Looking for some advice or input.

I currently have a 2000 Arctic Cat 500. I have never had any issues with it (except a slight fuel leak at that stupid plunger)
My girlfriend has a 300 AC and wanted to upgrade as she felt like she could not keep up. She just bought a Polaris Xpedition 425.
All 3 are utility style
I rode that thing it was way faster and way more fun than my 500
I know the Xpedition quads are harder to find as they only made them for 2 years.
Is my quad slower because its full time 4wd? It feels like a bit of a tank.
I only want a manual trans and those are becoming harder to get as well unless I go older.
Could I just need to do something to speed up my 500?
Besides the Polaris or Arctic Cat, is there another good option? I am a little bit bigger of a guy and I like the size of the AC and Polaris.
Other brands "seem" a little small, but I am in the market looking.

Thanks for any input

 

If it were me i would step up to a can am 500 or 570 depending on the year... Polaris has had frame issues over the years where the machine splits in 2. Your better off going with something a little newer and auto.. Parts for the older machines is getting hard to find and you don't want to invest in another machine have it break and cant find parts for it or pay huge $$ for the part.. As far as i know for the manual trans machines the only way to get them faster is a gear change since their is no clutching like the newer machines to adjust.. I went can am a few years ago from my Cat and im more than happy with it. If i would have purchased the can am when i purchased the cat i would have saved money since i would not have gotten another machine.. The cat was great, light, and reliable, but just underpowered especially when trying to ride in snow and i tend to do allot of that...