I own an 02' Raptor and it can rip up the trails well. It's true that it can be a bit top heavy at times and the suspension isn't the best, but look at Sheldon Riggs, hes hitting 75 foot gaps with the stock shocks on his raptor. There is no substitute for reverse, its awesome, especially if you're going to be mudding. I don't know if I would consider buying a quad without reverse unless I was only doing freestyle, racing or I liked getting off my quad lifting it up and being incovenienced. I haven't seen a pred. in action but I would choose the Raptor.

 

I would go for the pred all the way,only if you dont mind for not having reverse.
Its way more stable,doesnt wheelies like a raptor,the handling is not even comparable,and i personaly prefer more the pred high revving power.
No crappy axles. Both or my friends that have raptor have bent axles and rims.Every pred i saw the axles were laser straight and the douglas rims were straight, and were jumping the same jump as the rappys.
Im not bashing on the rappy , its a great bike , but for the same price, u get ALOT better handling, alot more stable quad, better tires ,rims axles. You should take a look at the new 450, their quite expensive tho.
Oh and for thos who say the rappy is faster then the pred, ive been racing my friends slightly modded rappys, with a stock pred and 90% of the time the pred had 2-5 lenghts in front and ive seen other pred and rappys racing with same results.

 

oh and alll the little bugs in the 04 have been corrected on the 04

 

i meant the bugs in the 03 has been corrected in the 04

 

live4quads, You must have been racing bad drivers. Cause I've raced a stock predator w/ my stock raptor and I beat him by 2-3 quad lengths. I had him off the line and throughout the whole drag.

 

It may be the driver but they have all more expirience then me with theirs quads

 

Oh here we go on who's faster. Back to the original question. When you consider a quad that's two years newer in technology, that can be huge. Heck, just look at the advancements of the new 450 Yamahas and Hondas.
When comparing the Raptor and the Predator, they are both very close power wise. There aren't a lot of Predator mods out yet, but come this next spring, that will change. The Raptor has a very comfy seat for trail riding. The Rap's tires are also very impact absorbing.

The Predator comes with a stock chromoly axle (that's what the aftermarket units are made of). Stainless braided brakelines. Composite skidplate....same as the aftermarket Durablue. After a season of harescrambles it still looks new. The Pro steering not only virtually eliminates bumpsteer, but it also does a heck of a job reducing feedback to the bars when you hit something. If you want to mod the motor, the Predator only has one carb to mess with, while the Rap has two. The suspension travel on the Predator is also one of the best. For 04, the trans has been smoothened out. The swingarm has been shortened, lofts front easier. The rear hubs have been standardized. The frame issues have been addressed also. Also the shocks where softened. Lot's of bang for the buck, when my local dealer is selling them for $4999.
Take them both for a spin, and take some time to study them at the dealer.

 

Thanks a lot modquad, lots of helpful info in your post....

 

Anyone else?????????

 

Hey Trailrider. I am in Ohio and we got that pretty bad snowstorm Friday. The wife ditched my car and did about 4 grand in damage. If insurance does not cover it I may have to sell my quad (04 Blue Raptor). It only has about 7 hours and has been cleaned after every ride. I am not sure what is going to happen yet and won't know until we get an adjuster to look at the car, but if you're interested let me know.