With the recent addition of the Thunder Cat, it begs the question. Is it too much and will we eventually see 1000cc+ machines out there? Is there a justifiable need for this much power off the racetrack? Do you think that alot of folks with deep pockets and shallow experience will get hurt/killed ? Is it just the natural evolution of our sport?

Feel free to post replys and opinions.

 

We live in a country of excess my friend. We can never have too much of anything (said with a hint of sarcasm).

 

I know I have never uttered the phrase, "This thing is just too powerful", and can't imagine I ever will. You can never have too much power provided that power can be applied properly and with high reliability. You don't have to always use full power, but bet it is nice knowing you have more. Just my opinion.....

Brent

 

i think of this machine as bragging rights. other than being the fastest 4x4,possibly of all atvs, there is nothing else it does that the others cant. i doubt id ever get it to top speed on the trails here, and if i did it would only be for a short time. so to spend $10,500 on a quad thats probably going to get beat next year, (because this is an on going battle with the manufacturers) id rather get the 700 efi for $ 7200 and buy other things with that $3000 i saved. if they made the 500 with efi id buy that. thats my thought. it is a good lookin machine though.

 

We as Americans thrive on power and speed. There is no end to how fast we want to go and how fast we want to get there. Take a look at some of the lastest supercars and you'll see my point. Can somebody get hurt with one of these? Of course, but i think an unexpeirenced rider can hurt themselves with a 650 or even 500. As for me, I cant wait to get my hands on one and take it for a high speed cruise.

 

I guess I must be getting old. It doesn't really matter to me if I have the fastest machine out there. It won't make my pecker any bigger if I can outrace my friends.

 

I used to half jokingly say this would happen some day. What I have said for many years is, Why dont they just make a high performance 500 that would run like a 950?? The kTM 525 is a high performance 4stroke that hauls!! I think the manufacturers are just covering their butts with the utility quad market. It does **** me off that some of us would like a high performance utility 4x4, but because of demand and liability, they wont do it. I think it is ridiculous that they need to use a 950 twin to get that kind of power.

 

I don't know how much this has to do with age. I am only 61 and I would love to take a ride on one of these just to see what it will do. However, I would not buy one because it is more than I would need and I have better places to put my money. But I would not go so far as to say there is no need for that kind of machine. I would imagine it would be a great foundation for a mudder and there are a lot of riders out there who love to run in the mud. Now if they were to down size it to a 700cc or so v-twin with FI and put it in the TRV chassis, then I would find it to be very tempting even for a bit more money. I really liked the v-twin in my '04 650 v-2 and have a friend who has a CanAm Max 650 v-2. The engine in his machine is really impressive. But I much prefer my 'Cat TRV chassis and wouldn't go to the CanAm chassis just to get the engine. The TRV with an injected v-twinand the 'Cat transmission would be a really sweet machine.

 

1000cc (950 really) sounds fine. The longer wheelbase will help apply the power. I would have like to have had the extra power in a mud bog race last weekend. My H1 beat two Brute Force 750i but just by a little. My main issue was power -- I had to run in low to turn the wheels fast enough. A 1000 would allow me to run in high.... I won due to the AC ground clearance -- another 25 hp would have been great.

On a serious note how the power is applied to the wheels matters. If the throttle is linear and not harsh in the first 1/2" then it's fine. I hate riding ATV's, Cars, Motorcycles or any machine that has a pause in the first part of throttle travel then rockets the next part....

 

The only thing I have found I need more power than my 400 for is wheelies! That being said I aint paying that much money to pull the front wheels once in awhile. I will be getting another ATV in the near future and have decided on either a 500 or a 650 twin and all this would be for is my ego.