<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: timbertrailer

AC's Thundercat 1000 snowmobile goes well over 100 mph. You run those machines on frozen lakes where you have miles of flat open space ahead of you. I would think the ATV version would be capable of similar speed, but I have trouble seeing a use for that much power on an "all terrain" machine.</end quote></div>

The snowmobiles use totally different engines with totally different gear setups. And go much faster then ATV's can. My 1998 Arctic Cat 600 will go over 100mph. My old H1 650 would do 58mph.

 

Interesting thing about the article in the magazine, it says that 75 is the electronically controlled speed. They said there was plenty left and the speedo went up to 110.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: CaptainQuint

I would imagine this is going to be one of those instances that once the aftermarket get their grubby paws on the computer controlling the various limits and parameters that AC has put into the 950 there will be a new ECU produced that will probably do away with any top end restrictions and most likely increase power over what the factory has dialed in.



On the other hand, one may run into some inherent speed limitations of the CVT systems and gearing at some point. I'm not sure how all that works exactly.</end quote></div>

I doubt the CVT will be the limiting factor since Nissan and Ford both use CVT on a couple of their cars. My brother has a new ford for his wife that has the CVT tranny and it works great with now shift points. It works very similar to our CVT's in our quads, so I would only assume that the ATV manufactures would have no problem beefing up their ATV's.

My thought on the increasing motor sizes of ATV is they would eventually make some sort of large quad requirment like having an ATV licensing and taking a test on anything over say 800cc or something like that. Or they may move the age limit on the big bores to say 18. Just something to ponder.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: 700vtwinman

I doubt the CVT will be the limiting factor since Nissan and Ford both use CVT on a couple of their cars. My brother has a new ford for his wife that has the CVT tranny and it works great with now shift points. It works very similar to our CVT's in our quads, so I would only assume that the ATV manufactures would have no problem beefing up their ATV's. </end quote></div>

I know that you can make CVTs that can go faster but I'm not sure that the designs that are used in ATVs are designed for that. I remember reading somewhere that some of them due to springs and weights and clutches and such they have some top speed and RPM limitations. It probably varied by manufacturer somewhat. Of course if everyone switched to an automatic something like Honda uses it wouldn't be an issue at all [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

I cut this reply so it wouldn't be to long for everyone to read without getting bored , the way the US Forest Service and the DNR ( Department Of Natural Resouses ) measure the width of atv's on the first leg of the trail system where i ride with a barred gate it's open all year round except in the case of forest fire's and we've had three so for this year ; but if you can make it through the gate you're legal if not you're not legal ! You can't go around this gate because there's tree's on both side of the gate ! My AC 400 FIS Auto has a 50" inch wheel base and it's a pretty close fit for me to get through the gate , i've seen a 500 TBX Auto with a 57" inch wheel base go through it and it was a very close fit ; and a 400 TBX Auto with a 58" inch wheel base barelly made it through but the tire's rubbed a little going through the gate ! So if the ThunderCat 1000's wheel base isn't over 58" inch it would be legal on this trail system , and i didn't know for sure about the engine size ; it's just that i read a thread on the forums where someone had written about a engine over an 800 class was not considered as an atv and not allowed on trail's marked atv , motocycle and mountainbike's only ! But on the Web Site for the trail system i'm talking about , the first leg of the trail with the barred gate you must go through is marked motorcycles and mountain.bikes only ; but i know it's a mistake on the Web Site because the access road that goes to the parking lot has a sign that say's it's for motorcycles mt. bikes and atv's and has a ramp for loading and unloading quads ! Sorry if anyone think's this reply is to long , have a good day and if you're going to ride today ; be safe out there ! ...........

 

Wow...........that's a book there.

 

I kinda thought that too. I just read through the first few lines. Anyway the wheelbase is not the width. The trails are regulated by width and the width is the same on TC as it is on most 4x4 quads 48"s if I remember correctly. The wheelbase is 52"s, only 2 inchs longer than its other stable mates and it use the same plastics so, overal lenght was not effected. Its main competition the Outlander's which have a 51" wheelbase. So it is not that big a deal. Its not a deal at all since wheelbase and width are not the same thing.

There is also only one state that I have ever been able to find that has any kind of CC regulation and that is MN. In MN, at the moment the Thundercat has to be registerd as a class 2 ATV since the class 1 limit is 800cc's. Thats a law that has not really never been tested. Like for example there are several stats that state in theere definitions of an ATV that dry weight is under 600 pounds. Other say 800 pounds. Either way there still selling and riding Polaris quads in those states along with several others that are over that weight limit. The ATV has evolved and more often than not the age old definitions have not, so they are mearly overlooked.

 

Silly bureaucratic meddling. Any 4 year old can look at it and see it is an ATV. They just have to play assert their dominance by messing with everyone by listing some legalese buried in some regulation written by a some otherwise unemployable bureaucrat employed by the state passed by some subcommittee tucked into some omnibus bill no one ever read and passed by the legislature along with the millions of other regulations and laws people run afoul of on a daily basis and become criminals.


And people wonder why people have no respect for the law, those that write it or those that are sent to enforce it? Well, I wonder why? It was Voltaire who said " A multitude of laws in a country is like a great number of physicians, a sign of weakness and malady." And unlike many of his other scribblings he was right on the money with this one.

And if you want a cheery vision of our nation in a few years I'll give you one from George Orwell "If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever."

 

Here's a quote.....

......the right of the people......shall not be infringed

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: Williebee

I cut this reply so it wouldn't be to long for everyone to read without getting bored , the way the US Forest Service and the DNR ( Department Of Natural Resouses ) measure the width of atv's on the first leg of the trail system where i ride with a barred gate it's open all year round except in the case of forest fire's and we've had three so for this year ; but if you can make it through the gate you're legal if not you're not legal ! You can't go around this gate because there's tree's on both side of the gate ! My AC 400 FIS Auto has a 50" inch wheel base and it's a pretty close fit for me to get through the gate , i've seen a 500 TBX Auto with a 57" inch wheel base go through it and it was a very close fit ; and a 400 TBX Auto with a 58" inch wheel base barelly made it through but the tire's rubbed a little going through the gate ! So if the ThunderCat 1000's wheel base isn't over 58" inch it would be legal on this trail system , and i didn't know for sure about the engine size ; it's just that i read a thread on the forums where someone had written about a engine over an 800 class was not considered as an atv and not allowed on trail's marked atv , motocycle and mountainbike's only ! But on the Web Site for the trail system i'm talking about , the first leg of the trail with the barred gate you must go through is marked motorcycles and mountain.bikes only ; but i know it's a mistake on the Web Site because the access road that goes to the parking lot has a sign that say's it's for motorcycles mt. bikes and atv's and has a ramp for loading and unloading quads ! Sorry if anyone think's this reply is to long , have a good day and if you're going to ride today ; be safe out there ! ...........</end quote></div>

Thanks Williebee, good information. The national forest down here in Texas do not have a gate system like that. However, I haven't been to any of them except one.

I guess if one puts aftermarket tires on a big quad and still want to ride where you are talking about, they need to take in consideration how much wider the tires will make the quad.