I am just wondering if the Vinson 500 can hang with the bigger quads out in the trails and mud? I am planning on getting an 04 Grizzly later this year and my main riding buddy is planning on the Vinson 500 Limited. The biggest thing I see the Vinson lacking is a Locking front Diff.. How much would that affect it in the mud and trails compared to the Grizzly? Everything we hear about it so far, the Vinson is a great quad, just looking for some helpful info, we are pretty new to the big utilities. How does the handling compare between the 2??

 

Grizzly wins in the mud, top speed, and bottom end. The vinsion would probably be a little better on trails at high speeds(lower center of gravity). Personally, i think the grizzly is the best all around utility. Although they are all good, it's pretty much personal preferance.

 

They weigh about the same but stock for stock the Grizzly engine makes more power. The Grizzly has IRS and offers a more comfortable ride but the Vinson has better high speed handling manners (in fact I seem to recall a magazine article which rated it the sportiest of the utilities shortly after it was introduced, but this was before the introduction of the Rincon). I’d say if you put top riders on both, the Grizzly will eventually lose the Vinson on the trails, but if you put average riders on both, they will be even on the trails, or if anything the Vinson will have the edge do to its better handling characteristics. For slow, technical stuff the Grizzly’s IRS and diff lock will have an advantage. Same in the mud, the locking diff can help and the IRS provides more ground clearance.

I’ve taken an automatic Vinson out for a short ride once, and after getting off of my Grizzly it definitely felt underpowered to me plus the suspension was noticeably stiffer (however that stiffness accounts for its better high speed stability). If you prefer a manual transmission you can get a Vinson with this option, but the Grizzly comes in automatic form only…

 

accualy the smaller displacement vinson will beat a grizz in a dragrace. Iv done it a couple of different times with different grizzlies and different ridders. on the trials its no comparison the vinson out handels the grizz on every surface. the only place the vinson lacks is mud due to the solid rearend and non locking front end but it is still very capable. The vinson is also a better jumper and i personaly like my manual for pulling and hauling.

 

Thanks guys, I am actually starting to want a Vinson over the grizz for myself as well, maybe we will end up with 2 Vinsons!! Is the Vison engine only in the Vison and n new engine or was it from something else and adapted to the vinson???

 

the vinson engine and the manual tranny both proved themselves in the quad master that came out in 98 i think. They retunned it for the 02 vinson and then again 03 for the manual and now the auto for 04. The auto tranny was a first for 02 but it has proven to be very reliable and performs very well. The vinson is an amazing quad before you think about the money you can save. I had the money to buy any machine out there and bought the vinson because i thought it was the best there is.

 

In the Grizzly / Vinson drag mentioned above I would think the manual transmission of the Vinson was the deciding factor there. If you compare auto to auto the Grizzly is stronger but I would imagine rear wheel vs. engine horsepower ratio would be noticeably higher with the manual transmission version of the Vinson. Although the CVT will keep the engine revs in the meat of the powerband, more horsepower is lost in the transition. If you would prefer a manual transmission the choice is easy because between these two models only the Vinson has it. If you want the auto, then the choice is more complicated and you’d have to try them both to see which one suits you the best…

 

Good point 2TV, this is getting hard.... I am still just slightly considering a sport quad again too, but I think I would be better off most of the time with a utility...

 

If you can afford the Grizzly you can afford a Prairie 700. It has the locking front diff. and handles nearly as good as the Vinson with some new tires and front springs they really rock. I am buying springs and tires as soon as my tax money comes. I have already out ran many sport quads on my prairie as it is stock. So just one more thing to consider. Drove me crazy for several weeks while I was trying to decide which quad to buy. Finally the power of the V-Twin made up my mind.

 

What makes the Vinson handle better then the 700 kaw??? Lower CG?? I do like the Twin peaks which is just a kaw700 with suzuki plastic. Grizzly was at the top of my list, but i think I would rather go for a straight rear axle, how different is the ride?