Well.. the results are in at our clubs 2nd annual mud drags ....and the winner is.......
THE Xplorer 400... which took 4 ouy of the top 5 places!! It wasn't really close...the 2 strokes just made better power this day for this run..
The 2 Honda 450es...1 highly mod. finished even with the 500's..with just tire mod.... the 2nd Honda 450es with Goodyear Mudrunners got stuck in Heat race but did "ok" in open class...everyone does better 2nd time around!!
The defending champ in 400 class ...Kawi smoked his belt and couldn't finish
In general the Polaris's were fastest...but almost 2/3rds had belt noise..burning and slipping.
The 3 gr.(Yamahas) despite their cc atvantage were about even with the Hondas
1 cat did ok.. 3 others were Bad...mostly rider inexperence
Me with my 1/2 worn out stock Dunlooops didn't run...I did 'Tape 'the runs on ancient Vcr. for the club ,I"ll make copies for any one interested!
One tire note.. the 2 highly mod.Xplorers who took 1st and 2nd had Tall skinney Ag. tires ..and they knew MUD!!....2 OUT OF TOP 5 WINNERS WERE WOMEN!!
Most impressing Quad of the day was 2 new stock Susuki 500's...the owners tried the slow but steady approach and worked by several stuck Polaris 500 , Hondas and Yamahas...their 4 wheel drive system really seemed to pull steady and even.
Most dissapointing.. the Polaris 400 scrambler...which ran poorly in 2 wheel and 4 wheel class..I quess it wasn't meant for Mud.. but the owner had Fun trying and that's what COUNTS!!!
Any questions or comments ??...or want a copy of the tape , Let me KNOW...Bill

 

Bill, Your right the xplorer is an awsome mud machine. Mine will go though more with stock tires than my old sportsman would with muddrunners. BUT, you hit the nail on the head when you mentioned rider experence it makes all the differance in the world.

 

It's fun to see the Xplorer finally getting some recognition!

 

Depression is setting in. I wish I could have been there. It sounds like it was alot of fun.

Greg

 

Bill,

Good post. Congratulations to the unsung hero of the Polaris lineup, the explorer 400.

The event really sounded like fun!

Thats what this sport is all about.

 

I keep telling everyone that the Xplorer is superiour to the Sportsman in the mud,no one seems to listen.I own both quads with the same Mudrunner tires on both.The Xplorer is a better mudder.It makes more wheel speed and is 110 lbs lighter than the Sportsman.The Xplorer also seems to climb the worst hills somewhat better to.===Bill

 

bill
do u think that the the smaller ground clearance of the explore is any disadvantage compared to the sportsman. i know wheel spin does make a difference but so does clearance. i think a stock explorer 400 has about 38hp the new sp700 is sposta have near 50hp, hopefully it will have a ton a power to spin the wheels.

later
jon

 

Except for the sprocket that the Xplorer has in the rear end of it,the Sportsman has NO advantage in ground clearance over the Xplorer.In Mud,the sprocet on the Xplorer does not hamper it one bit.Maybe on a stiff log it could cause a problem,but not in mud.====Bill

 

Greg..I think our mud up north is looser than your rutted stuff down south. Ruts didn't seem to play much importance as you guys down south put it. Our mud this day was maybe 1-2 ft. deep and had a good 1-2 ft. of water on top .Most quads had Goo up to their gas tanks so good waterproffing was needed...We used a Polaris 6X6 TO PULL and winch everyone out...it was much fun watching people getting un-stuck
Try not to "overheat" down south !! We're at 60 degrees...Bill

 

The IRS helps it not to high-center as much in the really bad stuff, but in most mud with water in it, it's not a huge difference.

In my opinion, the Xplorer 400 does climb better than any Polaris, except the Scrambler 4/500 4x4.