First Ride: Polaris Sportsman 700 EFI

Ascending the slopes of Mount Antero, a 14,000-plus-foot peak in central Colorado, I muttered to myself, "Why don't they make electronic fuel-injected ATVs?" The Polaris Sportsman 400 I was riding up this spectacular peak was jetted for 8000-foot riding and was having some serious motivation issues past the 11,000-foot mark. Luckily, with a belt transmission, the quad would find its own sweet spot and adjust accordingly. Not so with the Yamaha Raptor that was smoking me most of the way along the climb past about 7000 feet. The Raptor pilot threw in the towel less than 500 vertical feet from the top of the mountain rather than smoke his clutch trying to get the thing to climb the rest of the way. I, on the other hand, on the trusty Sportsman, chugged up the last couple hundred yards to the top at 3 mph, as indicated on the speedo. But, hey, the view was worth it. Less than a week later, Polaris took us to the Black Hills of South Dakota to ride--guess what--an EFI-equipped quad. The Sportsman 700 EFI is the first of a new breed of ATV, capable of virtually ignoring annoying issues such as rejetting for altitude. The 700 EFI is the same quad as the Sportsman 700 but equipped with port-style electronic fuel injection and all the attendant equipment: a fuel pump, an electronic ignition, etc.

In addition to the aforementioned benefits of altitude compensation, the EFI version has the ability to diagnose engine woes, get better gas mileage (a claimed 18 percent improvement), slightly better performance and throttle response and better bottom-end modulation. In earlier testing of both the 600- and 700-twin motored Polarises, we complained of jerky engagement at the bottom-end in technical riding situations, especially going uphill, as the torquey motors would lift the front end right off the ground--not the sort of thing most people want. We tested the EFI version extensively in such situations in South Dakota and can confirm that it's far superior to the carbureted model in tight spots. In fact, on a number of occasions we stopped on steep grades with a vertical obstacle right in front of the front tires to see what it would do, and the 700 was nothing but a gentleman, smoothly engaging the belt and chugging forward, taming the formerly savage beast.

That and the rough cold-weather starts on the carbureted version combined to drop the big Sportsmen in past comparisons. With these problems solved in EFI guise, the 700 is a contender for the best big-bore out there.

The only other change on the EFI from prior versions of the 700 we've tested were the new Carlisle Badlands XTR radials mounted on it and all the other Sportsmen this year. These, too, provide a vast enhancement in traction across a wider variety of conditions than the old Goodyear Rawhide Grip tires, which were specialized for mud running. In the rocky, steep Black Hills, the Carlisles were just the thing.

So with some significant improvements in key areas, the 700 returns more capable, friendlier and more potent than before. Stay tuned for our big Open-class test next issue with this retooled 700 going up against a more-potent 700 Prairie, the returning Rincon and a new 650 from Arctic Cat.