I own Arctic cat 650v2 and Polaris sportsman for long life and reliable I'd choose Arctic cat i put over 10,000 miles on 650v2 with very little issues but my 08 Polaris sportsman 400ho has been a money p since I bought it primary clutch problem and 3 broken belts and only 3000 miles just my opinion

 

I hear ya. I hate to brand bash, but my limited experience with Polaris has been similar.

So I've narrowed it down to the 2015 Arctic Cat XR 550 XT or the 2016 Yamaka Kodiak 700. I do not need a 700 machine, but prices are similar. Would Yammy be the more reliable machine? And how bad are these big bore machines on gas? I can go all day on a couple of gallons on my 350.

GC

 

I'd get the Kodiak. Yamaha reliability is very good. The Kodiak should be about in the same ballpark as the 550 on fuel mileage. About 20 mpg is what should be expected so about 100 miles per tank. I'd take the extra displacement and power if its the same price, seems like a win-win to me.

 

I am of the same belief with regard to reliability. But the particular Kodiak I'm looking at lacks power steering I believe. And that is a must given that my petite wife has to be able to handle this machine. I have to recheck the specs on that one. The Arctic Cat has:

2wd/4wd
Diff Locker
Power Steering
Hi/Low range
and Power Steering

I'm not sure the Kodiak has all of this. Again, I will have to check the specs.

GC

 

So after some more researching, the Kodiak I would have to get in order to get power steering, diff locker, and 2wd/4wd is the EPS Limited Edition, which is almost $3,000 more than the deal I can get on the Cat. Looks like the Cat is the winner. I hope it's the right choice. Thanks all for any input you have offered. Just put some new Bearclawa on my Honda 350 and went on a 40 km ride through hard trail, rock, mud, bog, and more bog, and more really rocky slow terrain. Great fun. And the little Honda again proved its mettle. But I hope the heck the Cat is a little gentler on the body. Holy crap!!!

GC

 

Yeah, the Kodiak isn't worth that much more. I'd get the Cat instead. A recent rough ride on my Brute makes me wish it had eps too. Mine doesn't even have independent rear suspension. Not a big deal most of the time but on that especially rough, rocky terrain, I did kinda miss it. My back was sore for a couple days. I maybe could have gone a little slower over some of it. My philosophy on riding is go as fast as you safely can on any trail. But I realize I hit a few of those bumps a little faster than I needed too.

 

20 mpg? My old 2001 Arctic Cat gets 32 mpg cruising at 35 mph on the trail, wearas the 400 Polaris Sportsman 400 only got 18 mpg, when it ran. Had to tow it home enough times, I wouldn't even take a Polaris as a gift. I think the Yamaha, however would make you a nice ride!

 

I've owned a 2007 Yamaha 350 2wd it was decent on gas I only owned it for about a year and had to put new piston and rings in it it had no top end speed. It was pretty fair on gas. I've got a 2005 Rhino 660 in my shop right now that threw a rod and busted the piston and cylinder head going to need some major work done to it $2,000 for the parts. If you can I test drive the Arctic Cat 550 and see how it drives out because my opinion Arctic Cat makes a real good machine. With a machine that size you would definitely want 4 wheel drive and a 3500 pound winch for those icky sticky spots. Anything will get stuck in the right stuff.

 

What ever you buy, don't expect much from the stock tires.

 

The Can-Am Outlander XT package is about the only exception to that rule. I wish other manufacturers had similar packages. But yes, most stock tires aren't very good in mud.