Went out riding this winter. I had the XP with 26" bighorns, another guy had a 08 800HO with 26" bighorns. Only thing he had more than me was a rear cargo box and 3 gallons of fuel in containers. He was dumping in fuel and I had a half a tank still.

My dad also drives a 08 800HO and the experience is the same with his. His is stock.

 

Nice Roofer. That must have made you smile. Would not have imagined that scenario.

 

IMO if you have ridden the 850 and like the power it has..then save for the 850.. In other words if power impresses you and you have felt what the 850 has you will outgrow the 550 pretty quickly.
The 850 without a doubt has a lower fuel consumption rate than the 800 Sportsman. Maybe it is the more efficient driveline

 

LOL, ya right!

 

You ask if the 550 is as smooth as the 850. If you mean smooth ride .... I think they are the same and should be. If you mean at idle in the driveway ..... after a thread about "shake, rattle and role" from a 550 I paid attention yesterday ..... I start the 550, yes the handle bars had a very slight shake you could see, very minimal though which is what I said last week. Once warm it is barely noticeable... and when driving it which is what should matter it is unnoticeable. In comparison when I fired the 850 there was near zero vibration and could not see any in the handlebars. My vote on this is non issue, if you don't like the slight vibration under idle then go for a ride! lol

In regards to 850 vs 550 smooth power the 850 is in a different class. However Like HO says power is very rider specific. Coming from a motorcycle and auto racing background I am big on HP. I love the way WOT feel on that 850..... going to down the trail you blip that throttle and it feels awesome. On the 550 I go WOT and as expected it moves ok but not with the exhilaration of the 850. One could ask the question should a full size ATV have that kind of performance. My answer is yes for us HP guys can really enjoy it. But many folks I am sure would find it overkill and have NO desire to have that kind of HP. If you are a high HP type guy and you bought a 550 and then drive an 850 I know if it were me I would start the plans to get to 850. Moral of the story ... it is strictly preference and one is not better than the other it is simply two different options. Hopefully it does not come down to a money decision, if it does I would wait until I could make the right choice for me.

 

Well first ruggo thank you for that well put reply As i said i rode the 850 in a slow area so i never got it above i wld say 15, and the fact that he was still in the "break in stage" I cld not give it he** So when i say smooth I cant put it into words what i felt, kinda effortless to get it 2 move and so smooth! As for the pure adrenaline factor lol I am that guy! But i am also an aggresive rider, so having so much power on tap cld be a bad combo for me LMAO!

 

What kind of mileage are you getting with your machine? The best I've gotten was 65 miles per tank, but this was on my third ride that I did with the ATV, and maybe its still breaking in.

I now have just shy under 150 miles, and I'm waiting for the weather to break here to see how it does, because it should be broken in by now.

 

That power steering on a mid sized XP550 better be one awsome "need it or die feature", because the KQ750 and SP800 without power steering cost less. Even the Kq 750 with power steering,is only $500 more.

http://www.powersportsnetwork.com/en...=101353&go2=Go

Hard to get 10hp more for $500 when hopping up a engine.

 

IMO you are not comparing apples to apples. The match up to the KQ750 and SP800 is the XP850 not the mid size 550. For me it was an easy decision for the XP (850). I wanted a mid size for my wife so again the 550XP also was an easy choice as I did not want the additional power of the larger quads so the dollar per/hp made no difference.

 

id glady pay $500 for an extra 10hp.