would have to agree about the quadzilla had an '88 from '94 until about 2 months ago when i sold it for money for the Raptor the biggest prob with the zilla was keepin it runnin if you could do that it would smoke a lot of other bikes out in the open especially after i added a pipe/silencer, k&n filter, keihn carb, & FMF ram valve w/reeds that thing rocked but would not hold together very long

 

Where did you get your 45hp rating for the Raptor? Did someone dyno one or are you speculating?

 

You don't know the raptor is 45 hp, and i'm telling you right now it isn't. The banshee is said to have 30 hp stock NOBODY runs stock 2stroke exhaust, to make them epa legal the exhaust is a joke, so with real pipes a banshee or any other 2stroke fully equipped with the archaeic kick start and lacking the essential high performance goodies such as reverse, will walk on the new era of four stroke technology.

 

The banshee has 39.8 hp

 

I'll second that. It's amazing that the idiots at Dirt Wheels don't even read their own magazine. Their own test of the 2000 Banshee dyno'd at 39.8 hp. Then their famous Banshee pipe shootout test in '96 listed the stocker at 38 hp. After pipes, around 45 - 46 hp....

The way things are going, I think that by next year the rags will say that the Banshee will have only 25 hp. It seems that the quoted numbers keep getting lower, and lower........ as does Dirt Wheels credibility.

And to the point - The zilla might win in a drag race, but I'd take the Raptor on the track (or anywhere else) in a heatbeat.

Lastly, four strokes CAN be made to be very powerful, just look at the 600cc sport bikes made today. Reliable and over 120 hp out of 600 cc's. They're easier to ride too since they have a better power delivery than a 120 hp two stroke. I would venture to say that it would be easier to get a reliable 70 hp out of the Raptor than the LT500 motor.

 

While there remains to be no question that 2-Stroke's make the fastest HP. --- Flat out top end is not why I bought my Raptor. I wanted the most technilogically advanced Quad, with a reliable 4-Stroke engine, that wouldn't need to be freshened every year, and had the goodies that the banshee lacks, such as Reverse, new styling, and HYPE, HYPE, HYPE!!

Going fast is fun, but I have two kids, and I just like the wheelie on demand feature not to mention having the extra power on tap if I have to do any "apprehension avoidance" when riding in my favorite riding areas.


Ride Safe

 

I can answer your question I have basicly stock lt500r except for a ct pipe and silencer. I was at silver lake sand dunes today and got to race the raptor. To be completely honest i thought I would kill it like stock banshee, ds650, or 400ex. Esspecially since i was running 8 scoop sand sharks and he was running those stock dunlops. I did win, however, i just slowly pulled away a little bit more in each gear I personally believe it would have been scary close had he had paddles on his machine. For those who want to know it was approximately 400yds we ran together on wet sand right in front of lake michigan and i could only get to 4th gear before we ran out of room to run I DO NOT know what gear he was in or how much he had left to give

 

lt550r,

Wow! That's one of the best compliments that I've heard directed toward the Raptor from someone with a competing machine. Thanks for volunteering that information. I've never raced on wet sand. Do you spin all that much on it?
PS.. never got to ride a 'zilla, but always wanted to.

 

When anyone thinks the fastest atv (LT500, Raptor, Banshee etc)is fast then go ride a crotch rocket street bike ie Kawasaki ZX11or Yamaha R1 or for that fact even a 600cc bike. Having the very fastest atv is not the most important, what is important is to ride what you like. If you want to go really fast get a bike or put a strret bike motor in your quad and then trail riding will suck, but you can kick *** at the dunes.