Alright folks this weekend I stopped in at a local dealership and checked out the all new Arctic Cat Wildcat Sport 700, and might I say this is a very nice looking unit. Here are the specs...
Power plant= 700cc fuel injected inline twin 4 stroke
HP= 60+HP
Transmission= Rapid response clutch with selectable H/L/R/P
Fuel Capacity= 7.4 Gal
Front Suspension= 12.2" dual A-arms
Rear Suspension= 12.6" dual A-arms
Dry Weight=1054
Wheelbase=84.6"
2WD/4WD=Selectable 2WD/4WD with locking front differential
PROS
Along with the list of specs the base model sport cost is ($13,399) which comes with steel wheels and JRi ECX-1 shocks and the option of lime green or red. The Sport XT ($13,999) comes with cast-aluminum wheels, automotive style paint, and color matched suspension arms. It is available in Viper Blue or Vibrant Red Metallic. The Sport Limited EPS ($15,699) features electric power steering, Elka Stage 5 Shocks with dual-speed compression and rebound adjustability, full aluminum doors, an under hood storage box, automotive style paint, and color matched suspension arms. It is available in White Metallic and Matte Black. All the sport models are 60" wide, offer a 300 pound payload in the rear cargo area, 2" receiver, and 1,500 pound towing capacity. They come stock with 26" Carlisle Trail Pro tires, dual piston caliper hydraulic brakes, and high-back bucket seats.
CONS
The things that I noticed most as I walked around and sat inside this machine as far as negatives go are non adjustable seats, not a lot of storage inside the machine, and the price is a little steep for only a 700 cc machine. I was also informed by the dealer that the motor is not an Arctic Cat motor that it is a Kymco motor, I have not done a whole lot of research on Kymco but I have noticed that they have a whole new line up of UTV's in the market this year.
Looks and Styling
In this department hands down the Arctic Cat Wildcat 700 Sport has got the look. It features nice graphics, automotive style paint, nice solid body with built in rock sliders, nice solid roll cage, and super easy access to cleaning. Also despite the seats not being adjustable they are nice and plush and there is a descent amount of legroom available. And the ground clearance is a respectable 13" which is plenty to get around in the rough stuff.
YAMAHA'S NEW UNIT
As we all got the exciting news that yamaha was coming out with a new UTV and all the rumors spread about how amazing it was going to be.... Then it finally comes out and I have to say I'm not very impressed with Yamaha's all new 700 Wolverine even the name is not original since they already have an ATV out that has been around for years called the Wolverine. To me this thing just looks like a smaller version of the Rhino. My local dealership says they should be getting some of these units in around the April time frame so I will have more info on them as soon as they arrive and I do my own walk around.
2015CAN-AMS NEW TURBO MAVERICK 1000 X DS VS 2015 Polaris RZR XP 1000 EPS As I sat here this weekend reading over the shootout article of the all NEW TURBO MAVERICK 1000 X DS VS The Polaris RZR XP 1000 EPS I noticed a few key things that stuck out on the comparison between the two. The Can-Am comes stock with bead locks and 28" Maxxis Big Horns, front 15" travel Fox shocks and rear 16" travel Fox shocks. While the Polaris does not have bead locks it instead has cast aluminum wheels with stock 29" Maxxis Big Horns which give it that extra half inch of ground clearance over the Can-am, Front shocks are Walker Evans with 16" travel, Rear shocks are Walker Evans with 18" travel. The ride of the Polaris is said to be a much smoother ride where as the Can Am has 121Hp compared to the Polaris's 101 Hp. While the Can-am weighs in at 20 pounds more than the Polaris it also has half an inch less ground clearance at 13" where the RZR has 13.5 given the larger tires. The Can-am does have some nice high tech features including 2 different keys one which limits the speed to 47 MPH compared to it's 82 MPH with the normal key, it also features a mode select to go from sport and eco mode. Also another great feature of the can am is the steering mode selection which the Polaris does not have. Both machines top out at 82 Mph and both have a lot of different features. The polaris comes stock with half doors while the Can am comes with nets. In the end the Can am has the hp and interior mode select features and stock bead locks while the polaris has the plusher ride half doors and larger stock tires. All in all these are both great machines and I think for me to decide I would have to test drive them both.
