ATV of the Year

Polaris Sportsman 800 Twin EFI
2004 was a hallmark year for pure sport ATVs, with the introduction of the Yamaha YFZ450 and Honda TRX450R, which have become the standard tools at racetracks across the country. The entire industry was abuzz with the news of these two race-ready machines. 2005 is a different story, as the sport category barely made a whimper. With only slight updates to alter the terrain of the sport-quad landscape, where did the OEMs spend their R&D dollars?

The big news this year was big: Big utility machines with big motors dominated the headlines. Kawasaki started it all with the introduction of the Brute Force 750 4x4i. A massively powerful motor combined with an aggressive automatic transmission and diff-locker--the Brute defied being pigeonholed as a pure utility quad, while its hefty weight and grandiose size kept it from being truly considered a sport quad.

Hot on the heels of the Brute Force came news that Suzuki had revived the venerable KingQuad. Resisting the urge to push the motor past current displacement capacities, Suzuki showed the idea behind the KingQuad wasn't touting jaw-dropping specs but trying to develop a well-rounded and capable package.

Last, but not least, Polaris dropped an 800cc bomb on the ATV community with the addition of the Sportsman 800 Twin EFI to its heavily revamped lineup of Sports-man utility machines.

As the biggest of the big boys, Polaris' Sportsman 800 Twin EFI came, saw and conquered all in our Big-Bore Open 4x4 comparison (April '05). Relishing the loamy dirt and rocky, rutted and root-filled trails of North Carolina, the Sportsman climbed up and crawled over every obstacle thrown at it.

Ostensibly the most-obvious feature of the Sportsman 800, the gargantuan twin-cylinder engine is massively proportioned by today's standards yet maintains one of the most-civil demeanors. Fitted with a responsive fuel-injection system, the Sports-man offers turnkey starting and no-hassle operation. Push the throttle, and you are propelled forward. Polaris' transmission was a pioneering CVT unit that offered engine-braking and well-sorted responses to throttle inputs. Although the trans is no longer at the top of the heap, the powerplant that drives through it is much closer to the pinnacle of ATV performance.

One of the most commonly appreciated features of the big Sportsman is the spacious layout of the large chassis. Sturdy and perhaps overbuilt, the chassis is shared throughout the model range and offers heavy payload towing and carrying capacities, enabling the 800 Twin EFI to be equally at home at work or at play. Supporting all of this is a well-damped suspension that offers more front travel thanks to a slight redesign. Shod with Polaris' excellent PXT tires, the chassis, suspension and rubber make a potent combination that fares well in a broad variety of terrain.

Finally, the 800 offers fit and finish that one-ups nearly every other model in its class, highlighting the attention to detail that went into Polaris' flagship model and pushing it to the top in our book, earning the title 2005 ATV of the Year!

Honorable Mention:
Suzuki KingQuad 700 4x4

Suzuki revived the KingQuad nameplate this year to considerable fanfare. With a completely new chassis and drivetrain, the King-Quad had lofty goals and stiff competition. For what amounts to a first effort, it came amazingly close to walking away with ATV of the Year honors.

While it is on the smaller side of the current crop of Open-class brute engines, the KingQuad's 700cc powerplant is no slouch. With a thoroughly modern design, Suzuki takes advantage of some trickle-down technology from both its dirt bike and sportbike models. Straight downdraft intake tracts and a compact engine allow the KingQuad to boast similar power characteristics to some bigger motors while retaining less weight and a tighter layout.

Aggressive four-wheelers will like the KingQuad's power delivery and convenient controls that allow the rider to select between two- and four-wheel-drive, with a manual diff-lock control. Ergonomics and controls are spot on, with the KingQuad's only downside being bettered in the handling department by the competition. With a little refinement, this King should have a healthy reign.

Feature of the Year:
Electronic Fuel Injection

Electronic fuel injection has become one of the hottest new features for ATVs. Long a standard in the automotive world, it offers several benefits that make it highly likely that your next quad will be EFI. First and foremost, fuel injection offers higher performance than its carbureted equivalent. Why? When fuel is sprayed through an injector, it atomizes into finer droplets than the air drawn through a carburetor. Finer atomization results in a better mixture, which produces more power. The auto-correcting adjustability of electronic fuel injection allows the motor to run at the proper mixture throughout the entire rpm range, in finer increments than the three fuel circuits of a carburetor can allow.

With more efficiency and constant adjustability, fuel-injected motors typically run cleaner, passing tighter emissions standards than a carbureted motor could. While this may not be a consideration in your state yet, don't count out the possibility of emissions standards in the very near future. Lastly, fuel injection offers the user-friendliness people demand in today's modern world. Accustomed to "get in and turn the key" autos, consumers will soon be requiring the same kind of convenience from their ATVs that they do from the other machines in their lives.

Why isn't my ATV fuel-injected? That's a good question, and here are some of the most likely answers: benefit, cost and complexity. Chances are, if you are riding a machine with an older engine design, the benefits from the efficiency of fuel injection are going to be lost on the inefficient motor. The electronics, injectors and changes to the physical plumbing of the machine required to run fuel injection all add up to production costs that can raise the bottom line on a model. In price-competitive segments, the bonus of having fuel injection may be outweighed by the additional cost to the dealer and rider. Lastly, fuel injection is more complex than a carburetor. The sophistication that allows injection to offer more-precise monitoring of air and fuel is brought about by micro-processors, injectors, regulators and return lines.

We expect more of the ATVs that fit into "adventure" categories and work categories to receive injection first. These high-dollar models are aimed at luxury-market buyers, who are used to paying higher prices and operating more user-friendly equipment. Contrary to popular opinion, the current crop of 450 moto-cross machines may be one of the later segments to join the injection party. Most moto-cross machines operate under a fairly tight range of conditions, making the adaptability of injection less beneficial. The added cost and complexity also weigh unfavorably in the outlook of injected 450s. Unless the quad is redesigned to reap the packaging benefits (straighter downdraft intake tracts, anyone?) of fuel injection, or that last horsepower (from a stock machine) becomes more important, there is little impetus for OEMs to inject their race-ready machinery ... for now.