I have been very impressed with my Rubicon CTE ever since I bought it, but really wanted an opportunity to see how it truly measures up against the rest of the 500's. I entered it into the local 200ft. mud drags yesterday and as I suspected it compares quite well with other 500's, atleast in a 200ft. drag race. There was only 5 quads in the 500 class....3 Sportsman 500ho's, 1 AC500, and me. You got 2 passes against the same guy, switching lanes for the second pass and it was total combined time for 2 runs.
I lined up against a 500ho and tried to pick what looked to be a good line. I had went to the track early that morning to inspect it and determined not to run my 26"mudlites. I went there with stock tires because I didn't think traction was going to be too tough to obtain even with stock tires and I know I have atleast 5-10% more speed with the smaller tires. It was basically a wet dirt track with a tiny bit of sloppy mud (about 2") at the starting line. I figured even with stock tires, being in 4wd it should hook up pretty well....I was right. I had also softened my shocks fully and reduced tires to 3 psi, which I though might help transfer power a bit better and improve traction with the stock tire. I also adjusted my throttle cable so there was no slack whatsoever, and response was absolutely instant and crisp.
I was just a tad nervous but when the light turned green my reaction time was excellent. My launch was awsome so I peeked over and I had him by 5-6 lengths immediately. I kept pullin on him and it was a spank job....at the end of the 200ft. a had to be atleast 12-15 lengths ahead. We came back around to switch lanes and do it again. Same Result! my total time was 10.77 seconds total combined time for 2 runs. we were the last pair to go in the 500 class, so I checked the times of the other 3, knowing that none of them looked as fast as me. The next closest guy was also a 500ho. and his time was 12.01. Those guys got OWNED buy a "Honda's are slow" CTE.
So now I am feeling pretty cocky and decide to try my luck against the next class up, the 650's. I lined up against a girl on a new Kawi BF 650. There was 7 quads in this class, so they were happy I joined in to make 8. By this time my machine hadn't even gotten a chance to cool down and I had to go right away again. We took off and she immediately took what looked like 2 lengths on me, but I hung right there. At the end she still only had me by 2 lengths. Next race against her I did not hook up well nor get a good launch. She took 3 lengths on me, but again I kept right there to the end. She probably only weighed about 110lbs. so she had a 90lbs. advantage on me and her machine was nice and cool when we started. I thought I did pretty we against that 650, but my total combined time this run was 11.22, so infact if I had run 10.77 again I would have been even closer to her. Also infact, my time of 11.22 was faster than 2 of the quads in that 650 class. Both of the Grizzly's, but they did seem like something wasn't working real well on either of them.
I think the adjustments I made were beneficial, but I really beleive that Hondamatic tranny is awesome. My machine was bone stock and really impressed the hell out of the guys in the 650 class. The guys on the 500ho's were not impreesed with themselves...they kept looking at my machine closely and I almost think they may have thought I was driving a Rincon....they were pissed. Just for the record the BomB 800's were running an average of 8.4 seconds for 2 passes and nothin touched them. There was no 400 outy's or 450 Kodiaks within a second of my time either, so I definately do not beleive the B.S myth that those outy 400's will take a new Rube in a drag. Hope you like my story.

 

yeah right

D1 or D2? Low or High?

Nice story, but I still don't believe you.

 

It doesn't bother me one bit if you don't beleive me!
D1 high range.
Propnut, I'm sure if you were there your 04 would have beaten them in that type of sprint as well. I've ran against another 04 rube before and he was much closer to me than them. I think those Polaris' had a real delay with there belt or something right off the line. The Hondamatic tranny just seemed to launch instantly and the 500ho could never recover.

 

Congrats Pete, I love reading about drags and such. Where was this at? Do you have any links or pictures?

I do believe you though, sounds like you knew what you were doing and the driver makes the biggest difference IMO.

 

Catterman- Thanks
This took place near home. It was a local guy that runs on the mud drag circuit who put this thing on and it was his first one. Apparently he is hosting another in September. I knew some of the guys there in trucks, but the only local guys I knew with quads were running the 800 Bombs, all of the other quads were not local except me. It was my young lad's birthday and my wife was busy running after him while I was competing in this thing so unfortunately we didn't even think to bring the camera. I do think you are right about the driver. I did put a fair bit of thought and preparation into it, which probably made a big difference. Some guys obviously didn't care as two of the Kodiak 450's still had the big seat on the back of them. I guess I still have not grown out of the competative nature.

 

This doesn't surprise one little bit. I took a CTE out about 3 months ago for a test ride and the first thing I noticed was the acceleration. I think that over 200 ft, with that kind of acceleration, very few could touch it in the 500 class.

Question??? When you went from mudlites to stock, did you find a major power increase? I'm plainning to buy and I want to change the stocktires for 26" mud tires. Good Idea or no?

 

harmless sarcasm, figured I would save all the non-believers the trouble of denying your little victory. How did it do that without a locker? No ground clearance? Stock tires?!

it's just not possible[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

Must have been the superior rider

 

Kmdad: I suggest this because it's what I did and has worked well for me. It will cost you a little more but, buy the quad with the stock tires left on it. Buy a set of mudders mounted on some decent lightweight rims to go with it. Do not get them to swap the stock tires for mudders and pay the difference. This is what my dealer wanted me to do, and he was going to keep the stock tires. This way I now have 2 sets of tires mounted wheels that I can swap back and forth in about 15-20 minutes....piece of cake. I mostly run the stock tires and selectively switch to the mudlites when I think I'll need them ie. moose hunting etc. The stock tires are fine for most of my everyday usage and this way I am not increasing any excessive wear on my CV joints, etc. You will notice a slight loss in overall performance and a definate loss in shear quickness with the bigger tire. With the bigger tires the power will still seem strong for work and pulling, and the quad generally feels tougher when the goin gets tough. The plushness of the ride is also not as good with the big tires, but if you soften suspension and run about 4psi it's still okay! That's my overall assesment...hope it helps

 

Propnut: You did not read my story thoroughly! this was NOT a mud bog. It was a 200ft. sprint on a dirt track that was wet from the rain the night before. It was a tad sloppy at the start line, that's it!. 2wd quads could probably have done okay but not as good as 4wd. You obviously are misunderstanding what took place. This had nothing to do with ground clearance, lockers, blah blah....here we go again. It was also clearly evident that the quads with stock tires performed best, as each class winner was wearing stocks. Kmdad certainly understands it! As I said, I can care less if guys don't beleive me, but I sure slept good last night and I will continue to do so.

 

you're taking me too seriously here