I rode an 800 with adc and really thought the system worked well. I normally use the hand brake to control my front wheels but with the adc it kicks in and frees up my hand to better control the atv in tricky downhill situations. But it only works in slow crawling decents, as soon as you touch the throttle it starts to kick out.
I had not seen much said about it and wondered what someone else thought of it.

 

It has worked great for me. A couple of weeks ago I was at Shiloh Ridge atv park and they have several steep hills and the ADC worked just as good if not better as my bf750 EBC works. No real wheel chatter nor breaking loose. It seems to calibrated with the front wheels in the right ratio.

 

As far as I am concerned it puts all others to shame. My Brute Force and Prarrie 650 were both touted to have great EBC. And honestly they were both great. But the ADC on the Sportsman puts them both to shame. I can actually go down steep hills without even touching the brakes. Sure is an added level of comfort as far as feeling in control.
Here is how it works.
Well after hearing several different versions of how the ADC works, I decided to go right to the source.
(That would be the 2007 Sportsman 450/500 EFI/500EFI X2 service manual)
Part Number 9920560

Operation
Engine Front Gearcase: Active Descent Control (ADC) is controlled by the ECU and will enable when only the following conditions are met:
* Vehicle is below 15 mph (24Kph)
* Throttle position sensor (TPS) is at idle position
* The AWD switch is switched to 'AWD'

Once the conditions are met for engagement, ADC remains engaged as long as conditions are met.
With the AWD switch off, the vehicle drives only the rear wheels (2 wheel drive). When the AWD switch is 'ON' the magnetic coils are active, the AWD coil indexes the clutch mechanism so that both front axles will engage when there is a loss of rear wheel traction. In addition to the rear wheel engine braking, the ADC coil provides front wheel engine braking at speeds less then 15 MPH (24Kph) with the TPS at idle position.

ADC Engagement:
When the AWD switch is activated, a 12 volt dc current is present at the input shaft coil(1). Operation is controlled by the ECU grounding and ungrounding the coil.The coils magnetic field attracts a splined armature plate (2) on the pinion (input) shaft. (4). The energised splined armature plate attracts the unsplined eccentric cam(3), which begins to turn with the input shaft. The eccentric cam drives a hydraulic piston/pump assembly (5). The pressure created by the pump assembly forces fluid through passages to the piston assemblies (6) located in each case half. Hydraulic pressure forces the piston assemblies inward to compress the splined clutch packs (7) forming a dynamic coupling to each front drive axle, resulting in true all-wheel EBS operationupon deceleration.

It does not operate the brakes.



Pretty simple stuff huh! This is why I work on railcars.

 

Great information Arkyrider. Just like you said above is why I like it.

 

I held off buying an X2 until the ADC was available and I'm glad I did. It works perfectly and will actually stop you on a steep hill without touching the brakes.

 

I wouldn't buy a new Polaris without it. I hate the old engine braking with a passion. With. A. Passion. The new ADC is great. Night and day difference. It's as good as anything else out there. It's nearly as good, if not as good as the engine braking on the Can-Am Outlander 800 which has outstanding engine braking. They're so close as to be a draw as far as engine braking goes. They're both fantastic.

I'm waiting for Polaris to get ADC on the rest of the 800 Sportsman line before I buy one. If I could have got a Sportsman in Green or camo with ADC I would have bought one already. I simply wouldn't have bought a new Polaris machine before due to the horrible and dangerous engine braking.

 

adc is a great confidence builder when facing a scarey decent.. on my 06 800 sportsman i (without adc) i have to continuesly crack the throttel on and off while hard on the breaks on this certain really long steep rocky decent in order to keep rear end sliding in check.. but on my 07 800 sportsman x2 can decend same hill and never touch breaks in fact i gotta give it some gas 3/4 of the way down hill or it will stop.... it works very well. i was quite impressed the 1st time i went down the hill that always made me sweat on my 800 w/o the adc.. no problem now.sometimes if im riding with another person and if we are on the trail with the scarey decent i insist they ride my x2 down the hill. otherwise i would feel responsible if they crashed because i took them that route. unless of course they are a very good rider then i dont offer to switch bikes

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: GuitarPicker

I held off buying an X2 until the ADC was available and I'm glad I did. It works perfectly and will actually stop you on a steep hill without touching the brakes.</end quote></div>

hey gp,how does it steer when you're in adc mode,going down a steep hil ??

 

No difference in steering that I have noticed.