The Explorer is chain driven though, so the ground clearance at the rear axel is not that great.
Sure the explorer should be faster and quicker, but I don't know if it would really go alot of places that the Kodiak wouldn't.
On the fun factor though, the Polaris just might win.
As for what someone said earlier about these not being race quads; people race lawn mowers. Anything can be raced.

 

In October I was up to buy a 4 X 4 Quad. My decision came down to the Sportsman or the Kodiak. I read everything I could find on both machines, test drove both multiple times & even had the opportunity to speak with owners of both. You have to weigh the respective differences of both machines, they are both great in their own right, each having distinct characteristics making each stand out. I obviously bought a 2001 Kodiak for a couple of reasons: Dependibility, In my opinion the better handling & agileness. I read & talked to too many Polaris owners that have had problems with their machines. I love the feature of independent rear suspension, but I chose the Kodiak & have been extremely happy since. There was a decent article in 4-wheel ATVaction mag in the January issue on these two machines. Just my thoughts, Ride Yamaha!!

 

Just curious. Did you look at any of the Arctic Cat models? I'm also looking at the Kodiak, but it's about $800 more than the 400 AC. Are there really big differences? There are a couple of 1999 Kodiaks in the paper for about $5300 which seems expensive for a machine that is 2 years old. What do you think?

 

That's toooo much money. I've seen used 2000 Kodiaks for $6000 CANADIAN. And the 2000 is a completely different bike, the 99's are just big bears with a different name tag.

 

One was ATV of the Year and the other is about ready to be fazed out of Polaris's lineup. Sure it's quick and all but a two stroke, chain driven quad is not what most buyers are looking for in a utility quad. Does resale mean anything to anyone, because used explorers around MN are real cheap?

 

I drag race my friends blue 2000 kodiak and ride it all the time.My non H.O accelerates faster and has a 5mph faster top end.I do not need to race a Grizzly,400Xporer,and new SPho to know I would get killed.

 

An Explorer 400 is not made for speed, but I suppose a scrambler is? They're pretty much the same thing aren't they?

 

The explorer and the scrambler have the same engine, 378cc polaris 2 stroke.
The scrambler is the fastest of the two, only cuz its geared different.

2000 SCRAMBLER 400 2X4

SCRAMDADDY400