Could someone please tell me the pros and cons of an auto compared to a geared?? I test drove a 02 500 auto and a 375 auto this weekend. This was my first time on an auto and I was highly impressed with the all out constant torque and the way the power feels right there all the time. Correct me if I'm wrong but it seems that the majority of people in the AC forum prefer the geared. By the way, I've read that the 375 will keep right up to the 500?? In my opinion the extra money for the 500 would be well worth it. I don't know why but I was expecting a lot more from the 375.

 

I just wanted to mention that the 375 is a great machine, just maybe not as compareable to the 500 as I've read.

 

To be honest, I agree with you that I was expecting more from the 375. To me it just didn't feel all that right.. Since I am planning on getting a 500, I hope the 500 is a little better.

My opinion on the autos is that they are just more to worry about and less fun because you don't get to shift. I don't like the idea of belts and such driving the machine since things can go wrong with them. Also i don't like how the autos need more air vents than a manual for the belt housing. To me this is one more thing to have to worry about getting wet when crossing, or blasting through water. And probably my biggest beef with the AC 500 auto is how freaking WIDE the engine is!!!!!!! It seems like no body else has ever commented on it! or at least it never bothered them! I could NOT see my self straddling that monster all day. My legs touch the belt housing and there is barely any floor board left on the right side! I could not stand that! The 375 isn't as bad for this i dont' find, however.

So you tested the 500 eh? what did you think? Did you see if it would power slide? and what was the speed and acceleration like? Any comments would be nice as to how it compared to the 375 since I did ride the 375 but didnt have a chance to ride the 500.

Newf

 

HawleyCat-
Auto vs. manual is strictly personal preference-if you like to shift, or not. For my needs, the auto takes the cake, no questions asked, and you could not talk me into a manual after seeing what my auto is capable of. Most will agree, myself as well, that gears are stronger than belts, however with all the towing, hauling and log pulling I've done, I have NEVER slipped a belt yet. The belt on the 'Cats is constantly engaged, so belt wear is not an issue like it is with the snowmobile type clutch system found on the Polaris machines.

You are correct in that with the auto the torque is always there, the power is always there-just hit the gas and go. Find a little resistance, just give it a little more gas, and you're over the obstacle with ease. No worry of shifting gears when climbing hills, which can lead to loss of momentum and a resulting spill to the bottom. No worry of shifting gears in deep mud pits, loosing momentum again, and winding up being stuck. You need more power, just hit the gas-no downshifting needed, you just flat out start moving.

Take a look at my pics below-both "ride with GrizRick", and the snow pics in general, as well as the tail end of the "my photo album pics". I have a bunch of steep hill climbs, rocky terrain, and towing huge loads in extreme conditions, such as a suburban uphill in over 2' of snow. I may be one of the minority here, but I am for one, extremely happy with my AUTO CAT, and will not trade for a manual any day, after seeing what it's capable of. As to the comment of how wide the engine is-it's a 500 auto, and does not feel any more wide to me than any of the other machines out there. I have never even thought of this as a problem, because I don't believe it is. Just as I've never seen a complaint of it, because again, I don't think it's a problem.

Anyway, just a view of an Auto owner-any other questions or concerns, give me a hollar, would be glad to try and help,

Mike

 

Cowboy:
Is there any way to set the clutch on the auto so that it doesn't rev up quite so high before kicking in?? This was the only thing I didn't like about it. The torque was awesome but with the power of the 500 does it really need to rev so high before enguageing?? What's the deal with bearing going out on the clutch caseing?? Is this anything to be concerned about?? I really would like the auto for myself in test driving the 2002 500 it feels like it puts a little bit more "sport" into the "utility"!! If you're doing a lot of hunting and real hard work I can see why people would lean towards the geared.

Newf:
Comments on the 2002 375 VS the 500 auto- I think the 375 is a great machine and will be a good fit for the people that want a little smaller, more manueverable, and little lighter machine. Particularly if they want more power on the higher end that the 300 tends to lack.
I don't know if they changed the carburation or what but the 500 seemed to be more snappy than the 2000 that I've driven. The 375 had a good steady feeling of power but the 500 had a little of the "rip the handlebars from your hands" kind of feel. If you don't have a need for as high of power the 375 will suit your needs just fine for a lot less money. As for comparing it to the 500, I think the 500 blew it out of the water. Couldn't tell top end too much, the test track area wasn't long enough to get over 45-50 but It got there pretty quick. I'm guessing top end around 55 for the 500 and maybe 50 for the 375. That is if you believe the speedometer which on my 300 shows about 4 mph faster than my gps shows. I'd need to ride both machines for a weekend or two to comment much more. Some peoples concept of power is different. On the low end it seems that most of the atv's with low range capeability have all the gear ratio power they need with traction and momentum being the limiting factor. At higher speeds if you're all the sudden being bogged down by mud or climbing a steep hill and need to slow down to turn out for something and recover effortlessly or pull something heavy effortlessly or whatever the case may be, this is where the bigger bores seem to seperate the men from the boys.

 

Hey, like I said, it's a preference thing, whether you like to shift or not. I'd venture to say that I work my 'Cat harder than most would even think possible, and yes, it's an Auto-which according to some, is not possible. I am trully amazed at what this thing can do. I bought it originally for hunting, and after owning, working and riding it since then, I honestly don't know how I ever got along without it.

I have not ridden the '02s yet, as my dealer won't have them in till end of the month supposedly, maybe Oct, so I can't comment on the "sport" feel. From what I've heard, yes, they are faster than their older brothers due to the gearing change, and are also a little "peppier" if that word works.

As to the bearing problems in the tranny-that is a direct effect of water in the tranny, and not properly cleaning it out. Any time you get water in your tranny, dirt, mud or other debris will flow in with that water. Dirt will quickly erode any moving part, bearings especially, and water will rust-this is common knowledge here. So, any time you suck water into the tranny, simply pulling the plug and draining it is not sufficient enough to call it a good "cleaning". When this occurs, you need to pull the cover, and thoroughly clean and grease the bearings. If not, you will ruin your bearings. Now, sucking water in is the key issue here. You have to know how to ride the deep water/mud to prevent sucking in the nasty fluid. I've ridden in rack deep water/mud more times than I can count, and have never slipped my belt, or drawn water in the housing. -well, I take that back-I did ONCE, when I died in the middle of the river, due to sucking water in the carbuerator. The 'Cat died immediately after being totally submersed-my head even went under water in this circumstance, sitting on top of the quad. The minute this happened and the quad died, water sucked in EVERYWHERE. A total tear down was necessary, as well as changing all fluids and filters, flushing properly several times to ensure no more water was in the system anywhere. On this occassion, I also pulled the tranny casing and cleaned the bearings, though did not oil them. To date, I still have not greased them, mostly because I forgot about it. I have over 1,200 on the 'Cat, and have had no problems with the bearings what so ever. The key to running in deep water or mud is to put it in low range, and keep on the gas. Give it enough throttle to pressurize the tranny, the exhaust gasses will prevent any water from entering, you will not have a problem. I've been through rack deep water/mud more times than I can count, and still not slipped a belt-with the exception noted above. I say no, you won't have to worry about the bearing unless you plan to submarine your quad consistantly, in which case, I'd be snorkeling everything anyway, so you still wouldn't have a problem.

Now to the good part. Yes, there is a tranny mod you can do on the auto's. The wording is a little "incorrect" here however-the belt is ALWAYS engaged. It does not engage at higher rpms, it just takes a higher rpm to get it going. Again, due to design, the belt is constantly engaged, always under tension, so the minute you hit the gas, it begins to turn. You can adjust the rate at which this occurs by doing this following tranny mod. I don't necessarily think the rpms drop at all with the mod, more so that the response time is dropped to zero-the minute you touch the gas, you're moving.

This is referred to as "Minehunters Tranny Trick", and I HIGHLY recommend this to anyone running an auto 'Cat who works their 'Cat or especially for running larger tires. I'm running 27" bi/tri claws under my 'Cat, and before the mod, my Dad's stock 'Cat could walk away from me in high range up hills. After doing the mod, I can actually increase speed in high range, and actually pull away from him-still in high range. With the 'Claws, and before the mod, if I crawled up to a large rock say-like the one in my "ride with GrizRick", entitled "more rocks"-the one with my right front tire way up in the air-anyway, before the mod, when approaching a rock like that in low range with the 'Claws, I'd have to give it gas, it would rev up, slowly increase in rpm's, then would start to crawl up the rock. It took a few seconds for this process to occur, like it was geared to high, you had to build rpms up to get it to crawl. With the mod done, crawling up to that rock, I put my left tire on it, gave it a tiny bit of gas in low range, and was on top of the rock before I knew it. It is almost like a gearing change has been done, as the response time is incredible now. In all honesty, after this latest ride with Rick, I got to put the machine through probably a total of 90 miles all together both days in some of the worst terrain you can find-I am damn glad for that mod, it has greatly improved the driveability of the 'Cat with the massive 'Claws. It takes climbing hills to a new level, and at a great ease at that. Not only that, but it makes turning the 'Claws easier for the machine, so less stress is placed on the engine/tranny.

If you are interested in this procedure, and you do end up with the new 'Cat, I would be glad to help you out with this process. I am very grateful to Minehunter for helping me out with his trick, it is definately an awesome mod that can be done pretty easily costing not a dime out of your pocket, but only a couple hours of your time using basic shop tools. Or, you can do a search a month or two back for topics listed under "minehunters tranny trick", and find more than enough info to answer your questions there about the mod.

Does that answer your first few questions OK? If you need anything else, just give me a hollar, I'd be glad to help however I can. The new choices for quads are trully impressive, and are definately a tough decision. With the work I do, I'd stick with the ACT suspension for myself, but if my dad were to upgrade, I'd highly recommend the new 500i to him, for ride comfort, and the huge clearance and suspension flex. AC has come a long way since it's introduction, I think they're definately a great machine produced by a great company with strong work performance in mind.

Best of Luck in the search,

mike

 

I am glad to hear that the 500 was more peppy and that it "blew the 375 out of the water". This is because I loved the 375 except for it's lack of peppiness and was hoping the 500 was better. Well, I guess I can rest assured! I am not too concearned about the top end.. I just want the quad to have decent pick up and have a serious fun factor! (which I know it already has!)
Thanks for the input

Newf

 

Having owned both, here is my opinion. If your into going downhill more then uphill, get the manual shift. There really is no comparison in the engine breaking department, the manual shift is far and away the better of the two. If you really like the jack rabbit fast take off, again the manual shift is better. However, that fast take off is short term, and in the end the auto will catch and pass the manual. Beyond that though, the auto is better in every other respect. It really shines in mud and hill climbing. Or just cruising down an open gravel road. You don't have to devote any conscious thought to what gear your in. No matter what, its always right!

Rick

 

Well, I don't know what you guys mean about the 375 not being peppy enough. I was riding a 2wd today and in low range it would lift the fronts at the blip of the throttle. The 375 revs alot higher than the 500 when you get on it from a start, and I'm betting that this is making you guys expect higher speeds because you are hearing higher noise levels. Another possiblity could be the fact that the 375 doesn't have the torque of the 500. Instead of pulling you back it just takes off and goes smoother.

Next time I have a 375 4x4 and 500 Auto ACT model outside I'll besure to do a drag race with them side by side.

As for manual vs auto. I personally preffer the manuals 10 fold over autos. They are nice and all, I just don't feel as much power on an auto as I do a manual transmission.