I'm looking at either a 400i or 500i, and just wanted some opinions. I am impressed with the 500's power, but is the 400 comparable? It costs $1000 cdn less for the 400. Awesome ground clearance on both, more so on the 400.

Not that I'm a fan of them, but is the 400 available with an automatic?

Cheers

 

peiscooter
Both machines are great and you can't go wrong with either one. I've ridden a 500i auto, and a 400i. The only thing that I didn't care for was having to shift the 400i, it’s only offered as a 5 speed. The 400 is actually a 371cc engine (the 375 is actually a 376cc [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/img] the new motor in model) so it won't offer the same response of the 500 (498cc). It all boils down to what you'd like better. Personally I wouldn’t worry about the engine difference unless I was going to put on larger, more aggressive tires.

 

I've never rode a 400i before but I can tell you that I am more that happy with my 500i. Tough decision, but if you can wait, save up so that money is not so much of an issue. You may even want to wait until the 2003s come out. Good luck on your decision.

 

I love my 400i, but I think sometimes I should have gone with the bigger engine....

 

I traded in my 400i because of it's lack of power... if you are an agressive rider that is going to put larger tires on the bike, then the 500 is where it is at.

 

go with a 500i , I got a 400i the only differance is the engine , I have a 400i , wish id got a 500 now , go with a 500 please ,


chunky

 

The 400i should have the power to turn big tires, but you will need to use low range allot. Heck I even have to use low range allot of the time if I want to get some wheel spin happening. The 500i won't solve all those power needs but it will be better than the 400i. With stock tires the 500i is an animal, add big tires and the animal is very tame. (spelling?)

 

the 400 will do the job of a500 but you have to gear it down 1 notch or 2 igot a500 and would go with out it. its a tree puller mine looks like the smaller virson of a skidderd.

 

I have a 400, wish I had the 500. I like to clime long, steep hills, and some are too steep for 1st gear because your going too slow and the tires just spin, and 2nd doesn't have the power to get up and you come down backwards (near death experience on a 700 pound quad!) This is where the auto would come in handy too, but I'm a fan of manual shift. 2nd gear of low range is between 1st and 2nd of high range, but once you clear the hill you want to tear on down the trail, and you gotta reach back down again to flip back into high, so that kinda blows too. The 500 would solve all my issues...

 

I have the 400 ACT 4x4 and I'm pretty happy with the power. With the high/low range you can gear to what you need. I admit I could have used a bit more power from time to time but couldn't we all. I have ridden with a few Polaris 700's and kept up just fine. I never even considered a 500 because of price and fuel mileage. Just my 2 cents.