is the Elapsed time in a drag race. How quickly you cover the distance. This is the only thing that counts in most races, E.T. (elapsed time). Then there is fast, maximum miles per hour. Basicly what is done at the salt flats thing. I have see the loser in a drag race run a faster mile per hour than the winner. Back in the '60s Ford with their GT-40s beat the Enzo and his Italian go fast cares with almost 25 mile an hour slower cars at Le Mans. The GT-40s accerated so quickly that their average lap times were quicker, average speed around the road course was higher. Max spped was lower. Better elaspsed times will beat top speed on most race courses. I ride with a couple of Grizz's and and several different brands of 500 auto ute's and my 400 manual is quicker than the 660's and 500 autos, not faster, just quicker. Top speed is a reflection of max horsepower, while E.T. is made up of several component, mainly torque, gear ratios and traction.

 

You say that like no one ever dies going slow.

 

No, that's not it at all, it's all due to rider inexperience really. I realize you can crack your melon @ 20 and die, that's not my point. If you hit the rhubarb at 75, you're stone cold, helmet or not. I really don't think ATV tires are designed to operate at that speed. I like the idea of acceleration like anyone else, but there's no reason to sustain 75 mph on a trail, you're asking for it.

 

And the "rider inexperience" and thinking they know what they are doing and "it can't happen to me" thinking is what hurts and kills most. But speed kills kill too, and usually the first time it happens. The human body is not made to hit things at 25 mph, much less 75 mph. They just die more often going faster.

 

Most people don't have the cash to buy one of each. The utility is a more versatile machine, so its normally the one they go with, then they try and get a little bit of the sport aspect out of it.

Its not exactly an uncommon question, and the minority falls with those that think the top speed of a utility is a moot point. I can't afford to get a Raptor or anything, and though I'd like to have one, I wouldn't use it that much. It would be fun for the times that I did though. To bridge the gap, I ditched my old Arctic Cat for a Grizzly that does about anything the AC would do and still is more fun for spirited rides.

 

Also, you are blowing smoke up these people's *** by trying to make them believe that a 400ac is quicker than a Grizzly. Why do you even want to try and say something that ridiculous? You might get it off the line for the first 15 feet because of the manual vs. belt drive, but after that its absolutely over with. Bar none. Not even close. I've races manual 454's and 500's, Rubicons (instant response with their transmission) and what not, and yeah they will get a jump for just a few yards due to the belt lag, but the power difference is laughable, and the 660, 650, or whatever it is will blow by them to the point that its utterly ridiculous. If you were meaning quicker by means of more nimble in turns and what not, I can't go with that either. AC doesn't make the most apt steering quad in the business, unless its a DVX.

I just don't know anyone would make that claim.

 

Well, I will tell you how it is. Quick is entirely different than top speed and both the Grizzly guys admit I will pull them off the corners and off the line up to about 25 or 30 mph. The skill of the rider may come into it allot, but Chuck has a Raptor 660 and I think he probably knows what he is doing. Besides, generally an auto is not as quick to repond to the green light as a manual. I ought to know raced both for years, had a pair of '69 Ford Torino Cobras with 428CJ's. The auto was always slower to respond, thats why I would start sooner on the tree. There is no replacement for the driver and his skill. I've seen half a a$$ driver take the best equipment and lose, then a great driver take half a$$ equipment and win. I have given a guy a 1/10 of a second head start on the tree in a drag race and have him off the line by a car length. I have won National High Point Championships without sponsorship, twice. I am very good at getting the most there is out of equipment. I didn't say I could beat every Grizz out there, just the guys I ride with. BTW, I don't need to lie about this stuff.

 

Lets see, ATV as a bike. aka motorcycle as a bike??? It has handlebars like a bike, and a seat that you straddle like a bike, and it has brakes like a bike. We use windshields that are more motorcycle like then not, and bags and luggage boxes and we shift the manuals like a bike. The gas tank is forward of our seats and the instrumentation is as much motorcycle as anything else. They use a very motorcycle (bike) type engine - and the chain drive is tell-tale bike, as is the shaft drive models. Its not very hard for me to be comfortable calling it a bike. A four wheeled bike is a very accurate description in my mind.

As far as going fast..... I ride a VTX1800 and fly a open cockpit stunt plane at 200+. Going fast isn't the challenge - the machine goes fast. Getting out of the airplane knowing that you did everything right, or getting off the motorcycle and knowing the girl on the back was impressed with NOT being scared to death - Then you know quality. All you have to do is hang on to go fast. And that aint so hard to do. I see 16 year olds with their hats on backwards going very very fast all the time on the freeway. And its not impressive at all.