The price difference isn't that great if you get the Polaris with Active Decent Control - $9,100. The Polaris going down a steep hill without it is dangerous. Ka-chunk, Ka-chunk, Ka-chunk. And the back end wants to come around. Do not make your decision until you ride the Polaris up and down some steep hills, then if that's the machine you want, go for it. As for the Outty, don't get the XT and reduce your price even more. Buy a Gorilla winch (I've got one and have had NO problems - check other threads for this). Less than $150. Want to save even more, get the Outty 650 V-twin EFI. You don't have to go high end on the skids either. There are nice plastic ones for <$150. Yeah, they should be on the machine, but you are talking money here. I don't have skids on mine and ride rocks (don't bang the machine) and inspect after every ride. No problems. And make no mistake. The Polaris AWD system is not better than any direct connect 4x4 system. I acknowledge that MOST 4x4 systems are really 4x3, unless they have a locking front axle. Polaris has a flat black paint that should be excellent. My friend's is the bright black and within 200 miles it looked like it was 10 years old. You can't hide scratch one on a black machine. Look nice new though.

 

Well he explained it like this, which makes sense to me. He said he sells them both and tells it like he sees it. He said when ridding the Can Am he would start up a steep slippery embankment and get into some ruts. He said one wheel was off the ground the other was planted. He said it took several turns and the visco would then send/transfer the power to the other wheel and it would start to pull out. But then he said however after he started to move it would think you didn't need it anymore and disengage the wheel again and he would slide back and have to start all over. He said with the Polaris AWD it would send all the torque to both front wheels as soon as the rear slipped 1/5 and would just go right on.

I would imagine it would be harder to steer however with both fronts locked but you would have better traction, IMO I don't see how you could get any better traction than that. The Grizz 700 I spoke of earlier can be locked manually and its not real difficult to steer due to the Power Assist Steering of Yamaha. It seems to me the Viscoloc would be an "easier" more "user friendly" type of system as the Polaris AWD would be the best for absolute pure traction pulling power.

The guy seems honest up there and pretty straight foRward about both bikes. Its actually Land & Lake Polaris in Abingdon VA. landlakepolaris.com If anyone has had any dealings with them please post!

 

Like I noted, you need to ride both - up and down in some hills - to see what is right for you. Your dealer is correct WRT how the Visco-Lock works - just like the limited slip rear axle on a car or truck. There is some discussion as to how quickly the front "engages" side to side. Some say it's transparent, that engagement occurs so quickly as to be almost invisible while others say 2-3 turns of the spinning wheel before the other engages. I will tell you on my own machine I can feel it engage, it's not 2-3 turns... but it's not immediate either. What you do not say that your dealer said, however, is that is EXACTLY how the Polaris' AWD system works between the front and rear axles. With the Outty, you are mechanically connected between both axles, it is only between the front two wheels (side to side) there is slippage. I do not know if Polaris has a "limited slip" (either mechanical or electronic) between the front wheels, but the ONLY way for the front wheels to engage, is when the rears slip. They HAVE to slip in order for the front axle to engage. This is not normally a problem in slippery conditions (snow, mud, etc), but for the kind of riding I do in dry, rocky mountainous areas, it's certainly not the best. And your dealer is also correct in that with a totally locked front axle (like my AC) steering is difficult, but I only use the lock in the most difficult conditions and I know that steering will be difficult. It's not meant to be locked for normal driving around. Outty's system is meant to be transparent and is a slight compromise to a fully locked system. Like I said, I'd rather have the lockable system, or the ability to tighten up the engagement. Still, it's pretty good, just not the best. With Polaris' AWD system, when you go down a steep hill most of the weight is on the front wheels. Under those conditions, when you brake, the rear wheels will lock first (less weight on them). That results in a speed difference between the front and rear axles and Polaris' AWD system will then engage (ka-Chunk) the front axle, as soon as both axles turn at the same speed which of course is as soon as engagement occurs, the system releases the front axle (again, ka-chunk) and so on all the way down the hill. This cannot be overcome by anything you do. I've tried to moderate the throttle, use the rear brake and throttle, etc. All to no avail. In slippery conditions this can be very dangerous and the first time you experience this it will scare the hell out of you. The first time it happened to my friend he came right over and loudly noted "something is wrong with this thing." Called the dealer... "normal, they all do this." Further looking into it confirms that is correct. Ride in the hills before you buy. Once again, I don't know how Polaris' Active Hill Decent works, presumably it will eliminate most of this problem, but think of this... why did Polaris come out with this feature? And if it's so great, why don't the other mfgrs have it. Investigation shows - other mfgrs with direct engaging front axles don't need it and Polaris has it to overcome an design feature of their machines. This is not an issue on mostly level ground, but you did indicated you ride quite a number of hills.

 

good post jimja!

 

You are listening to your dealer too much. Most dealers don't have a clue about what they are selling other than how much profit margin that each unit has. They are there to make a sale. I went to a local Honda dealer and he didn't know the difference between a Rincon and a Recon.
Notice I said most, not all. I am sure there are a few out there that have actually ridden an ATV, but not many.
My point is, don't rely on a dealer for your information. You will find out a lot more "facts" on forums like this or from owners of the ATVs that you are interested in.

 

Along with what Foreman Dan said, the dealer shouldn't be overlooked in making this decision. I own Polaris', however; I am not blindly loyal to Polaris. When I was looking to buy, I went to my local Arctic Cat, Polaris, Kawi/Can-Am dealers (those were the only dealers that were close enough to home to consider dealing with). All of these makers build nice bikes and all of them are fully capable of doing what I needed them to do. I asked around and spoke to as many people as I could to learn as much as possible about each dealership. The Arctic Cat dealer seemed unknowledgable and hadn't been in business very long and ran his dealership kind of like a flea market, sold a little bit of everything. I was concerned that he may not be there in a year to service my new ride if I needed it. The Kawi/Can-Am dealer was pure salesman, whatever he thought that I was interested in was what he was pushing as the best ride in the place. The same guy also told me that if he couldn't order some ridiculous number of Can-Ams the following year that they would drop him. Again, I wanted a dealer who was going to be there down the road when I needed them. That left the Polaris dealer. I had only heard good things about these guys and Polaris and AC were a close #1 and #2 on my list. These guys had been in business and dealing Polaris' for years and are closest to home. I went with the Polaris'. I haven't looked back. I love the machines and those few times that I have had problems, these guys have been great about helping me out. I am sure that their cooperative spirit has been a huge factor in my level of satisfaction with the quads. Several times, I have needed some odd and end part and they have just handed it to me or have straightened out small problems for free. That earns my loyalty. If it weren't for these guys, I would be one of these dudes on here bitching constantly. Find a good dealer, get some seat time and your questions will answer themselves. Good luck.

 

If you're not going to be drag racing and if you're going to be driving in technical trails and such I would really consider the 700 grizzly. You've said you've had the seat time on it. I would bet in most riding situations you're not going to notice the power difference unless you're racing on fire roads or something. I would also bet when you get right down to it on the trail, all engine displacement theatrics aside, the grizzly is probably the better trail machine. The Outty has the damnedable visco-loc without an override setting (way to go brp-fix that please. I wanna buy one and that is the only thing stopping me) and polaris has their active decent which sorta works -maybe - kinda, and their odd awd system.

Aside from some early minor teething problems the guys I'm talking to locally that have the new grizzly are simply raving about them. Great rides in that they don't leave you sore and beat up at the end of the day. I've heard that from more than one guy. One was also a polaris guy too so take that for what is is worth.

I wouldn't particularly take the stealers word about anything as gospel. He's out to separate you from as much of your money as possible.

 

I've had 3 sportsmans in the last 5 years so I may favor them, but for the last 3 years I have worked at a delearship that sells Polaris, Yamaha, and Honda. I am one of those people that looks at the bigest and best every year the new models come out. In 2002 I bought the sp 700 over the grizz 660. When the sp 800 came out in 05 I wanted one of those so I compared it to the 660 again and bought one in late 05 as an 06 model. Today I would say the grizz 700 is a hell of a machine after riding them at the delearship and out and about. I have never ridden a can-am 800 but have ridden the old BRPs.
Some good points about the Polaris, because thats what I ride. They have good brakes and very good engine braking. They may not be able to transfer that braking to the front wheels, but its very good everywhere but steep down hills. Going down a steep hill you will notice the rear wheels lock up on loose ground, but like anything, as you ride it and get use to the brakes and throttle and handeling charcteristics you'll love these machines, 450-800.
We cut alot of wood here in Minnesota along a river bottom, there no mountains, but there are banks and hills just as steep as mountains in the Rockies. The other day I was wondering why I had bought an 800 when I began to pull a full trailer of wood up a hill with about a 45 degree incline. The front wheels engaged right away and pulled like there was no tomorow. I think I'll take a video next time and post it for you guys.
You wont go wrong with anything you buy as long as its what you want, and not what others want you to buy.

 

Some great points are being made here. In truth 99.9% of the time most of us could get by very nicely on a 400cc machine. Like all guys, we sometimes (hell, most of the time) we let that testosterone thing get in the way of rational thinking. We all like bragging rights. And Lawdog, you make an excellent point about the dealer. A good dealer is worth the extra distance to get to him and extra money at purchase. My local AC dealer (K&N Powerports), as well as the local Polaris dealer (http://www.buckysoutdoors.com/), are both great and will go out of their way to make it right. My BRP dealer (http://web.actionii.com/home.htm), although not local is also great. He's in Island Park, Idaho, three hours away from my summer home in Wyoming. Just prior to leaving WY last October I trailered my 800 over to Idaho to get the heat issue fixed. He couldn't get the parts prior to my departure and I told him to just cover the machine and leave it outside at his dealership over the winter, I'd pick it up next spring. He'd have none of it. In mid-November, at no charge to me, he trailered my machine over to my place in WY and locked it up in my garage. I sent he and his wife a gift basket with a thank you note. When I see some of the issues people on this forum have with their dealers, well, I'm thankful and if you've got a good dealer, you should be also.

 

Im a happy Arctic Cat owner, and have a very good dealer, who will drop what hes doing to look at a concern of mine on my quad. He noticed the dynatek cdi, and said " whatever you do to this atv, if you need a repair,just return it to stock as much as you can, so we can use the warranty if its ever needed". Good dealer