What does everyone think the best all around 500 (sport/utility) class quad is?

 

1)Sportsmen 500 HO
2)Vinson
3)Rubicon
4)Actic Cat

The Sp500 offers the most for the money, you get great power, true 4x4, irs, great tires stock and a list price of $6599. It's a toss-up between the Vinson and Rubicon, but I would give it to the Vinson due to a sportier ride because you can ride in 2x4, the Rubicon is full time 4x4, also the Vinson is about $400 less. Artic cat is a solid atv, just slow and under powered compared to the rest.

 

Traxter!!!

 

100% the Traxter XT's.

Same price as a bone stock Rubicon and you get a 600.00 Warren winch, crome rims, hand guards, and in my case Blackwater tires, the 03's have an Auto chip option instead of the tires. It has a 5 gallon tank that can go for 123miles, can pull like no other quad, and has a top end of 55mph.

2002 Traxter XT

 

Top three 500 cc ATV's:

1. Red Rubicon
2. Yellow Rubicon
3. Green Rubicon

In that order.

My wifes parents have a 2000 Traxter, they love it, it has been trouble free and he uses it to pull a trailer full of rocks and dirt alot. He thinks it is a small tractor, not an ATV.

I can't stand either one of these people. Every time someone mentions Traxter, I picture them riding the trails, it makes me sick. For that reason I could not and will never buy a Traxter.

I wish they would have got an ATV that fell apart all the time but I don't think this one ever will. They love the step through. I love the trunk up front, the rear differential is as big as the one in my 3/4 ton truck.

I would still pick my first choice.

 

Yes, I agree the Rubicon is a nice machine. But it has too stiff a ride for the country I travel. The most popular 500 in my neck of the woods is the Sportsman.

Although the Rubicon has easier steering and better ergos, the Sportsman has high ground clearance and a ride that no solid axial machine can match. For traveling over rough terrain the difference in ride quality is huge.

The Sportsman also has a true 4X4 set-up and will match the Rubicon in any utility task. And for some reason (in this area) the Sportsman costs hundreds of dollars less!

 

I have put riding time in on the ruby, vinson, and sportsman. I think the rubicon, vinson and sportsman are all in the top 3 range, but impossible to order them 1-3. It really depends on what your using it for for it to be #1. In mud, its hard to beat good combination of gc, awd, and power of the sportsman. But if you live up in the drylands and there isn't much mud and you want something light and sporty, you could go with the vinson for its good power and handling. If you like to go hunting a lot and don't really care about mud, handling, or speed you could go with the rubicon becasue of its rider friendliness and ease of use combined with its hard to beat reliability. All 3 of these quads can be driven sporty, or for mud uses, or for recreational uses(and they all 3 do great jobs in all of these areas), but in the end it depends on what type of riding you prioritize the most. The most important thing of all though is to just have fun!

 

Don't you love choices!!

The ride quality of a sportsman is better than our rubicon. My wife and I ride together with a tamarack trunk that weighs around 80 lbs. Totally, we carry over 400 pounds everywhere we go. You load that IRS like we load our rubicon and the ground clearence is gone. I also believe the Rubicon is the most stable when loaded. It loves to work.

The "all-whell-drive" of a polaris is also more agressive. Alot of the people we ride with ride polaris and I think this is one of the most problematic systems polaris has. I can't tell you how many time my friends have been left in "two wheel drive" because of a switch, hub, or what ever else goes wrong with that set up. Brand new 2001 500 HO, 1st trip out, its winter, 12" of snow, no 4-wd. How well does the four wheel drive work when decending steep hills, or backing up. Isn't it all wheel drive in one direction? Thats how it appears to work, i'm not sure. I don't even want to get started why a polaris is "hundres CHEEEEEPPPPER."

Of the three ATV's mentioned, I don't think you could make a mistake on purchasing any one of them.

Inlaws Traxtrer made it another summer working hard with zero probles. They trail ride together, haul everything in the world, and run it every day at their mountain home. It will be resting for the winter. (snowmobiles)

When you come to a fork in the road, take it.

 

The Sportsman has true 4wd going both forward & backwards. In fact, it will back you out of a 'hairy' situation better than any other machine I have seen that didn't have a locking front end.

400# total weight is no big deal on a Sportsman. In fact, if you only have 400# total load, you likely don't even have to tighten up the rear suspension more than halfway, and if you do load it higher than that, the rear suspension is adjustable to compensate for the load. Rear rack capacity of the 500 HO is 180#. What is it on a Rubicon (not trying to be smart-alec, I really don't know).

Quite often, the 4wd hubs don't lock right away on a brand-new Polaris. It sometime takes 20-50 miles before they get 'broken in' and work properly. I have seen this on about 1/3 to 1/2 of the new Polaris machines that I have seen brand new. In fact, we have been looking for situations where you 'need' 4wd on a brand new machine, just to see how far you have to go before the hubs work 100% reliably.
I do think the 700 has a far better system, with the magnets to lock in the 4wd in the differential, instead of out at the hub. That wire running out from the center of the frame to the hub is probably the weakest link in the 4wd system.

One thing I think ALL the manufacturers need to address is the need for REAL tires, not knobby potato skins. The Sportsman comes closest to this Ideal.

The Rubicon, again has a whole different set of advantages. The ability to run either in automatic mode, or push-button shift makes it truly unique. If you don't ride in rough enough country to need IRS, the swingarm rear end has far less moving parts on it to wear out/break. The 'feel' of the controls also seems more precise.

If they were the same price, I would rank the Rubicon 1st, but for the street prices around here, I think the Sportsman is a better deal for the money spent.


No Traxter dealers around here-no experience.

Local Suzuki dealer sucks big time, so again, no experience. They may be fine machines, but the few people who have owned one will not buy another due to the way the dealer treated them.

 

I think the rear rack load is 166 lbs? I know how the Honda's have light load ratings, but I do know they are more than capable of what their published limits are.

Better tires for all is right. Polaris is probably the only one that has caught on to that. The tires on new vehicles are usually the pits too. Chosen to be quiet and smooth and some don't even last very long. The Mud Runners we put on our Rubicon will way out last the original tires and cost less.