Well top end is the best for a CVT transmission. They don't realy bog down cause the trans automatically gears down, but they build up and build up till you get in a high gear/speed. This helps with stock tires, but with heavy mud tires you need a good bit of low end to get them started.

 

JaMeS

 

JaMeS

 

Listen knucklehead, I know the Sp500 has power. I have thought about getting one time and again just for that. What I said (and I didn't disagree with you either) is that what good is top end power when you bog down. Thats when low end is needed.

I also agree with boner on that CVT transmission thing. As far as gearing and momentum, an auto is always better in the mud cause you don't lose momentum on a shift. Only downside is the possibility of water in the tranny. Thats it. I don't need to read about a sp500's power, that is evident. It wins every shootout and has never lost. That has to speak for something.

Good thing I didn't have a polaris when I flipped the other day. Otherwise, both the plastic racks and the frog's head space pod would be totalled right now and I would be dropping cash to replace them. The AC only needed the handlebars to be pulled back up.

 

Im not saying the Sp doesnt have allot of power. Yes it does. But down low where it counts when you in deep mud with big tires the cat has more. And yes in that pull contest POlaris did good. Here is another pull contest that i found in a mag. There was a total of 147 quads entered, remember now how many Polaris's there are compared to Suzuki and AC atv's, So you can pretty much guess there was allot more polaris's intered.

Prattsville New York atv pull (took it out of the Feb 2001 Dirt wheels mag)

200cc-299cc 2WD
sled wieght 1450lb
1. POL Trail Boss 250 100' full pull
2. Suz Qrunner 250 87'
3. Suz Qrunner 250 76'

300cc-399cc 2WD
sled 1600lbs
1. Pol Trail Boss 250 83'
2. Suz King Quad 300 74'
3. Suz Qrunner 250 62'

400cc-499cc 2WD
sled 1600lbs
1. AC 500 91'
2. Pol SP500 89'
3. Yam Kodiak 400 67'

500cc-699cc 2WD
sled 1600lbs
1. POl Sp500 97'
2. Pol Sp5oo 95'
3. AC 500 94'

250cc-350cc 4wd
sled 1600lbs
1. Suz King Quad 300 81'
2 Suz Qrunner 250 55'
3. Yam Wolverine 350 48'

351cc-450cc 4WD
sled 1750 lbs
1. Suz King Quad 300 67'
2. Pol Express 400 66'
3. Hon Foreman 450 57'

451cc-600cc 4WD
Sled 2200lbs
1. Suz Qrunner 500 100' FULL PULL
2. AC 500 86'
3. Pol SP500 81'

Im not saying SP is bad at all, actually I think its great. But for the money you cant be the cat.
matty
Matty

 

Boner,
If I am taking your statment correct, in that you are meening that Higher rpm power is better for a cvt system. You are actually wrong. I know on a sled which is the same as polaris belt setup,on average you loose 10% of the power from the crank just at the clutches when spining at 7500rpm, and at 8500rpm you loose 20% power from the crank. Thats with out the rest of the driveline loss. Allot of people dont realize how much power is robbed with the clutch setup. I know there is allot of guys who tinker with there sp clutches and allot of times they screw it up. They think the more revs the better. But little do they know the Sp has a very sharp drop at the end of its power curve. Allot of them will adjust the clutches so it will rev pass that and they loose all of the power it al ready had, but they hear that engine revving higher so they presume its faster. But in all honesty its slower. Just alittle food for thought
matty

 

You mean the 100 lb heavier SP win all these acceration test with other 500s with all these power loses happening with the belt drive? So if the SP was 100 lbs lighter like most of the other 500 4x4s and had a 5 speed tranny it would be a rocket?

 

Andy:
Sorry, couldn't resist-I love that "frogs head space pod", that was good! I have to agree with you though about the 'Cats toughness and durability during a roll-over. My Dad's went over several times and aside from a couple scratches in the plastic, and speedo cover popping off, nothing else happened. -Handlebars dropped to the tank, but all that takes is pulling them back up and tightening the screws. No real damage done, other than the speedo cover popping off like I said. My boss tipped his Kodiak over backwards-just stood it up, then layed it over upside down. Broke both rear fenders, bent the rack to hell and broke the break light. When flipping back over, they cracked a front fender. As much as I didn't like replacing those plastic rivets every time I tore off a mud flap, you have to admit it was good thinking on AC's part to make the rivet break before the plastic. $1.25 for a bag of rivets sure beats the cost of a new fender!

As for the rest of the arguement here-won't touch that! Heh heh heh. Best of luck,

Mike

 

I was stating that the belt system get very inefficent at high rpms. Im not sure about for a manuel what they loose, but i presume its less, but i gess it depends on what style of gears you use, in the tranny.
matty

 

It doesn't sound like many of you have much experience in the mud with an auto. They simply will out-do any manually-shifted model. I've had them both and the autos just plain sling a lot better regardless of what tire you have on them. The big mudders will take more power to turn on anything, whether it's auto or not. I've seen a lot of guys get stuck when they go to shift and bog down when I drive by slinging. You can keep the tires cleaned out pretty easily. The only disadvantage I have is that stick you shift with. It is a poor design and ain't too hard to get the linkage in a bind.