I just got my new copy of Dirt wheels and they have a sand dune shoot out and again the Z400 is on top. Even with a tie in points with the raptor they give the victory to the Z400. I rode a Z400 in the dunes a few weeks ago and the suspension is terrible and its power band felt like a 2-stroke, (A SLOW ONE). It is no where near the power or comfort of my raptor for riding in sand and thats for a drag race it doesn't have a chance. That's for their last rating of value, How much value can you have if your always eating sand from the raptor in front of you!! I guess I will just have to quit buying these magazines if they can't print the truth regardless of the bikes age. I guess the more money a company spends with them the better the ATV. I bet the Polaris gets the best reviews of them all, just look at the size of their ads.

JUST PRINT THE "TRUTH"

 

You can't always go by what the magazines say. It seems that they are biased when it comes to the newly released models. I'm not saying the Z isn't a good bike because I have never ridden one, but I would find it hard to believe that it should even be compared to the Raptor powerwise. I'm sure it handles well, etc.
I remember when the Raptor was first introduced that the magazines were comparing it to the TRX 250R and stating that "A new king was born". Just goes to show you that you need to take everything printed with a grain of salt. Your best bet is to use your own opinion and impressions of what a quad is and what you're wanting it to do for you. No quad is perfect off the showroom floor!!!

 

That statement was made right here on ATV Connection dealer showcase on July 15, 2000 and was written by Tom Bukowski.

You left out one important detail and that is the question mark.

Here is the statement "2001 Yamaha Raptor Has a New King Been Born?"

The Raptor is good, but I am not sure it has made King status.

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

 

DW is a company. As a company they make money. So whatever makes theres sells go up more they will do. I say everyone needs to never talk about DW and never buy another one of there mags. BOYCOTT DW. lol

 

i dont even read those shoo out anymore,they are a waste of my time,those are only good to confuse new riders,they must get a commission from the companies,the only good thing is that it gets people pump up about buying a new quad,wait until they start doing the predator shoo out .

 

You still have to give them credit for the hard work they do though and the publicity they give atvs.....Magizines like that are how i got interested in atvs when it seemed everything else was about dirtbikes!

 

Dirtwheels is a load of CR@P and should only be kept in the bathroom (not for reading and only to be used in case of an emergency); their journalistic integrity leaves much to be desired, as does their grammar and lack of creativity in writing. It can be quite entertaining to read-- not for the articles, but just to ridicule the mistakes, which are omnipresent in every piece of work that they publish. The staff will learn a new adjective and get hung up on it for months (beaucoup, superb, etc), and forget that there are other ways to describe handling and power. It isn't so much the results of the shoot-outs that bother me, it is the lack of depth in which the machines are actually picked apart. From Dirtwheels all you get is a "this machine handled better and had more power". WTF is that?!?! They need to take a look at the dirtbike/streetbike publications to get a clue on what a real test/comparison is and how to really figure out what makes a machine tick.

 

i keep a copy of dirtwheels with me everytime i ride just in case i have to take a crap!!!!! this mag sucks, the mag is based on hype. did you ever see that every other mag is better then dirtwheels and they tell the truth to, not just what there sponcers would want them to say. dirtwheels says the z has the same power up hills as the rap, but almost all other mags say its not even fair to race them up a steep hill.

 

The z400 couldn't even keep up going down the hill more less up!!!

 

You have to hand it to DirtWheels they are pretty good with new product stuff and keeping everyone informed in whats happening in the ATV world but I do agree their shootouts are something yet to be desired. I agree the Raptor seemed to be the best possible choice for the dunes not unless your sand dragging then I believe the Banshee would be king. Just the month before when they did the big 4x4 shootout the Grizzly did everything better than all the rest except for maybe two things. But who wins the Prairie 650!! WTF is that all about. Maybe they just don't like Yamaha's for some reason.