800 Can Am vs Polaris 850XP?

quadboy55

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Out in the back country I've witnessed SXS's go through hell and back. Not sure where you go in Alberta but I like to go deep. I seen Brutes, Sportsmans, Grizzlies, 'Hams of all shapes and sizes go through just about anything from snow to skeg.

When you got weight you get traction, simple as that. Less weight means floating.

Though when you get stuck on a heavy quad, you ARE stuck. On Brutes they just go out with a tug.
 

rzrgade

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In addition to ththe points made, what I notice is there always seems to be some loudmouth side by side driver who believes apparently he's got the only one in existence cause he is on here beaking about how his rzr is the bomb and we'd never follow him (if theres a bottom LOL ) on our quads with similar HP and 500 lbs less weight, while the rest of us in the real world ride with all types of machines , some like exactly like his... and while we can see actual comparisons, his same machine would kick a$$....why, cause its special. And thank god someone let the secret out to the uninformed masses....u want better performance......add a bunch of weight.
So , that said, I agree the old poo quads were troublesome, the new ones far better, the Grizzlys have lots of great qualitys, my wife has an 08 700 and she loves it, the newer brutes i think work well and are usually priced better, Suzuki..Nah, and the CanAms are a good quad, lots of power and funfactor priced high. I'm not in love with any of em, my experiences have been as I said, performance and fun factor CanAm # 1 , Brute # 2 Grizzly # 3 and I don't actually think I'm old enough for a Poo quad yet, but they sure ride nice. LOL.

I asked you this once before but you never answered, so i will ask you again...Your a can am guy .:confused: WHY is canam`s XMR MUD quad one of the the heaviest they make, more than a 850 xp ????????????
Since your the expert , should it not be the lightest ???? Can you tell all of us ....please.
 

LennyR

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I asked you this once before but you never answered, so i will ask you again...Your a can am guy .:confused: WHY is canan`s MUD quad one of the the heaviest they make, more than a 850 xp ????????????
Since your the expert should it not be the lightest ???? Can you tell all of us ....please.

Well apparently I'm more of an expert than you cause I know the answer,.......but I am not normally known as being that smart...so, hmmm, kinda sucks to be you eh LOL...

PS. your answer.......cause they are a purpose built quad, not marketed as an all around performance quad. But c'mon, quit teasing... you must have known that, FFS.
 

quadboy55

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Well apparently I'm more of an expert than you cause I know the answer,.......but I am not normally known as being that smart...so, hmmm, kinda sucks to be you eh LOL...

PS. your answer.......cause they are a purpose built quad, not marketed as an all around performance quad. But c'mon, quit teasing... you must have known that, FFS.

So...? Purpose doesn't mean squat! Why are race quads purposely built light?

You said quads gotta be light, including mud quads. Thats the vibe I'm recieving anyways... So why is the XMR heavy if your saying quads in general have to be light?
 

rzrgade

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So you say they are a "purpose built quad "just for mud and they are also canam`s heaviest quad....DId you not just blab on the lightest are the best in mud. You better call C/A in the am and tell them they have NFC what they are doing and straighten them out , as well....
All this time i thought they knew there chit and now you prove them wrong...Who woulda thought....
 

LennyR

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I think you fellas should weigh the XMR and the XP, figure out the weight to HP ratio, weigh whatever quad you own, and add 25 to 35 % more weight to yours to maximize that ratio, thereby increasing the performance factor of your bike or S xS. Cause I just want you guys to fully enjoy your experience. Of course we may feel differently about our women also, and thats OK.....cause I subscribe to the same philosophy as quads, but in thinking comparatively...maybe if I thought like you guys a lot of the worry would be eliminated.....cause no one else would want to ride her. LOL
 

quadboy55

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I think you fellas should weigh the XMR and the XP, figure out the weight to HP ratio, weigh whatever quad you own, and add 25 to 35 % more weight to yours to maximize that ratio, thereby increasing the performance factor of your bike or S xS. Cause I just want you guys to fully enjoy your experience. Of course we may feel differently about our women also, and thats OK.....cause I subscribe to the same philosophy as quads, but in thinking comparatively...maybe if I thought like you guys a lot of the worry would be eliminated.....cause no one else would want to ride her. LOL

So your saying you want a girl to resemble an XMR? Thats one of the biggest quads in the market. UGH! I'd hate having a GF that is bigger and more powerful than I.
 

LennyR

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So your saying you want a girl to resemble an XMR? Thats one of the biggest quads in the market. UGH! I'd hate having a GF that is bigger and more powerful than I.

I'm relieved to hear that you even want a GIRLfriend. Riding a Kawasaki I know that the gender preference thing can be a struggle for you guys. ;):beer:
 

quadboy55

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I'm relieved to hear that you even want a GIRLfriend. Riding a Kawasaki I know that the gender preference thing can be a struggle for you guys. ;):beer:

What part of Alberta do you ride in then? Must be a San francisco part I haven't heard about.
 

arff

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Last year one of our girls boyfriends bought a can am..

They go with us most of the time.

He has had nothing but trouble with that thing,,been in the shop after every trip.
Or it doesn't last the weekend..We all ride the same places too..

He is very disappointed with it for what he paid..
We will find out next week on our 8 day trip if it lasts..:(
 

shenry

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These posts are fun to read. It seems the canned hams have their fun factor, that's great. However, these are both utility quads, so why are we so dead stuck in the mud talks and why do Can Ams even go there when the Polaris is better in the mud. But I don't see how you can have more fun on a Can Am just because it weighs less..... because it's a utility quad. If one freight train weighs less than the other, it is still a freight train....how is it that one is more fun???? This thread is titled 800 Can Am vs Polaris 850XP? So lets talk shop so that others don't make a mistake a buy the wrong Quad. So now lets talk pulling power, but why would the hams go there when they pull less. Put it this way if a freight train weighed 5 lbs it would not matter how much power it has, it will not pull it's cars, so weight is an advantage for a utility quad and it's better in the mud...more traction. Lets talk who has a better ride and from these forums it looks like the Polaris is more reliable. Why do people complain about the frames on the Can Ams if the problem does not exist in real life, in real life someone or many must be having problems???? If any of you get stuck in the mud and bury your quad regardless of how much it weighs initially you are going to have to winch it out. No such thing as a little tug and your out, well I shouldn't say no such thing but it is a pretty rare moment/situation when you can just tug on your quad and get out. And if the Polaris is better in the mud then you are going to be using that winch a lot less than if you were on a Can Am. And for some unknown reason to me, some wish to pay more for a Can Am. WOW? Hope I started a Sh*t storm.

Decided to get the rake lift and put 30" zilla's, more clearance, more weight, already have power, should be great, thanks to the help from these forums.
 

papajake

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so if the person on the can am weighs 300 lbs and the person on the xp weighs 125 does that make the can am a less of a mud machine there are so many things that can make the difference rider weight, tire size, how the rider rides have seen 600 sleds outclimb 800s just by rider style
 

quadboy55

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I wouldn't go as far as to say one is more reliable than the other. They all have flaws. My XP seemed to be flawed from the start with clutch issues, oil in the airbox, and breaking output shafts. Outlanders break frames, and I've seen one loose its Visco-Lok... Of corse after 3000 Km.

Don't buy into ads as well. What their rated to tow is BS. Polaris says they have an 850 engine thats better then the Outlanders in terms of HP, go read it on a show room model. I know thats BS because Can-Am's make more power. They also have a better power to weight ratio than the PoPo's. Mud nats is also full of Outlanders.

This doesn't make the XP a bad quad, it does have a smoother ride, slimmer mud-section than the Can-Am, And the Polaris clutch doesn't require any stiffer springs to run mud tires. Perfect clutch... aside from the ultra crappy seal they use.

Kawasaki, great quad. I love mine. More than I did my XP. Its power seems to spool quicker than the XP, but it doesn't have as much as the XP. I can ride this thing harder than I could on my XP as well.

But! Engine braking doesn't work in reverse, and it takes a while for 4X4 to engage. And the diff lock isn't perfect either.
 

shenry

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Lol you obviously don't ride bottomless mud then because anyone who does know weight is your ENEMY not your friend.

Depends on what kind of loon sh%t you get into. I have seen quads at these mud bogs that are floating, so if your quad is too light it floats and hence you never touch bottom...no traction so your not going anywhere. Also there are too many variables to say weight is not your friend, especially because your talking about a purpose built utility Quad. Maybe Can Am figured out their quad was floating so they added some weight. Another fact is bouyancy and you have no idea which quad is lighter under water...because that depends on how much water each quad displaces. Water weighs 1000kg/m3 so if you displace a 1000m3 of water your quad will be a 1000kg lighter under water. So if the polaris displaces more volume of water submerged then it's possible that it is lighter under water than the canned ham. If you are in thick mud where bouyancy has no affect then you can lighten your footprint with a wider tire much like a snowshoe keeps you from sinking in the snow but now go to a water hole and you have more bouyancy because you displace more water. So really squabbling about weight in the mud is a mute point and depends on how your quad is set up and what kind of crap you are in. Anything else you would like to laugh about LOL
 

Steve D

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You can always throw a couple of cement blocks on the racks if you really want to keep the thing from floating. (Or big rocks, or a log, or your mother in law)

I used to have a couple stakes from a logging truck bunk chained to my old 350 for plowing snow in the winter, way back when I was a kid and barely registered on a scale. (oooh, how things change... :( )

On the other hand, you can't take weight off an already heavy quad so easily.
 

arff

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You can always throw a couple of cement blocks on the racks if you really want to keep the thing from floating. (Or big rocks, or a log, or your mother in law)

I used to have a couple stakes from a logging truck bunk chained to my old 350 for plowing snow in the winter, way back when I was a kid and barely registered on a scale. (oooh, how things change... :( )

On the other hand, you can't take weight off an already heavy quad so easily.

Mother inlaw a good idea. Can alway throw her under for traction.
 
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