I'm starting to get down on dirt wheels. Every month we get the same quads on the cover. Either a yfz or a 450r shot from a different angle. Sometimes moving, sometimes jumping, and sometimes sitting still. Blahhh...... most all of us love the 450s but when you eat at McDonalds every day even chicken Mcnuggets get old! Some of us are farmers, hunters, construction workers, duners, dessert rats, mud boggers, and mountain goats. The magazine need to be a bit more diversified. I would love to see more quads tested each month. There are well over 100 different models available at dealerships currently. They should be testing 8 or 9 each month.

Oh and when they test a quad they should always have a set list of performance statistics and facts that are included in each article. Here's an example:

A top speed run with a radar or gps reading. (They should use the same instrument for each test)
Timed acceleration runs. (example: 100 yards 200 yards ......)
A dyno test.
A drag sled test. (for utilities)
A braking test from a set speed.
A mpg estimate.
The wet weight of the machine.

Basically this should be similar to what Motor Trend does with automobile tests. In any case the tests should all be performed in controlled environments to give a real world example of how a machine stacks up against others.

The actual articles are not bad but would be much better with the above information added.

The quad shootouts are another area where things have declined. Ten years ago it wasn't uncommon to see 7 or 8 quads in a shootout. The current ones are usually limited to 2 or 3 quads. I would love to see these bikes in an all out test: Rincon, Kingquad, Brute Force 750, Prairie 700, Sportsman 700 and 800, BRP 800, AC V1, and the Grizzly. I bet they would sell several more issues off the news stand if there was a picture of this hypothetical shootout on the cover.






Does anyone else agree?




I still enjoy reading Dirt Wheels but with a few refinements it could be an awesome magazine again. Wake up Dirt Wheels, I know you can still get it done! Oh and if you still can’t figure it out, give me a call. I won’t come cheap, but I guarantee that I can help your cause [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

I don't buy any quad magazines anymore because everything is 450 450 450. I don't have a 450, and to be honest, i don't really want one either, it's just not my type of quad. The only magazine I read anymore is QUAD magazine, it doesn't repeat the same kind of features over and over again every month. If any of the magazines started doing what you just suggested i'd probably get a subscription to them, the only reason I subscribed to QUAD is to get a free set of shock covers.

 

Whats a yfz450?



















































J/K!!!!!!!!![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

LOL recon99, Quad has published what, 3 issues? I agree that I would love to see more shootouts and with more hard data included. I would love for a magazine to buy some land and setup some standardized tests on a consistent track/course/terrain. Of course being an offroad environment things terrain may change somewhat over time. Give us something like drag and loop times on the exact same course for all machines. Sure, weather will always be a factor, but at least we would have some numbers that have SOME relativity to other machines. Even quads from other classes, types, and model years could be compared.

 

Hear Hear!!!





Keep the replies coming. Maybe we can get their attention.

 

i remember those days when the mags were actually alot less hyped and more objective.

the best one of that era was atv sport (NOT THE ATVSPORT TURD OF TODAY) the old ATVSPORT (formerly 3Wheeling) would give the top speed via radar gun, hp, and torque numbers, every dimension, etc of the machines. maybe the lawsuits of the late 80's early 90's effected there information output as well; dont publish top speeds or anything that could be construed against the sport. i partially agree about not giving the atv haters more fuel for their fire, but i also miss picking up a mag without hype and seeing all this info, everything spelled correctly, gramatically correct, and not written on a 4th grade level. Also, there used to be a clearer winner in shootouts...whether it was a spot bike or utility - someone usually got the unndisputed crown, now its more politically correct...

Shootouts, now, usually go to the newest bike or the one with the most advertisements in the mag. Yes, the YFZ is good, but they love it so much they should change their name from DW to YFZ Rider!

And then when they individually test a bike it does great. they love it. next time they ride it, they hate it. They will even contradict themselves in tests all the time and show flat out wrong spec information... no proof reading or fact checking anymore. i still get the mag b/c its the biggest one for the price and has a great readers' photo section, but I also get and think that quad is the better mag right now.

i also like the fact that back then, it seemed that they usually got a production model before everyone else and we got to read a little about it (unbiased). Now i can go to a dealer and buy a new bike before DW has a chance to test it. Several people on here have a LT450 (sorry about the 450 thing) and DW only got to watch Gust and Jones ride theirs so far. wooohooo. they have like a 3month in advance lead time on their mags, so many times they are packed with the same crap over and over while the real atv world is spinning by.

If they started testing like the car mags like motortrend or car and driver, that would be interesting....man i miss the old atvsport...

 

Twenty:


I totally agree. Who cares about watching Gust and Jones ride their new toys. They just did that as a selling angle to have something "suzuki 450" related. Of course Suzuki factor riders are going to say that the new suzukis are good. They would be stupid not to.

I drove by a dealer the other day and saw a new LTZ 450. I thought exactly what you did concerning the latest DW article. ..

 

I agree so much i havent looked at one in several years and i used to have a subscription.