I agree with you biggerisbetter. They are pretty accurate since what i mostly do is XC and woods riding with a little of all the other mixed in thats why i ride what i ride. Would have picked the 400ex but i m a power hungry fool and the cannondale was 3rd choice but its power is all up top so woods isnt as fun on it. And if it was for the woods i would have maybe got a ds since i flat track/ice race occasionally and they work great for that. To me they are all great quads just depends on what the rider wants and likes to do. I love the selection we have now days.

 

when i got to the part about the raptor being better than the 400ex in the woods i stopped reading... Can you say BRIBE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

<< I agree with you biggerisbetter. They are pretty accurate since what i mostly do is XC and woods riding with a little of all the other mixed in thats why i ride what i ride. Would have picked the 400ex but i m a power hungry fool and the cannondale was 3rd choice but its power is all up top so woods isnt as fun on it. And if it was for the woods i would have maybe got a ds since i flat track/ice race occasionally and they work great for that. To me they are all great quads just depends on what the rider wants and likes to do. I love the selection we have now days. >>



Power of the cdale up top!!!!???? The cdale rips so hard off the bottom it is crazy. It will kill the raptor so bad of the bottom it is just funny you would say that...[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-disgusted.gif[/img]

 

<< THanks Mtecate! Yep, some surprises there. Usually the Banshee does get &quot;bad-mouthed&quot;, but I am surprised the DS got slammed too. In fact, I would assume the C-dale would have been slammed before the DS.
So the Cali Raptor has more top speed than the Baja DS? Sounds fishy. >>



that does sound fishy...oh wait, it is a bribed magazine!!!!

 

CornDog, maybe it was a bribe, but they are always changing their mind. One shoout the Raptor is a better trail machine, then the July issue comes out and the 400EX is, now the Raptor is. Either they are morons, get paid alot, or maybe they have different riders each test, therefore different results. Either way, If you want to know something about a product, test it yourself. What one person liks, another hates so you shouldn't make any decisions on what DirtWheels or anybody but yourself says about a product.

 

Mtecate4g, your right the selection is great and it getting better all the time. I don't know why some people flame-up so easy when these shootout's come out. If you read them in full they always leave their conclusions vague and If possible un-offensive. To tell the truth the only reason I read ATV Magazine's now is because my wife took away my Play-boy mags when we got married. And I gotta have something to read when I'm on the throan. If someone is looking for &quot;real facts&quot; on Quads they need to come to &quot;forums&quot; like this one and ask the opinions of people who ride the machine(s) their intrested in.

Biggerisbetter.

 

<< Power of the cdale up top!!!!???? The cdale rips so hard off the bottom it is crazy. It will kill the raptor so bad of the bottom it is just funny you would say that... >>


As I have posted before, when you pull out with the throttle WFO, you are not using low end power. You are using power in the HIGH RPM range.

 

<< when i got to the part about the raptor being better than the 400ex in the woods i stopped reading... >>


Don't worry, if history repeats itself, the 400ex (or something else..) will win the next &quot;woods&quot; decision.

 

The reason the raptor won the woods decision this time is the last test was on the 01 raptor. I would agree with them completely that the 400ex is better than the 01 raptor due to the high geared 1st and 2nd on the 01 raptor. The 02 tested in this test has the upgraded gear ratio wich is perfect for any type of situation. That is why the raptor got it this time. I dug up the issue with on the dirtwheels test and if anyone else has that issue you'll see what i am talking about.

Corndog,

I didnt say the cannondale was slow, I said its power is up top so you have to keep it revin all the time so it makes low speed woods difficult with a power band similar to a 2 stroke. It does have low end compared to a 2 stroke but compared to a Raptor or 400ex they lowend is week. Plus they dont like to be run at low rpm or the stall alot. If i was a racer only the cannondale would be my choice due to its race feeling power band. I didnt say the cannondale was bad just that it wasnt my choice for my riding style. If you like cannondales buy one. ATV Action didnt say the cannondale was bad. It was there favorite for racing and the 400ex was next. Maybe you like some thing different than they do? Remember the test is just there opinion just like what everyone else has about what they ride or like in a quad. No body likes the same thing.

 

I never really understood those shootouts in dirtwheels. I have a bunch of old dirtwheels magazines I've been reading and about every year there would be a new 'sport' shootout. It seemed like every year they would pick a different quad as the winner. I found that very interesting because the quads were basically unchanged, yet they would pick a different quad as the winner.