I think the speedo must be changed to suit the rest of the quad, better mud protection, more aggressive tires and the most important thing they missed, a LOCKER! I hate it when I three wheel, it happens to me almost every trip. The above mentioned changes would make Arctic Cat's models that much better and would get even more sales. Arctic Cat is turning into a Honda, they don't listen to what people want.

 

Filthyhabit; you are right it's to bad Cat didn't add a locker but for all the rest of the line it's very good, I really like the new 375I manual. As for your Honda bud laughing at the speedo, maybe you should walk over to his Honda & PRAISE his lack of diff lock, single range tranny, solid rear axle WITH 5-6" of sus travel, no gear indicator, ridiculous reverse selector, no start in gear, ahh but he's got a shinny speedo pod big deal he can keep it!!! My Cats pod gives me mileage just fine, electronics f--k up.

 

Look, here's the situation with the locker argument. Take for example a Prairie 650 (not picking on Kawi, just using as an example.) It advertises x amount of suspension trave in the rear. It also has a front locker (quite an innovative one, at that). There is a great need for a locker here because the rear suspension is a swingarm. It only moves x inches as a complete unit. There is no articulation. In other words, when the left rear goes up, so does the right. There's no twist. On the ACT, it works like a Jeep Wrangler. There is twist, or true articulation. Why is that important? It keeps front wheels on the ground, expecially when the high travel of the front suspension is considered. The machines that can keep the most wheels on the ground have more traction, therefore, less need for a locker. On the same terrain, the AC will keep better wheel contact with the ground than the Prairie. In case they both did get a front wheel into the air, the Prairie would certainly have an advantage.

I was rock crawling and hill climbing the other day with a Prairie 650, and there was no place he could go that I couldn't. In fact, I got over a log that he couldn't get over without the help of my winch. When plowing through deep mud, he had to engage the locker to keep going. I went through the same mud, and the limited slip front diff worked fine. Power was going to both front wheels. It wasn't losing much to the one doing more spinning.

Having said that, would a locker be nice? Certainly. Would it make a huge difference? I'm betting it wouldn't be a huge advantage. I have had to try real hard to get into a situation where my AC couldn't get the power to the ground enough to shove through. That was more due to being high-centered than anything else, so I'm not sure the locker would have helped. Also, show me a machine that wouldn't get high centered where my AC would. The two I can think of off hand are both made by AC and end in an "i". I don't know much about the Griz, but I have winched a 500 H.O. out of a mudhole that I had just crawled through. I'd bet the Polaris 700 might have an advantage, but it would cost much more.

I've got years of off road experience in Jeeps with open diffs, and some with lockers. I went for the ATV that best kept its wheels down (and that I could afford.) AC seems to know something about this.

 

I three wheel all the time on my 500i. When the tires are straight they will both pull most of the time. When they are turned your out of luck, the quad three wheels. When you cross a mud hole your not always going to be driving straight your going to turn too, when you do turn your going to get stuck. This has happened many many many times to me, on my 500i, my old Quadrunner and King Quad. Trucks do the same thing.

Just because the Cats have great articulation doesn't mean we don't need a locker. I don't doubt you can go the same places others can with lockers, but its when you turn those tires, thats when it all falls apart.

So a locker is required for people who find themselves in these situations. You being new to ATV's might not go places that require a locker, yet. You will someday and you will see the light. People like me, need a locker, I push the limits of my quads, I take them into the deepest mud holes just to see if I can make it through. I broke my 500i because I was playing in the mud holes to much. I have 15 years of ATV experience, so I know what I'm talking about, most of the time.

 

sxr6 my honda buddies have a 450 es and the other one has a rubicon they both have gear indacators on their lcd display plus many other gauges as for the ruby hes got low range auto, high range auto, and if he choose push button manual shifting As for electronics reliability its not an issue they have both swamped theres just as i have in 4-6 feet of water at least a dozen times each and they both have perfectly flawless working gauges By the way I do not want a Honda Im just replying to your comments

 

Electronics don't always fail, but if they do it is costly. I heard of a polaris owner whose electronic speedo broke causing his 2-4wd selector to fail as well because it was all on one circuit. I don't need cosmetics on my quad - I just want to know what gear I'm in and how fast and far I've gone. As for Honda owners laughing at a Cat owner... just point to their prehistoric drum brake system and see who's laughing now!
As for a locker, its like an auto quad - not everyone needs one and not everyone wants to pay for one. That doesn't mean it shouldn't be offered. I agree Arctic Cat should have a model with a locking differential because many riders value that technology. Don't be surprised if AC hasn't released everything yet. Remember what Polaris did with the 700 last year.

 

Ice:

I have to agree with you....I believe Suzuki/Arctic Cat will have something by late August to jump into the big bore fray.... Look for that Kawi motor to show up in the Suzuki and Cat chassis...just my thoughts anyway!

Slugger

 

Arctic Cat won't get the big bore at the same time or before Suzuki. It would hurt Suzuki's sales. It will be a 2004 early model I would say, the Arctic Cat one. Suzuki's will come out this fall.

 

well a late relaese or a second batch of releases is what im hoping for well just have to wait and see but for now they arent building one that im willing to trade in for

 

I have to say I am disappointed. With all the stuff they've got on their sleds, I figured their sport quad would be closer to Cannondale's. But I think the biggest disappointment is no locker.