I'm in the market for a new, bigger quad. I currently have a Kawi Prairie 300 4x4. Looking to upgrade to bigger,faster , better handling quad. Current usuage is 50% utility work, and 50% sport 4x4 riding in and around the Adirondack trails, lots of tight technical stuff, mud, hills and water crosses. Pretty much everything imaginable. I've narrowed the search down to the two Polaris', with the new Vinson and the Grizz being dark horses. What I'm looking for is opininions between the two Sp's, as to which one handles better, and steers better (my Kawi pushes to no end). Which one do you think would fit my needs. MSRP is only a $400 difference (one dealer quoted $6300 for the 500 HO and $7000 for the 700). Is the 700 worth the difference or is it too much machine, (or not enough???), or too big to handle some of the sport riding???

Bill

 

In the eyes of the sport/utility market, the Sportsman 700 is definately more utility, well, as far as weight goes. The Sportsman 500 is an awesome quad, but the weight is still an issue. What kind of work will you be doing while you're not riding???If you will need a good work quad as well as a good trail/mud quad, then the Sportsman is your game. It will take you pretty much anywere you want to go. The only decision, if you take that route, is 500 or 700. To answer that you need to ask yourself, do I need(or want) the extra power? Or would you rather save almost $1000, and get the Sp500 along with a winch and plow with the $$$ you saved. I am putting myself in your shoes, and it is a hard decision for me. Keep in mind, the Sp700 is king of the hill, having more power, better tires, and more features than the Sp500. Hmmmm...

Keep in mind the Kawisaki 650. V-twin power(and lots of it), I'd imagine it being an excellent worker, and is VERY sporty. Since it seems like you prefer independent rear susp.(IRS), the grizz is good to consider too. BUT, the Suzuki Vison, with its fully adjustable suspension, four-wheel disk brakes, light weight, sporty handling, and cool features can't be left out either.

Final thoughts:
You mention sport 4x4 riding, so if that includes rocks, mud, deep mud, and lots of it, I would stick to a quad with IRS. Then, narrow it down to one of the two Polaris'. Reason being, their true 4wd capabilities. The Grizz is eliminated (in my book) because of its speed limiter when locked in 4x4, which is, I think, able to be bypassed though. Then, ask yourself if you want all the power, or enough power. There you go. Good luck.

P.S. If the cashflow was here, I'd get the Sp700 over the SP500.

 

offrder15,

I have to correct you on the Vinson. There is only 3 disc brakes, 2 front and a single rear. But I did just trade my SP500 off for a Vinson and don't regret it one bit. I have also ridden a Prairie 650 and the Vinson is real close in acceleration. It turns on a dime and very easy. The 4x4 system works great as I found out tonight. I had one front wheel in the air and the other was still driving unlike many of the other 4x systems out there. One of my dislikes on the Prairie is having to pull a lever to lock the front differential. The Vinson is light and nimble enough to get you in or out of any place you dare to go. It has ergonomics close to those of a Honda which I feel are the best in the market. I doesn't quite have the ride of an IRS equipped machine, but in my case that's not an issue. I prefer the lighter weight. The Sportsmans outweigh the Vinson by 93 lbs and have more moving parts to maintain.

 

Also keep in mind features. The 700 comes standard with heavy-ply Rawhide tires, easily worth an extra $200. If you plan on doing alot of rock climbing, thin ply tires will be punctured and leaking before you know it. Now add in the rack extenders, about another $100 or so, and the price difference is even less. It is just a matter of if these options are useful to you, or just extras you will never utilize.

Also, for SPORT trail riding, I feel the Grizz may be a better choice, because of lighter weight, and quicker handling. However, for sport TRAIL riding, the Sportsmans are the comfort kings, as well as the ones to beat in severe off-road 4x4 contitions.

The Prarie twin is also intriguing, if you don't think you need IRS. Sporty, and good handling & acceleration.

The Vinson is just too new for me to have an opinion on it, but it looks good on paper.

For pure WORK, it is hard to beat the Sportsmans (unless you have a Traxter) with their weight, true 4x4, and the ability of the IRS to keep all 4 tires biting for traction. They also have good power. (weight + power + traction = pulling ability)

 

I had the SP 500 and now own the 700. The 500 at slow speeds rides better than the 700. The 700 at fast speeds is so smooth its kinda scary.........I ran an 500 HO in a quarter miles race. Right off the line I cleaned his clock pretty well............I buried the speedo got somewhere close to 70. The 700 steers much better and quicker than the 500 that's because the way they lock the 4 wheel drive is different on the 700. I went for a ride on a real rough trail on Sunday and left 2 HO's way behind. I stopped and asked them why are they taking their time.......they both responded.......this trail is too rough to go too fast........I didnt hardly feel any bumps and I was doing 40 or so miles per hour............damn........also the suspension is so good that if you hit a deep hole with one tire, on the 500 it would pose a problem.......on my first encounter with one of these on the 700, I honest to god didnt even feel it..........I am impressed with this 700.......Oh by the way the HO is an awesome quad too.............I want to buy another one for my son..............

 

LEP7MM,

My bad. I didn't mean 4 disks, just the fact that it has disk brakes all around...no drums in other words.

 

gteh vinson would be the best of your selections for tight nimble stuff, and it will handle the nice, and it has sport suspension and a very good, one of the best 500 motors out there easily, id dare to say better than the 500 ho, but as every one said comfort goes to the sp's along with lockied 4x4, but if youve been gettign around fine on your 300, i think your love the vinson

 

I just got the MSO for my Vinson and it shows on there that the Vinson has 32.4 hp. Compare that to the others that you are looking at. One other thing to consider is how much of that is actually getting to the rear wheels. There is a post in another thread that shows the Sportsmans getting only 19 rear wheel hp. But I believe that was a pre-ho model. add the 20% just for kicks that the HO added at the crank and you're at 22.8 rear wheel hp. Not that far off from the Vinson in my opinion. Plus the Vinson is 93 lbs lighter. In the 30 miles I have put on the Vinson in the last couple days, I can tell that it is a very light feeling and nimble machine that would more than suit your needs.

 

i totaly agree with him, i wish the scrambler was more nible id be havign a ball, but as far as 4x4's go (with 2wd capability) i think the scram is one of the lightest handling, but definitly vinson for anything nimble, technicle, ect.

 

Thanks for the info. I had a chance to ride a Grizz the other day and was very impressed. I hope to ride the Sp's at my local Polaris dealer this weekend. It looks as though I'm leaning towards the 700, but I'd like to track a Vinson down before it's all said and done. The Grizz is still in the running, (IRS is a big issue for me) and it may come down to those two.

Bill