Crunch! Clang! Pop! The sounds resonating from the underbellies of six utility quads as we slogged through the heart of Pennsylvania's coal country could have filled the pages of an old Batman comic book during a fight sequence. Screech! went the brakes on long, slippery descents. Whack! said the front racks as we blew through tight turns and slammed into rock-hard oak trees. Scrunch! moaned the skid plates as we tried to punch right through them with sharp-edged, gnarly piles of rocks. Hot exhaust systems hissed and sizzled like bacon in a frying pan as we plunged into icy creeks and mud holes. Four-wheel-drive and locking front differentials churned through milkshake-consistency slop as ATV Rider invaded the East Coast for some utility testing.
In short, we rode the hell out of these machines over three days, riding them as if we'd stolen them and then laughed at one another about each broken grille, steaming radiator, lost plastic fender rivet and sheared-off trailer hitch all the way back to the trailhead. The 450cc 4x4 utility market is hotly contested and full of bravado and swagger-just look at the advertising. One manufacturer claims its ATVs are the "Best On Earth." Another popular brand uses rough-and-tumble professional bull riders to endorse its machines. A third has stated about its quads, "There ain't an ounce of turn-back in 'em." Finally, another bigwig from an American manufacturer even challenged other company CEOs to a "duel" to settle, once and for all, who builds the best ATVs. That's all fine talk for the dealership showroom, of course, but what about where the rubber meets the trail? Can any of these six ATVs really back up that kind of braggadocio, or is it all just a figment of their respective marketing departments' imaginations?
That's where we come in. It would have been easy for the ATV Rider staff to stay in sunny California and go on a trail ride, engage four-wheel-drive a few times, form a hasty opinion and call it good. Instead, we traveled cross-country to Rausch Creek Motorsports in Valley View, Pennsylvania, and assembled a ragtag group of ATV test monkeys to batter away at what the industry has to offer, punching a time clock for a few days with what many consider to be the blue-collar, everyman ATV: the 400-450cc 4x4 utility. We tested the Honda Rancher 420 ES, Yamaha Grizzly 450, Suzuki KingQuad 450, Can-Am Outlander 400, Arctic Cat 400 and the Polaris Sportsman 450 ... all of which were equipped with four-wheel-drive, and some with locking front differentials.
Some of our testers were tall and skinny; some shorter and ... not so skinny. Some were highly skilled, and some were clumsy and inept, like yours truly. We both worked and played on all six machines to give you the most accurate idea of which model is most deserving of a spot in your garage, while testing in ways abusive enough to make engineers break clipboards over their knees in disgust. Enjoy!
Arctic Cat 400 Automatic
Decked out in lime green and brandishing a front grille reminiscent of a Jeep Grand Cherokee, the Arctic Cat 400 4x4 Automatic was easy on the eyes of some of our testers. Speaking of easy, the $5949 Arctic Cat started faster than wildfire. Without even using the choke, the 400 purred away about half a second after pressing the starter button. This was impressive, considering that daytime temperatures in Valley View hovered in the 20s and 30s, and the Arctic Cat is carbureted. This Cat has some long legs, too; it boasts a foot of ground clearance (which is best in class), and we were hard-pressed to get it to scrape over obstacles that hung up and momentarily stopped forward progress on other ATVs.
Unfortunately, those are about the only good things we have to say about the Arctic Cat 400 4x4 Automatic. Those of you who like to ride your ATV faster than 20 mph will find the Arctic Cat a disappointment because the general consensus among our group is that the 400 just ... won't ... turn. Period. We were as patient as could be with the Arctic Cat, blaming the tire pressure first. We checked, and the pressure was correct. Then, we blamed the tires themselves. The Goodyear Rawhides that are stock equipment on the Arctic Cat 400 aren't the best tires in the world, but they're not $20 Wal-Mart specials, either. We finally blamed each other for not leaning into the turns hard enough, but after quickly passing the Cat around among ourselves, we came to the conclusion that the steering geometry needs a complete redesign. Perhaps there is too much positive caster in the design that makes the 400 want to track so straight and true ... even when you don't want it to.
After being impressed by the sporty Arctic Cat DVX 400 in last month's issue, we were hoping for similar catlike reflexes from A.C.'s 400 4x4 utility. But the truth is that, compared to smaller and more nimble quads in this test, this kitty wallows in the turns like a house cat that just ate a bunch of Thanksgiving leftovers. On the bright side, a convenient, easy-to-access storage box sits right on top of the airbox, and a better-than-usual tool kit is hidden under the seat. Shifting the 400 into gear was pretty painless, and a 2-inch receiver hitch and stout frame let us know that this machine is ready for work. However, ergonomic quibbles, like only one brake lever on the handlebar, a foot-operated rear brake pedal that sits ridiculously high and a diff-lock lever that requires the rider to remove his or her right hand from the handlebar instead of just pressing a button with a thumb cost the Arctic Cat some points. The 376cc engine also seemed a little outgunned compared to the competition.
Who will like the Arctic Cat? Mudders. We have no doubt that we'll be seeing plenty of Arctic Cats at the Mud Nationals in Texas (look for that story in next month's issue). With the best ground clearance and a beefy frame, it's no wonder so many people choose Arctic Cats as a starting point for their wild, one-off, mud-bogging creations. For the rest of us who want to do a little trail-riding without experiencing excessive "pushing" through turns and stiff suspension, there are better choices than the 400 4x4 Automatic. It's not that the A.C. is a terrible quad by any means; it's just that the competition has stepped up their game, making the 400 feel about a generation behind.
Can-Am Outlander 400
We Can-Am, can you? What impressed us most about the buttery yellow $6299 Can-Am Outlander 400 was the Rotax engine. Even though it was pitted against 450cc models, the 400cc Rotax proved to be a scrappy contender in the power department. We were initially hoping that the Outlander 400's engine was the awesome, fuel-injected 800cc V-twin from the Outlander 800 cut in half. Alas, the 400 comes with carburetion. But it started easily enough, ran well and had that throaty, husky Can-Am engine growl without being overly loud.
The Outlander 400's four-wheel-drive system features a Visco-Lok locking front differential. Visco-Lok progressively transfers power from a spinning wheel to one with more traction. This happens automatically, and is one less thing to worry about when maneuvering through a slippery section of trail. The 4WD switch snicked into place easily, and the other controls in the cockpit were laid out well.
Although the 400 steers pretty well and has a nice ride, braking seemed to be a chink in its armor. When stopping hard (which was pretty much every stop for us!), the brakes made a horrible grinding sound, the same thing happened after a quick dunk across a creek. The one-lever brake system was universally panned among our test crew, yet we had to admit that the lever did feel very firm and gave us confidence. We'd like the Can-Am a lot better if we had individual control over the front and rear brakes with another lever on the handlebar.
Shifting the Outlander into gear was trouble-free, and it features nice storage room. The cargo racks worked well, and the seat is comfortable. So why aren't we gushing about the Can-Am Outlander 400? Something about the overall riding experience just didn't do it for us. Maybe the suspension was too pillowy, or the seat was too wide toward the back. Other machines in the group seemed to give a more spirited riding experience, overall.
Honda FourTrax Rancher 420 ES
Sometimes you feel like a nut; sometimes you don't. With apologies to the people at Almond Joy and Mounds, sometimes you feel like shifting, and sometimes you don't. The all-new $5499 Honda Rancher 420 proved to be the most polarizing ATV in the bunch. Some loved the ESP (Electric Shift Program), while some wanted a totally automatic riding experience. There wasn't, however, any debate about whether or not ESP works, because it does-every time. Well, almost every time; the one incident in which we noticed that the Rancher 420 wouldn't upshift was while we were yanking half a ton of loaded trailer through a mud hole at full throttle, so we'll cut Honda some slack here. The other 99.99 percent of the time, ESP shifts crisply and precisely, whether you back off the throttle for a quarter of a second or shift under full throttle.
While CVT transmissions can have a vague and somewhat disconnected feeling, the five-speed, electric shifting Rancher provides a "direct-drive" sensation that makes it feel sportier than the competition and really makes the most of its 420cc, fuel-injected powerplant. For steep, slippery descents in snowy Pennsylvania, simply pushing a button to downshift and gain additional engine braking was a welcome feature. Conversely, if we wanted to "wind her out" a bit and hit the rev-limiter before shifting, we had control over that, too.
The new Rancher 420 has very quick handling, which is a definite improvement over the last generation Rancher. We were pleased to see two brake levers on the handlebar to give us individual control over front and rear. Though the front brake feels firm because it's a dual hydraulic disc, the rear mechanical drum brake feels wimpy, and the lever must be squeezed until it almost touches the grip before you feel you're actually applying any braking action. A chintzy storage compartment in the back doesn't hold much, and there is no button on the handlebar to engage and disengage 4WD. Rather, you must take your left hand off the bar and move a lever on the left-front fender-a feature everyone hated. When the going got rough, we found ourselves instinctively stabbing at the handlebar with our thumbs, hoping to find a 4WD button not there.
The Honda Rancher ES is the only ATV in this test with a solid rear axle; every other quad had independent rear suspension. Some riders liked the sporty ride that the solid rear axle delivered, and some thought it was beating their lower back into submission. The reverse mechanism wasn't too hard to master, but there is still some room for improvement to make the process feel a little more natural. We'd like to be able to downshift from first into neutral and then into reverse without having to press a button near the rear brake lever and hold it down while squeezing the lever, though that's still better than twisting a knob as on most sport quads. These are minor faults-but enough to bar the Honda from the top spot.