The Sportsman 335 is underpowered for the weight of it. It's not even close to the performance of the 500 H.O.

 

We sold very,very few of these because of a lack of power. After a test ride most people just went on to the bigger machines and didn't give the 335 a second thought. Guess that's why they only made em for 2 years,1999 and 2000.

 

Why is that?

Had a 98 AC 300 4x2. Nice utility unit with dual range Suzuki engine/
trans. 10 speeds total. This is a tool; nothing sporty about it, IMO.
Kinda goofy Harley-style heel-toe foot shifter.

Just traded my 04 AC DVX400 last night for a damaged 04 AC 500 4x4.
The latter has semi-auto foot-shift tranny, tho auto trans was an option.
This should be easy to sell for about $3K when fixed. The 500 outweighs the DVX by 275 pounds!

I also had a first gen 98 Wolverine 350 4x4. Semi-auto foot-shifter. No
manual or auto tranny available back then. I don't know why Yam
calls this a "sport-utility"; seems like any other 4x4 utility to me.

 

Quick thoughts on a 2007 Honda Rancher AT? Thinking the electric shift would make up for no foot shift, (for me) and it's selectable 2/4wd. ITP Light tires - got 803 miles on it.

 

Cat makes tough quads, but they have a lot of suspension travel and don't generally put anti sway bars on them. That takes away from the sportier handling some of the other OEM tend to favor. It isn't necessarily a bad thing, as the articulation in the suspension is good in other areas, just depends on what you want to do with the machine.

 

Sure, I agree with what you say. At first, it looked like you were saying
to avoid AC quads for reason or reasons other than sportiness. Like
reliability or something else.

I noticed the newer Suzuki-based utilities from AC seemed to have
shortened the wheel base by at least 4 inches. That will make a
difference.

 

All Polaris 4x4s where selectable 2wd/AWD since the early they came out, My friends 1998 600 Grizzly had selectable 2wd/AWD.
All atvs spin both rear wheels because they are locked at all times. The fronts are limited slip where one wheel at a time gets power only.
Diff lock locks both front wheels at once like the rear drive (True 4wd) but the ATV is almost un-steerable and it is only used in tricky low traction tuff spots, then you put it back into 3wd or 2wd once clear of the spot so you can steer once more.

The AWD system of Polaris and Can-AM is a totally different system all together, its 2wd or AWD (No 3wd) the ATV decides on its own to lock the front or not if it senses wheel slip in the rear. Like a AWD car or truck.

 

An open front diff will do like you say, but not an LSD. The LSD used on
the front of 4x4 ATVs will put most of the torque on the wheel spinning
the slower of the 2. Steering would be pretty dicey with an open front
diff. Not quite as dicey as a fully locked front drive in a good traction
situation perhaps.

The only current quad that you can buy with a rear diff is the new Polaris
Sportsman 550 X2, AFAIK. The Kawasaki Bayou 300 production ended
in 04 I believe, and the old Yamaha ProHauler & TerraPro are long gone.

 

Indeed the new-for-1998 Grizzly 600 4x4 had electrically-disconnectable front
drive.

Anyone know of an earlier one?

 

That 2007 rancher at, if you can get it at the right price seems like the perfect fit for you. Lots of GC, 5 speed auto/ES, and it has 4wd. The rancher leads the 400-450 class for the most part, especially the AT.