I have had both Banshee and Zilla. They are the fastest, most exciting atv's on the planet. If I had to pick the more reliable of the two, I would say Banshee. Why? Compression and power to the ground. The zilla has tons more comression than a banshee and this makes it more prone to blown gaskets, head studs and cylinder cracks. Try kickstarting a zilla and then go start the 'shee and you will 'feel' what I mean! Also the zilla gets more power to the ground and this puts strain on the drivetrain (clutches,sprockets,tranny, etc). The 'shee builds power at higher RPM and you get more wheel spin. I thought the banshee was the king until I rode a zilla!

I personally like to ride the zilla because it makes raw power everywhere in the rpm range, but if maintenance was top priority, I would have to give the nod to the banshee. Also you can buy a newer banshee but any quadzilla on earth is at least 11 years old.

I love both of these machines. But for the most POWER, go for the LT500
For the more RELIABLE of the two, go for BANSHEE.
Addict

 

I agree with Addictedtomud in every respect except one. His take on the compression issue is incorrect. A stock Banshee actually has more compression than a stock LT500. The thing to keep in mind is that compression is measured in pounds per square inch and is a pressure. The extra effort (force) required to kick over a Quadzilla is due to the additional square inches that the force is acting on. With the Banshee, you are only kicking over 175cc's at a time (only one of the cylinders is on the compression stroke at any one time) which is far less volume than the 'Zilla's 500cc's. You can easily verify the relative compression of each quad with a simple compression tester. You will find that the reading from the 'shee is about 5-10 psi more that the Zuke. Bottom line: the LT500 has more total force inside the cylinder not more pressure (compression).

 

i was thinkin about getting an 89 zilla,
it looks to be in good condition and is mod'd to the bone,
i might buy it over a mod'd scrambler 400 i am going to get for 3400 if the guy with the zilla will go just as cheap or cheaper,
there are a few plaves to open it up, gravel service road, fire road, a GIANT track in the woods with jumps, and hill shoots and runs,
but to get to these places are semi-rough tails, to very rough trails with steep hills, up and down, lots of rocks,
not to much mud, but enough, and lots of water puddles, not to deep,
i want to know if the zilla can handle this?
i know it requires a good amount of low end, and some decent clearance/traction
?