Polaris Diesel @ high altitude?

[JoshPeters]

OK OK OK..... If you want to talk pulling for pulling... . just like with our trucks... . stock for stock... . make it 500 to 500. Go above 500 and it's of course going to have more HP and Torque. Thats like putting our trucks against a Medium duty truck. Your right he's not limited to what he buys. Right now he's running a much smaller unit now and by the sounds of it is pretty happy.



How about fuel milage on anything you are talkin about Lightman? I don't know what that Diesel gets. I ran it for 73miles and it still had well over 1/2 a tank.



The other thing is... . lets answer the man's question... not argue. He is asking about the Polaris Diesel wheeler. I'm sure your opinion and mine are quite valued..... but he wants info on that wheeler.



*Shakes Lightmans hand* No hard feelings, No flame intended. Just seen to much unneeded bickering on the TDR lately. As I have re-read the above... ... I have to put myself in that catagory as well.



Josh

 

[LightmanE300]

There has been a lot of bickering lately on here. I had no intention of doing anything of the sort, and hope my tone didn't convey antagonism. . This is typical of any conversation Id have with my buddies over some beers on a weekend - we go back and forth on our favorite trucks, quads, you name it. Cheers and a handshake back. Everyone's got their own opinions.



Clearly a 500 diesel will outpull a 500 sportsman gasser - I do not contest the fact that pound for pound diesel engines make more torque - that's the nature of the beast. I guess my point was that he isn't limited to a cc range, and when I weigh the pro's and cons of the diesel sportsman versus a newer gas model, I just happen to feel the gas options are better choices. For pure work only, the diesel might not be a bad quad. Depending on if rescue ram wants to have some fun with it on weekends though, that's a different story. Also I don't think we're sure about his budget, unless I missed it. A new quad will have more performance/utility/load carrying ability, as well as a warranty, which may be important or not. I've got 4yr extended warranties on my quads, which is a nice feeling ($359 on ebay, OEM xtended warranty 4yrs, gotta love it!).



Mileage may or may not be an issue, but it sounds like the diesel gets better mileage than gas quads. It's really hard to quantify mpg on a quad though, because the terrain is always so different, you suck more up in 4wd than 2wd, etc etc. Some days I've burned thru a whole tank down in the everglades swamps in 30 miles - 2-3 feet of water, thick mud, rarely top 10mph. On the other hand, I've put 130 miles on a tank before on the same quad, doing flatter high speed riding. On top of that, most people will not ride their utility quads long enough to burn through a whole tank. If you think of range in terms of time, mine typically last 5-6 hours of continuous riding.



I hope some of this posting back and forth provides insight to rescue ram's purchase decision. Good luck RR.

 

[JoshPeters]

I won't argue the new gassers have plenty of great features! I know for myself... . I'd probably try to find a used Diesel. I don't need to go terribly fast... . and I tend to do some stupid pulling and mud running!



Josh

 

[av8r]

Okay, not a 4-wheeler, but a diesel 3-wheeler still works, right? :-laf

 

[LightmanE300]

It all depends where/how you want to ride. Some places I ride, we don't drop below 40mph the whole day..... and end up putting 150-170 miles per day on the machines. I know a polaris diesel could not even dream of keeping up. On those rides, half of the guys I'm with ride sport quads or dirtbikes, and when we hit those long smooth straights we definitely are 55+. Lots of acceleration needed coming out of turns etc. 31mph stock is pretty slow on smooth terrain. Another place we ride, we park the trucks/trailers and have to ride 13 miles down a dirt road. It's a pretty smooth road, so we cruise 40-45mph or so so the 13 miles doesn't take forever. Of course some juvenile drag racing has been known to happen from time to time, but we try to keep it pretty reasonable for safety's sake. .

 

[Dieselnut59]

I love my diesel becuase it is diesel. There is NO other competition. It is in a class of its own. It does everything I ask of it and does it well. I have a Polaris 600, which is for sale. I don't need to go 65 mph and sure don't need the "punchiness" of the hard accelerating gassers. I love the smooth torque my diesel provides. As for noise, it is not actually louder, it is just a different kind of noise. The exhaust is actually quieter than the 400-500 gassers. My diesel works well for work and play. My playing is usually mud bogging. The low-end torque of the diesel is perfect for that, as well as for pulling when working. The number one reason I got the diesel is because it IS A DIESEL! I like having one fuel for everything and I can bulk store diesel in my 2 350 gallon tanksThe only equipment I have that is not diesel is my chainsaw, weed whacker and leaf blower, which all use the 50:1 oil mix. I do not have any desire to keep another specific fuel around. Diesel is my fuel of choice and my Polaris serves me very well for how I work it and how I play with it. I would highly recommend it.

As for my opinion on gassers, I would recommend the Polaris 800 efi for someone who wants gut wrenching power. Polaris uses an inline engine design. We, as Cummins fans already know the advantage of an inline versus v engine design.

 

[JoshPeters]

It all depends where/how you want to ride. Some places I ride, we don't drop below 40mph the whole day..... and end up putting 150-170 miles per day on the machines. I know a polaris diesel could not even dream of keeping up. On those rides, half of the guys I'm with ride sport quads or dirtbikes, and when we hit those long smooth straights we definitely are 55+. Lots of acceleration needed coming out of turns etc. 31mph stock is pretty slow on smooth terrain. Another place we ride, we park the trucks/trailers and have to ride 13 miles down a dirt road. It's a pretty smooth road, so we cruise 40-45mph or so so the 13 miles doesn't take forever. Of course some juvenile drag racing has been known to happen from time to time, but we try to keep it pretty reasonable for safety's sake. .

That sounds like fun! I can definatly see where the Diesel would be a bit slow for you guys! I've always been kind of a minority in my Wheeler and Sled choices. :-laf I miss my 2000 Polaris XC500 SP. Ditch pounding is IMO the Best riding out there..... I might walk funny for 2 or 3 days after..... but it's still fun Jumpin driveways at 65 or 70!



Josh

 

[LightmanE300]

Dieselnut - all of your reasoning sounds completely logical, and sounds like you made a great choice for your use. It would be a good mud bogger with the low end torque and IRS. I know inline engines are great in most vehicles, and the 800EFI sportsman is no slouch, it still can't hang with the v-twin brute force 750 kaw or the suzuki king quad 700 single. Polaris definitely has some catching up to the competition to do in the big bore class in terms of features, performance, ergomics, and it's no secret polaris is not on the top of the heap as far as reliability. All manufacturers make quality products these days, but the polaris line is marginally more prone to troubles.



Josh - it was pretty fun before it got wiped out in the recent run of hurricanes. Not a huge issue though, since I recently moved up to Cleveland from FL. It was great though, within an hour I had that place - 25,000 acres of sugar sand trails, or within two hours I had Big Cypress preserve in the everglades - deep water/swamp/gators everywhere and 400,000+ acres open to ORV's (I can't wait to blast thru there this xmas when I'm down to give the Kore setup a real test - there are some dry areas too). 2 hours in a different direction was Ocala Nat. Forest that has some 500k acres of trails. The local places here in cleveland are 300 acres. . ack.

 

[Rattlin_Ram]

That sounds like fun! I can definatly see where the Diesel would be a bit slow for you guys! I've always been kind of a minority in my Wheeler and Sled choices. :-laf I miss my 2000 Polaris XC500 SP. Ditch pounding is IMO the Best riding out there..... I might walk funny for 2 or 3 days after..... but it's still fun Jumpin driveways at 65 or 70!



Josh

You need to head west, where the real riding is..... Steep n Deep baby... . LOL :-laf

 

[LightmanE300]

I bet the riding is awesome out there in colorado. I've ridden the hatfield mccoy area in the west virginia mountains, which is fantastic - but they aren't anywhere near the Rockies. I'd love to road trip out there someday with a toyhauler behind the Cummins

 

[JoshPeters]

You need to head west, where the real riding is..... Steep n Deep baby... . LOL :-laf

That would be a blast! I'd definatly NEED to have a Mountian sled in that case..... I don't like trail riding much!



Josh



Now a Diesel Snowmobile... ... . that would be an interesting creation!

 

[Rescue Ram]

Update

I finally found the right deal on a used diesel sportsman. I drove out to Atlantic, IA, to give it a look. It was a well kept one owner trade with 2700 miles. I really liked the way it drove and the price was right; so I rolled the dice and brought her home.



My experience has been great so far. I put a total of 150 miles on it today, running anywhere from 8k to 10. 5k MSL. The power has remained excellent (to me), even at altitude. It has the standard clutching. I ran a lot of rocky, steep trails, and did not find anything it couldn't overcome. The top end on a flat, straight section of road here was about 30 MPH, according to the speedometer. In comparison to the Big Bear... the diesel seems to accelerate better on a flat run, the ride is amazing... much smoother, and fuel consumption is about 1/4.



All in all, this is exactly the machine I wanted. It has the power and speed **I** need, an excellent ride, and is easy on fuel. I am sure it is not for everybody. I, however, couldn't be any happier. I will try to post a few pictures.

 

[DieselMinded]

Great ,,, glad you like it... . I have a King Quad and I would like to have a Diesel Polaris in the near future ... .



We have 4 Wheeler Transfer Sled Pulling Events Starting Locally and I will pull my King Quad but I would really love to pull a BOMBED POLARIS DIESEL... Cant wait !!!!!



DM

 

[LightmanE300]

Rescueram, I'm glad you got what you want and are happy with it. Now get to posting a sound file of that thing!!



Dieselminded - do you have the brand new king quad 700? Nice machine.

 

[DieselMinded]

I Wish...



But I have an 02 the last year they made the 300's



I love it tho' been threw hell and back and is still pulling my firewood trailor and plowing my drive way and just generally being worked all year long.



I cant wait to hook it to a sled and see how it stands up the the bigger CC Bikes ,,,, I have pulled bigger CC bikes backwards by just using Diff Lock



Them guys get mad!!!!!!



DM

 

[LightmanE300]

I bet they do Dieselminded - where do you typically ride? Maybe you've been to some of the rallies I've been to. ANyway just checking - the new kq 700 is one heck of a machine - although I typically prefer 2cyls over 1.



Difflock is nice- both my p650 and kodiak have push button front diff lockers, and push button 4wd selector switches. The prairie is the best though - the diff lock is a yellow lever on the bars, that you can grab on the fly! Sometimes I've headed into a mudhole that is nastier than I expected, and had to grab the diff lock to make it out. Of course sometimes even with the diff locked, 27" outlaw mud tires, and all the power in the world you just sink I did hook up to a guy with an older king quad - although its clear to see it wasn't a fair pull seeing that I had all the features plus weight and 650cc's. I wouldn't encourage you to try it lol, unless it's a HONDA They don't have locking diffs and very few even have a low gear. Yep they'll keep running longer than any of them, and their owners can have years and years of boring riding , lol.



It is amazing what thoes kq 300's like you have can pull though, I will not dispute that. Once we broke down some 16 miles into the everglades in an area with 1-4 feet of water on most all of the trails. We had a problem, and the ranger came and towed another guy's big bore atv with him and his g/f on it all the way out to the road, dragging it thru the water and some muck. I was impressed.



Then again, one time my buddy and I had a little too many sierra nevada's, and decided to hook my prairie up to this abandoned boat that was on the land down one of the trails to our campsite(cape coral, fl). It had no engine, but was probably a 22 foot bowrider that had been decomposing for a while. In any case the two of us could not even budge it by pushing it, so we figured no way. I throw it in low, 4x4, and give it the juice. It yanked it out with ease which surprised me, and then our drunk a**es were laughing our heads off (this is prob 3am, but we were the only ones at the campsite), and decided to pull it about 20mph down the trail, so picture a quad pulling a 20 foot boat like a waterskier, flyin down the trail. It was bouncing off trees etc. Yep, that definitely burned up a $40 trans belt, but it was a good laugh and memory



Again, it's amazing what these little machines can do. Rescue ram's probably can pull down a house. When are you getting piers twins on that thing?????

 

[Stretch]

Nice Quad! I had heard that Bosch is using an Arctic Cat frame for its push into the quad market. I am waiting to see what this one will look like.

 

[DieselMinded]

correcton

I have pulled bigger CC bikes backwards by just using Diff Lock

Not just Diff . lock is what gives me and the smaller bike the upperhand its mostly the rear independent Suspension..... there Tires will not get down and in the low spots of the terrain . ,,,, The gear selection is also top knotch ... .



5 gears in Super Low 2wd

5 gears in Low 2wd

5 gears in High 2wd

5 gears in Super low 4x4

5 gears in Low 4x4

5 Gears in High 4x4

5 gears in Super Low Diff Lock... Note : Diff Lock can only be used in Super Low Range

Reverse



THATS 36 Ranges



I knew that 2002 was the last year so I went on the hunt and got it brand new for $4400 local shops were $6500 and $5500 I drove 50 miles and saved $2100



I love it But I would like to have one of those diesels . . :>



I would rather NOT have Independent Rear End for FAST trail riding You cannot throw the rear end around corners it will grip and throw you off . . and trees are not soft ...



If Im going slow over ruff teranin the Rear & Front Independent is Sweet !!!!



DM

 

[LightmanE300]

My prairie is a solid rear axle, and I agree, it's far far better for sporty trail riding and stability on off cambers. My kodiak is an 05 with IRS, and wow is IRS nice and cushy. Its certainly more of a tame ride, but does well over technical and slow rocky areas. Both have their pluses and minuses.



Dieselminded, fyi the guy who had the king quad that I hooked up to said the same thing, about all the gears... which is truly a pretty cool feature, and he had a ton of faith in it, but I dragged him like a toy with the prairie. The torque of the v-twin, plus the mods I've done make it a beast. By no means am I trying to talk down your quad though - as I said they are great machines, and for their time were legendary. I don't doubt the features it has will allow it to outpull some higher cc machines, just not the big boys.

 

[RankRam]

Take a look at this Quad! If they ever put a turbo on it I will be replacing my Brute Force 750. Oo.



http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2005/07/06/roush-diesel-quad-atv/