Not exactly a fair race. The Outlander looked like it was brand new against probably a 10 year old Sportsman 600 that was down on power in comparison. Not sure what the displacement of the Can-Am was, guessing it was a 650. Of course the Can-Am was going to win and win by a lot. Swap out the Polaris for a new Sportsman 570 and it would be very close. I'd love to see a Sportsman 1000 against an Outlander 1000. That would be the ultimate big-bore showdown. I think it would be a very close race.

 

Can-Ams are generally lighter and have more power per cc than Polaris. The only exception I know of is that the Polaris 1000 had one more horsepower than the Can-Am 1000 the last time I checked. I think the Can-am is a lot lighter so it should win every time.

A lot depends on the rider too. I once saw 2 brothers who had a Sportsman 400 2-stroke and a Sportsman 500 4-stroke. When I asked which one was faster they both told me it depended on who was riding them. One brother was always faster whether he was on the 400 or the 500.

 

can-am 500 and polaris 600. It was playful race Do not take seriously... but polaris driver knew the track

 

Great video work with the drone.

 

The Sportsman 600 twin had a lot more torque than the Sportsman 500 H.O. but not much more power. Since the 600 has less power than you'd think, it and the Can-Am 500 were close to evenly matched IMO.

 

I saw the Can-Am had power steering, I'm sure that helped the rider push it a little harder. Handling was probably noticeably better on the much newer Can-Am as well.