My Outlander is a decent all around quad. A friend has the 2004 sp 500. I rode it today. I really like that machine. It steers much easier. It rides a bit more plush.
The handling of the Outlander is more nimble for several reasons. I like the 4x4 system on the polaris.
I don't like the Badlands tires at all. Not enough traction and too much sidewall flex even at 8lbs of pressure. The clutching on the sp500 makes the power come on fast. The outlander clutching brings on the power gradually.

The sportsman 500 has plenty of power. This comes from the former owner of a p650.

I almost bought the sp500 instead of the outlander.

They are not similar machines at all though. They are completely different. The Outlander is more sporty. The ground clearance on the Outlander is decent. On the sp500 it's much higher.

 

You really can't go wrong with either machine, but I believe that the SP500 HO would be the better choice. The SP500 has been one of polaris's bread and butter machines since 1996 and it is a very good quad. The outlander 400 is probably a good quad to, although I have never ridden one, but I can't get used to the seat with the gap between the legs. If I am decending down a steep hill, I like using the gas tank area for holding me on so I don't slide foward and on a bombardiea, you can't do that.

 

for those that have the outlander and are happy with it, good for you. I guess saying that the Bombs are all ugly could be construed as personal opinion, so thats probably not a good point. I figured the reason they arent catching on around here is because they are expensive (and ugly), but I never thought of comparing them to a Sportsman. Come on, lets stick to apples to apples and oranges to oranges. If the agility and light weight is an issue, then compare it to a Breeze or something, not the known heavyweight. and wouldnt the Traxter or whatever its called be a more appropriate comparison? For cryin' out loud, my 3500 dually is heavier and less agile than an S-10 Xtreme, but I wouldnt trade it. Nor would I compare them. There are a ton of Bomb dealers around, but on the trails they are pretty scarce. This is Polaris country. There are Grizzlies and Prairies around, and Arctic Cat seems to be growing in popularity, but still only see one Bomb for every hundred machines. I drove one and was impressed with the motor, but that was it. I prefer to have people look at my ride and say "wow, that thing is huge!", rather than "wow, that thing is ugly!" whoops, there I go with that ugly thing again...sorry.
And they're kind of small, aren't they?

 

This is comparing apples to apples.

The outlander may only be a 400cc machine, but it's very comparable in power and speed to most 500's. It's more powerfull than any 400 and most 500's.

If you think it's ugly, that's fine. If I owned a polaris, that's about the only argument I could make too. I guess polaris owners have a lot of time to bash other atvs, what else are you going to do while it's in the shop getting fixed, again.

 

I rode with an Outlander for a while last weekend, it seemed quite decently agile and quick. I was fairly impressed with that. However, it had the worst two package I've seen.

 

sorry Ole1 you have this all backwards, my friends owns a bomb 400HO and that has been in the shop constantly and dont say he must have had a bad one becuase josh owns a 330 and thats been in the shop 3 or 4 times already only owning it a year now. thats the only 2 bombs i ride with and they both are in the shop constantly. now for the expensive part i think its terrible what you pay for those things i can get my polaris 500HO for cheaper and of the 2 that i have owned both have never seen the shop, not even for belt issues. i know my 500 weighs alot more i can still smoke a 400 bombardier. so ill stick with my polaris you can have your bomb were both happy so dont tear down on our polaris's.

 

I dont think the Outlander necessarily has "more power" than other 400s and some 500s. I think what it has is probably a comparable power to weight ratio, and it weighs a good bit less. And I still dont think it is in the 500 ho class, is it?

 

my brother in law has a 2004 outlander 400 and has alittle over 100 miles on it. he has had nothing but problems with it. first he touched a tree going about 2 mph and crumbled the front bumper. it leaks oil. he took it to several dealers and they said that was normal.(lol) then the left front strut or shock broke. and believe me he babies this thing. finally he found a dealer that is fixing the oil leak and the shock under warranty, but it was like pulling teeth. other than that it does have a nice smooth ride (before the shock broke) i dont know about the power compared to the 500. all i have to compare it to is the vforce and the scrambler. i guess he might have just got the one bad one out of the bunch, but i would never buy one after all the trouble he has had. jmo

 

That looks like my dog, is that an American Bulldog?

 

no, she is an white english bulldog. a little different then an english bulldog. a little less bow in the legs and alot less health problems. she only stands about 18 inches tall. so she is a little shorter than an american bulldog.