Hi and help.

[Crow_Hunter]

Hi, guys and gals. This is going to be long so you might want to skip to the end if you want to read the TL;DR portion.

I am in the process of selling my 2007 Honda Rincon and my wife's 2009 Honda Recon and plan on replacing them with some type of SXS. I haven't fully decided though, on what I want to get.

No one company seems to offer exactly what I want. I would really like to buy another Honda as mine have never caused me a bit of trouble. But I don't like the offerings that Honda has. I absolutely love driving my wife's Recon around. It is so much fun to shift through the gears and I like that it has plenty of engine braking. (I live on a very steep hill)

I don't care about high speed and I think that a large amount of horsepower is detrimental to the longevity of components in a SXS weight vehicle. The WWII Jeep only made ~60HP and it weighed ~2,500 lbs.

What I have looked at:

The P1000 is too big and expensive.

The P700 has then same engine and a slightly lower geared transmission than my Rincon, which is one of the things I don't like about my Rincon. I hate that my Rincon will only engine brake down to around 8 MPH. That is still too fast for me and I don't like how tall the gears are in it. I realize the P700 is lower geared but I still don't think it is low enough geared.

The P500 has a really cool transmission that I like but I just don't like the rest of the machine. When I went up to Abernathy's to look at it and I asked a friend of brother that works there to see one, he looked at me really funny but had one brought out anyway, and while I was test driving it, he told my brother to "Please don't let him buy that". I actually liked some of the features on it but there were lots more about it that I didn't like. I really liked the paddle shifters and the manual transmission. I don't like the interior size, I don't like the lack of a bed, I don't like the exposed radiator and I don't like the way I sit in it.

I also checked out the Wolverine while I was there. I drove it around the parking lot and I liked more about it than I did the P500. I really liked the interior, I liked the fact it comes with a roof and I like the protection the radiator has and I like the air intake positions/battery location. I still would rather have a manual transmission though.

I don't really like the YZX1000R as it is set up right now. I live in West TN and all of my SXS usage would either be riding trails in the area and some "farm" usage on some property I own and of course around the house. So a pure sport SXS isn't really something I am 100% interested in. Plus the it is getting out of the price range that I am comfortable with.

I also drove around a Polaris Ranger in the parking lot. I didn't like it at all. My brother used to have a Polaris 500 Sportsman (never any really issues) and a 2008 Rzr 800 that stayed in Abernathy's shop as much as it did in his garage. I don't like the way their 4WD works. I don't like the free-wheeling going downhill unless you keep in the gas. I am just not that much of a Polaris fan.

TL;DR

Nothing out there suits me right now, what do you think the possibility is that Honda will create a Sport/Utility (rather than pure sport or pure utility like the Pioneer) that has a manual transmission with low gearing? Ideally a Yamaha Wolverine type with a Honda Pioneer 500 style transmission.

 

[Admin]

 

[sthomp54]

Sounds like you need to go back and look at the P1000

 

[Plumber32]

Wait a couple months and see what honda releases. A 1000-3 although it's large isn't expensive for what you get.

 

[sharp]

Hi, guys and gals. This is going to be long so you might want to skip to the end if you want to read the TL;DR portion.

I am in the process of selling my 2007 Honda Rincon and my wife's 2009 Honda Recon and plan on replacing them with some type of SXS. I haven't fully decided though, on what I want to get.

No one company seems to offer exactly what I want. I would really like to buy another Honda as mine have never caused me a bit of trouble. But I don't like the offerings that Honda has. I absolutely love driving my wife's Recon around. It is so much fun to shift through the gears and I like that it has plenty of engine braking. (I live on a very steep hill)

I don't care about high speed and I think that a large amount of horsepower is detrimental to the longevity of components in a SXS weight vehicle. The WWII Jeep only made ~60HP and it weighed ~2,500 lbs.

What I have looked at:

The P1000 is too big and expensive.

The P700 has then same engine and a slightly lower geared transmission than my Rincon, which is one of the things I don't like about my Rincon. I hate that my Rincon will only engine brake down to around 8 MPH. That is still too fast for me and I don't like how tall the gears are in it. I realize the P700 is lower geared but I still don't think it is low enough geared.

The P500 has a really cool transmission that I like but I just don't like the rest of the machine. When I went up to Abernathy's to look at it and I asked a friend of brother that works there to see one, he looked at me really funny but had one brought out anyway, and while I was test driving it, he told my brother to "Please don't let him buy that". I actually liked some of the features on it but there were lots more about it that I didn't like. I really liked the paddle shifters and the manual transmission. I don't like the interior size, I don't like the lack of a bed, I don't like the exposed radiator and I don't like the way I sit in it.

I also checked out the Wolverine while I was there. I drove it around the parking lot and I liked more about it than I did the P500. I really liked the interior, I liked the fact it comes with a roof and I like the protection the radiator has and I like the air intake positions/battery location. I still would rather have a manual transmission though.

I don't really like the YZX1000R as it is set up right now. I live in West TN and all of my SXS usage would either be riding trails in the area and some "farm" usage on some property I own and of course around the house. So a pure sport SXS isn't really something I am 100% interested in. Plus the it is getting out of the price range that I am comfortable with.

I also drove around a Polaris Ranger in the parking lot. I didn't like it at all. My brother used to have a Polaris 500 Sportsman (never any really issues) and a 2008 Rzr 800 that stayed in Abernathy's shop as much as it did in his garage. I don't like the way their 4WD works. I don't like the free-wheeling going downhill unless you keep in the gas. I am just not that much of a Polaris fan.

TL;DR

Nothing out there suits me right now, what do you think the possibility is that Honda will create a Sport/Utility (rather than pure sport or pure utility like the Pioneer) that has a manual transmission with low gearing? Ideally a Yamaha Wolverine type with a Honda Pioneer 500 style transmission.

Abernathys is a great dealership but they like to push the polaris brand!

 

[CumminsPusher]

Most dealers push those. They're able to sell more parts, maintenance,shop time,kickbacks and have then the ability to sell something else when it's worn out in 2years

 

[Crow_Hunter]

Abernathys is a great dealership but they like to push the polaris brand!

Yes they are an awesome dealership. They always tell me that "the owner could have anything but he drives a Polaris" and I always say, "the owner can get his worked on for free and gets to the front of the line. "

Actually, the owner is a pretty cool guy. My brother and I shot machine guns with him one time. He let us play with some pretty cool toys.

You won't beat their prices.

 

[500oneer]

Hi, guys and gals. This is going to be long so you might want to skip to the end if you want to read the TL;DR portion.

I am in the process of selling my 2007 Honda Rincon and my wife's 2009 Honda Recon and plan on replacing them with some type of SXS. I haven't fully decided though, on what I want to get.

No one company seems to offer exactly what I want. I would really like to buy another Honda as mine have never caused me a bit of trouble. But I don't like the offerings that Honda has. I absolutely love driving my wife's Recon around. It is so much fun to shift through the gears and I like that it has plenty of engine braking. (I live on a very steep hill)

I don't care about high speed and I think that a large amount of horsepower is detrimental to the longevity of components in a SXS weight vehicle. The WWII Jeep only made ~60HP and it weighed ~2,500 lbs.

What I have looked at:

The P1000 is too big and expensive.

The P700 has then same engine and a slightly lower geared transmission than my Rincon, which is one of the things I don't like about my Rincon. I hate that my Rincon will only engine brake down to around 8 MPH. That is still too fast for me and I don't like how tall the gears are in it. I realize the P700 is lower geared but I still don't think it is low enough geared.

The P500 has a really cool transmission that I like but I just don't like the rest of the machine. When I went up to Abernathy's to look at it and I asked a friend of brother that works there to see one, he looked at me really funny but had one brought out anyway, and while I was test driving it, he told my brother to "Please don't let him buy that". I actually liked some of the features on it but there were lots more about it that I didn't like. I really liked the paddle shifters and the manual transmission. I don't like the interior size, I don't like the lack of a bed, I don't like the exposed radiator and I don't like the way I sit in it.

I also checked out the Wolverine while I was there. I drove it around the parking lot and I liked more about it than I did the P500. I really liked the interior, I liked the fact it comes with a roof and I like the protection the radiator has and I like the air intake positions/battery location. I still would rather have a manual transmission though.

I don't really like the YZX1000R as it is set up right now. I live in West TN and all of my SXS usage would either be riding trails in the area and some "farm" usage on some property I own and of course around the house. So a pure sport SXS isn't really something I am 100% interested in. Plus the it is getting out of the price range that I am comfortable with.

I also drove around a Polaris Ranger in the parking lot. I didn't like it at all. My brother used to have a Polaris 500 Sportsman (never any really issues) and a 2008 Rzr 800 that stayed in Abernathy's shop as much as it did in his garage. I don't like the way their 4WD works. I don't like the free-wheeling going downhill unless you keep in the gas. I am just not that much of a Polaris fan.

TL;DR

Nothing out there suits me right now, what do you think the possibility is that Honda will create a Sport/Utility (rather than pure sport or pure utility like the Pioneer) that has a manual transmission with low gearing? Ideally a Yamaha Wolverine type with a Honda Pioneer 500 style transmission.

I have a 07 rincon and when I first drove the 500 it seemed cramped but it feels big now. The 500 is easy to customize to fit your needs just look around this website for ideas. Welcome to the site and buy a 500 you won't regret it.

 

[Crow_Hunter]

I have a 07 rincon and when I first drove the 500 it seemed cramped but it feels big now. The 500 is easy to customize to fit your needs just look around this website for ideas. Welcome to the site and buy a 500 you won't regret it.

It isn't so much the cramped feeling as the extremely upright bench seating and the wheel well being in the way. I would have to sit with my left leg further back than my right leg the whole time and it felt uncomfortable even driving around the parking lot.

I actually thought very strongly about just getting the P500 and seeing if I even liked having a SXS but when I sat down and priced out some of the "must haves" for me to actually want it, like a bed and a hard top and a skid plate and some type of bumper to protect the radiator in the front, it was right at to slightly more expensive that the Yamaha Wolverine but without the nicer suspension.

So now I am currently looking at maybe a P1000 but pricing that out, I could very nearly by a stripped down P500 for the price differential between the Wolverine and the P1000. So for only a couple grand more I could buy the Wolverine and the P500 for the price of the P1000 with the options that I want on it.

I am still studying about it.

Someone just needs to make a manual shift option Wolverine'ish sport utility SXS!!!!

 

[rocmar]

It isn't so much the cramped feeling as the extremely upright bench seating and the wheel well being in the way. I would have to sit with my left leg further back than my right leg the whole time and it felt uncomfortable even driving around the parking lot.

I actually thought very strongly about just getting the P500 and seeing if I even liked having a SXS but when I sat down and priced out some of the "must haves" for me to actually want it, like a bed and a hard top and a skid plate and some type of bumper to protect the radiator in the front, it was right at to slightly more expensive that the Yamaha Wolverine but without the nicer suspension.

So now I am currently looking at maybe a P1000 but pricing that out, I could very nearly by a stripped down P500 for the price differential between the Wolverine and the P1000. So for only a couple grand more I could buy the Wolverine and the P500 for the price of the P1000 with the options that I want on it.

I am still studying about it.

Someone just needs to make a manual shift option Wolverine'ish sport utility SXS!!!!

Sporty the P500 is not...
but you can dress um up
& take um out....
& turn heads...
This thing is a Goat....
so if looking sporty....&
going fast ...is wat your
looking for....The P500
will Disappoint you....

 

[rocmar]

It isn't so much the cramped feeling as the extremely upright bench seating and the wheel well being in the way. I would have to sit with my left leg further back than my right leg the whole time and it felt uncomfortable even driving around the parking lot.

I actually thought very strongly about just getting the P500 and seeing if I even liked having a SXS but when I sat down and priced out some of the "must haves" for me to actually want it, like a bed and a hard top and a skid plate and some type of bumper to protect the radiator in the front, it was right at to slightly more expensive that the Yamaha Wolverine but without the nicer suspension.

So now I am currently looking at maybe a P1000 but pricing that out, I could very nearly by a stripped down P500 for the price differential between the Wolverine and the P1000. So for only a couple grand more I could buy the Wolverine and the P500 for the price of the P1000 with the options that I want on it.

I am still studying about it.

Someone just needs to make a manual shift option Wolverine'ish sport utility SXS!!!!

.......make the right choice
but we've had nothing but a
good time...riding ours...
had it 2 yrs...dressed up nice
...& that's the fun of it...little
spendy...
can't put a price.....
on a Good time

 

[Tflynn]

Sounds like you need to go back and look at the P1000

Totally agree. @Crow_Hunter you pretty much describe a p1000 to a "t" in your list of wants.

 

[JACKAL]

Hi, guys and gals. This is going to be long so you might want to skip to the end if you want to read the TL;DR portion.

I am in the process of selling my 2007 Honda Rincon and my wife's 2009 Honda Recon and plan on replacing them with some type of SXS. I haven't fully decided though, on what I want to get.

No one company seems to offer exactly what I want. I would really like to buy another Honda as mine have never caused me a bit of trouble. But I don't like the offerings that Honda has. I absolutely love driving my wife's Recon around. It is so much fun to shift through the gears and I like that it has plenty of engine braking. (I live on a very steep hill)

I don't care about high speed and I think that a large amount of horsepower is detrimental to the longevity of components in a SXS weight vehicle. The WWII Jeep only made ~60HP and it weighed ~2,500 lbs.

What I have looked at:

The P1000 is too big and expensive.

The P700 has then same engine and a slightly lower geared transmission than my Rincon, which is one of the things I don't like about my Rincon. I hate that my Rincon will only engine brake down to around 8 MPH. That is still too fast for me and I don't like how tall the gears are in it. I realize the P700 is lower geared but I still don't think it is low enough geared.

The P500 has a really cool transmission that I like but I just don't like the rest of the machine. When I went up to Abernathy's to look at it and I asked a friend of brother that works there to see one, he looked at me really funny but had one brought out anyway, and while I was test driving it, he told my brother to "Please don't let him buy that". I actually liked some of the features on it but there were lots more about it that I didn't like. I really liked the paddle shifters and the manual transmission. I don't like the interior size, I don't like the lack of a bed, I don't like the exposed radiator and I don't like the way I sit in it.

I also checked out the Wolverine while I was there. I drove it around the parking lot and I liked more about it than I did the P500. I really liked the interior, I liked the fact it comes with a roof and I like the protection the radiator has and I like the air intake positions/battery location. I still would rather have a manual transmission though.

I don't really like the YZX1000R as it is set up right now. I live in West TN and all of my SXS usage would either be riding trails in the area and some "farm" usage on some property I own and of course around the house. So a pure sport SXS isn't really something I am 100% interested in. Plus the it is getting out of the price range that I am comfortable with.

I also drove around a Polaris Ranger in the parking lot. I didn't like it at all. My brother used to have a Polaris 500 Sportsman (never any really issues) and a 2008 Rzr 800 that stayed in Abernathy's shop as much as it did in his garage. I don't like the way their 4WD works. I don't like the free-wheeling going downhill unless you keep in the gas. I am just not that much of a Polaris fan.

TL;DR

Nothing out there suits me right now, what do you think the possibility is that Honda will create a Sport/Utility (rather than pure sport or pure utility like the Pioneer) that has a manual transmission with low gearing? Ideally a Yamaha Wolverine type with a Honda Pioneer 500 style transmission.

Welcome @Crow_Hunter , based on your wants with the engine braking you may want to look at a Pioneer 1000-3 EPS they can be had for right at $14K out the door at Abernathys or either dealership down in Chattanooga. To answer your question about what is coming down the pipe none of us will know until July when Honda officially announces the 2017 SXS line up, they have already spilled the beans on all ATV's and motorcycles but nothing yet on the SXS. There is a lot of speculation something new is coming but don't know if it is for 2017 or 2018 and what exactly it will be.

 

[Crow_Hunter]

Welcome @Crow_Hunter , based on your wants with the engine braking you may want to look at a Pioneer 1000-3 EPS they can be had for right at $14K out the door at Abernathys or either dealership down in Chattanooga. To answer your question about what is coming down the pipe none of us will know until July when Honda officially announces the 2017 SXS line up, they have already spilled the beans on all ATV's and motorcycles but nothing yet on the SXS. There is a lot of speculation something new is coming but don't know if it is for 2017 or 2018 and what exactly it will be.

I do like quite a bit about the P1000 but to set it up to a comparably equipped Yamaha Wolverine, it would cost me ~$5,500 more. I don't know if paddle shifters are worth $5,500 to me.

There is a local used P1000 EPS with about 50 miles on it that has a Honda two piece windshield and a hard back panel and a top that they are asking $14,500 for. I might go and see if I could get a steal on that. It is at a Polaris, Kawasaki, Artic Cat, CanAm dealer so they shouldn't want much for it being a Honda and all, right?

 

[Tflynn]

I do like quite a bit about the P1000 but to set it up to a comparably equipped Yamaha Wolverine, it would cost me ~$5,500 more. I don't know if paddle shifters are worth $5,500 to me.

There is a local used P1000 EPS with about 50 miles on it that has a Honda two piece windshield and a hard back panel and a top that they are asking $14,500 for. I might go and see if I could get a steal on that. It is at a Polaris, Kawasaki, Artic Cat, CanAm dealer so they shouldn't want much for it being a Honda and all, right?

View attachment 15481

I wouldn't think of the $5500 as just the cost of paddle shifters. Think of it as the cost of getting the rig you actually want instead of settling for one you'll never be completely happy with.

 

[Crow_Hunter]

I wouldn't think of the $5500 as just the cost of paddle shifters. Think of it as the cost of getting the rig you actually want instead of settling for one you'll never be completely happy with.

Actually the paddle shifters are really the only thing that I like better about the P1000 than the Wolverine. If the Wolverine had the transmission out of the P500 or even better a selectable auto/manual transmission I would have already bought it.

I do like the reduced noise of the P1000 over the CVT whine (at least in the videos I have seen) and I really, really like the paddle shifters. The dumping bed feature would be nice to have but not a requirement.

However, the I like the Wolverine better on just about everything else. It is narrower, lighter, better interior, better seating position, no butt warmer, better visibility and better suspension for my uses.

So it really comes down to how much is that DCT transmission with paddle shifters worth to me.

One question that I haven't actually seen answered yet is can you actually select to run the P1000 in manual? I understand that you can up/down shift at anytime and it will hold it there for a unspecified amount of time but then it reverts to automatic. Can you actually switch it to manual only like you can with a Honda Rincon? On my Rincon, I can switch to manual and hold it in any gear.

I get the impression that isn't possible in the P1000. The impression I get is that the ECM is actually "in control" and only lets you override it for a specific interval of time/specific RPM range but it will take back over when those conditions are met. Is that true?

 

[CumminsPusher]

Yes you can select manual. It will stay in that gear unless you're in 6 and come to a stop of course. I loved being in manual at first...but it does a very very good job of knowing what gear you want. It's not lik a car where you roll up to the stop light and it finally goes from fifth to first it'll downshift based off of your speed throttle pos. And needs. If you want more aggressive riding the sport mode holds gears even longer. I can't stress how awesome this transmission is at all times. this thing is always in the right gear. After owning it I wouldn't be as happy with just the paddles in it but you'd have to own it awhile to know. The manual Yamaha to me would get old having to shift at times when you need more control on the wheel. I thought I'd always be in manual but that isn't the case because you learn to just shift it with your foot on the peddle its impressive! It's incredible in the rough stuff crawling or for a Sunday cruise being nice smooth and quiet

 

[Crow_Hunter]

Well, I just wanted to follow up with this. You guys have a good forum and lots of good people willing to help and lots of activity so I hate to type this. But I want to close the loop on this and give an honest review.

I took my wife and my brother around SXS shopping today. I went to the local dealer that I have been trying to make a deal with on a used Honda P1000 EPS. While I was there, I test drove it with my wife along with a '16 Teryx LE. They actually have a very small test track out behind the dealer with some small little hills and such. It has some very small whoops and such to let you test the articulation.

It was cloudy, around 72 deg F with no wind and the air was pretty damp from the rain all night.

We drove the Teryx first. It did not have a front window or back window but it did have a top. It was not as loud as I was expecting it to be. I didn't like the seating in it as much as I did the Pioneer, even though they were bucket seats and softer. I drove it for around 10 minutes in High and Low range. I don't think we ever got above 10 MPH but I could tell if we did, it would have gotten much louder from how it was "winding up" as we drove. It was noticeably louder in Low versus High range. It did drive a little stiff and I felt like I was sitting up too high, but it wasn't too bad. I had been expecting it to be so loud my wife and I couldn't talk and to be hot. It wasn't. So my answer to the dealer when I got back was "Hmm, not bad, not bad at all."

Then, with a gleam in my eye I asked if I could try out the Pioneer P1000 EPS....

Well, I hate to say this but the P1000 did not live up to my expectations. I hate to say that on this board.

This unit has both the folding front windscreen and the hard back and top on it. My wife and I got in it and cranked it up. Immediately there was an extremely loud piercing whine. My wife looked at me and said, "I really don't like that". Then I proceeded to back it out and drive down the parking lot to the test track. It got worse once we started in motion, to the point of being distracting. I said it is just the gears, maybe it will have a better sound in low range so I stopped and swapped it down. It got worse, much worse. My wife told me to change it back or she was going to get out. So we proceeded to put it through the course. I was extremely surprised at how truly bad the ride was over the articulation compared to the Teryx. I went back over it several times and my wife asked "Why are you going back over that, it is really rough, much worse than the other one". I told her that I thought it was my imagination because it wasn't supposed to be like this. Then she said, "Can we go back? This isn't fun." and I told her that I wanted to try the manual shifter first. So I stopped it and put it into manual mode and drove it around some of the smaller hills but stayed away from the articulation humps per my wife's request. It was kind of neat to upshift but I never got to downshift because it did that for me. I would push it up into second while I was going up the little hill and as I let off the accelerator going down the back side of the hill, it dropped down to 1st gear. I assume because I let off the gas and the RPMs dropped. It wasn't as much fun as I had hoped.

My wife asked "How much longer are you going to fool with this?" I told her I would head back. As we went around the corner towards the dealership my wife said "Feel how hot this is!" and there was a surprisingly large flow of very warm air coming up from between the seats. She said "That might be nice in the winter but not now". I am sure it was because of the hard back panel and the front wind screen but it was quite noticeable even though we were only going about 10 MPH and we had been driving for less than 10 minutes. Unfortunately , the Pioneer did not get the Mrs. Crow Hunter seal of approval...

Needless to say. Today was kind of a disappointing day.

On a good note, this unit had about 50 miles on it and I did not notice any hint of clutch slipping. The shifting was very firm almost to the point of being annoying with a noticeable clanking shift. I really liked the seats though and the ride height was just about perfect. The Teryx is taller than I like and the Wolverine is lower than I like. I also wound up liking the gas pedal and brake position while driving though I didn't while sitting on the lot.

So, I guess this will be my swan song, although I hope I don't get banned. I have enjoyed the short time I have been here and I hope everyone enjoys their machines but I don't think that the Pioneer is going to be in my near future. I don't think it is a bad machine, I just don't think it is the best machine for me and my wife.

Now I will have to go and bug the Wolverine and Teryx owners for a couple more weeks.

 

[joeymt33]

Well, I just wanted to follow up with this. You guys have a good forum and lots of good people willing to help and lots of activity so I hate to type this. But I want to close the loop on this and give an honest review.

I took my wife and my brother around SXS shopping today. I went to the local dealer that I have been trying to make a deal with on a used Honda P1000 EPS. While I was there, I test drove it with my wife along with a '16 Teryx LE. They actually have a very small test track out behind the dealer with some small little hills and such. It has some very small whoops and such to let you test the articulation.

It was cloudy, around 72 deg F with no wind and the air was pretty damp from the rain all night.

We drove the Teryx first. It did not have a front window or back window but it did have a top. It was not as loud as I was expecting it to be. I didn't like the seating in it as much as I did the Pioneer, even though they were bucket seats and softer. I drove it for around 10 minutes in High and Low range. I don't think we ever got above 10 MPH but I could tell if we did, it would have gotten much louder from how it was "winding up" as we drove. It was noticeably louder in Low versus High range. It did drive a little stiff and I felt like I was sitting up too high, but it wasn't too bad. I had been expecting it to be so loud my wife and I couldn't talk and to be hot. It wasn't. So my answer to the dealer when I got back was "Hmm, not bad, not bad at all."

Then, with a gleam in my eye I asked if I could try out the Pioneer P1000 EPS....

Well, I hate to say this but the P1000 did not live up to my expectations. I hate to say that on this board.

This unit has both the folding front windscreen and the hard back and top on it. My wife and I got in it and cranked it up. Immediately there was an extremely loud piercing whine. My wife looked at me and said, "I really don't like that". Then I proceeded to back it out and drive down the parking lot to the test track. It got worse once we started in motion, to the point of being distracting. I said it is just the gears, maybe it will have a better sound in low range so I stopped and swapped it down. It got worse, much worse. My wife told me to change it back or she was going to get out. So we proceeded to put it through the course. I was extremely surprised at how truly bad the ride was over the articulation compared to the Teryx. I went back over it several times and my wife asked "Why are you going back over that, it is really rough, much worse than the other one". I told her that I thought it was my imagination because it wasn't supposed to be like this. Then she said, "Can we go back? This isn't fun." and I told her that I wanted to try the manual shifter first. So I stopped it and put it into manual mode and drove it around some of the smaller hills but stayed away from the articulation humps per my wife's request. It was kind of neat to upshift but I never got to downshift because it did that for me. I would push it up into second while I was going up the little hill and as I let off the accelerator going down the back side of the hill, it dropped down to 1st gear. I assume because I let off the gas and the RPMs dropped. It wasn't as much fun as I had hoped.

My wife asked "How much longer are you going to fool with this?" I told her I would head back. As we went around the corner towards the dealership my wife said "Feel how hot this is!" and there was a surprisingly large flow of very warm air coming up from between the seats. She said "That might be nice in the winter but not now". I am sure it was because of the hard back panel and the front wind screen but it was quite noticeable even though we were only going about 10 MPH and we had been driving for less than 10 minutes. Unfortunately , the Pioneer did not get the Mrs. Crow Hunter seal of approval...

Needless to say. Today was kind of a disappointing day.

On a good note, this unit had about 50 miles on it and I did not notice any hint of clutch slipping. The shifting was very firm almost to the point of being annoying with a noticeable clanking shift. I really liked the seats though and the ride height was just about perfect. The Teryx is taller than I like and the Wolverine is lower than I like. I also wound up liking the gas pedal and brake position while driving though I didn't while sitting on the lot.

So, I guess this will be my swan song, although I hope I don't get banned. I have enjoyed the short time I have been here and I hope everyone enjoys their machines but I don't think that the Pioneer is going to be in my near future. I don't think it is a bad machine, I just don't think it is the best machine for me and my wife.

Now I will have to go and bug the Wolverine and Teryx owners for a couple more weeks.

I haven't spent much time in the competing rigs but @500 is trading a almost new wolverine for a P1000. Maybe he could let us know why.


Sent from my iPad 7G

 

[CumminsPusher]

Well, I just wanted to follow up with this. You guys have a good forum and lots of good people willing to help and lots of activity so I hate to type this. But I want to close the loop on this and give an honest review.

I took my wife and my brother around SXS shopping today. I went to the local dealer that I have been trying to make a deal with on a used Honda P1000 EPS. While I was there, I test drove it with my wife along with a '16 Teryx LE. They actually have a very small test track out behind the dealer with some small little hills and such. It has some very small whoops and such to let you test the articulation.

It was cloudy, around 72 deg F with no wind and the air was pretty damp from the rain all night.

We drove the Teryx first. It did not have a front window or back window but it did have a top. It was not as loud as I was expecting it to be. I didn't like the seating in it as much as I did the Pioneer, even though they were bucket seats and softer. I drove it for around 10 minutes in High and Low range. I don't think we ever got above 10 MPH but I could tell if we did, it would have gotten much louder from how it was "winding up" as we drove. It was noticeably louder in Low versus High range. It did drive a little stiff and I felt like I was sitting up too high, but it wasn't too bad. I had been expecting it to be so loud my wife and I couldn't talk and to be hot. It wasn't. So my answer to the dealer when I got back was "Hmm, not bad, not bad at all."

Then, with a gleam in my eye I asked if I could try out the Pioneer P1000 EPS....

Well, I hate to say this but the P1000 did not live up to my expectations. I hate to say that on this board.

This unit has both the folding front windscreen and the hard back and top on it. My wife and I got in it and cranked it up. Immediately there was an extremely loud piercing whine. My wife looked at me and said, "I really don't like that". Then I proceeded to back it out and drive down the parking lot to the test track. It got worse once we started in motion, to the point of being distracting. I said it is just the gears, maybe it will have a better sound in low range so I stopped and swapped it down. It got worse, much worse. My wife told me to change it back or she was going to get out. So we proceeded to put it through the course. I was extremely surprised at how truly bad the ride was over the articulation compared to the Teryx. I went back over it several times and my wife asked "Why are you going back over that, it is really rough, much worse than the other one". I told her that I thought it was my imagination because it wasn't supposed to be like this. Then she said, "Can we go back? This isn't fun." and I told her that I wanted to try the manual shifter first. So I stopped it and put it into manual mode and drove it around some of the smaller hills but stayed away from the articulation humps per my wife's request. It was kind of neat to upshift but I never got to downshift because it did that for me. I would push it up into second while I was going up the little hill and as I let off the accelerator going down the back side of the hill, it dropped down to 1st gear. I assume because I let off the gas and the RPMs dropped. It wasn't as much fun as I had hoped.

My wife asked "How much longer are you going to fool with this?" I told her I would head back. As we went around the corner towards the dealership my wife said "Feel how hot this is!" and there was a surprisingly large flow of very warm air coming up from between the seats. She said "That might be nice in the winter but not now". I am sure it was because of the hard back panel and the front wind screen but it was quite noticeable even though we were only going about 10 MPH and we had been driving for less than 10 minutes. Unfortunately , the Pioneer did not get the Mrs. Crow Hunter seal of approval...

Needless to say. Today was kind of a disappointing day.

On a good note, this unit had about 50 miles on it and I did not notice any hint of clutch slipping. The shifting was very firm almost to the point of being annoying with a noticeable clanking shift. I really liked the seats though and the ride height was just about perfect. The Teryx is taller than I like and the Wolverine is lower than I like. I also wound up liking the gas pedal and brake position while driving though I didn't while sitting on the lot.

So, I guess this will be my swan song, although I hope I don't get banned. I have enjoyed the short time I have been here and I hope everyone enjoys their machines but I don't think that the Pioneer is going to be in my near future. I don't think it is a bad machine, I just don't think it is the best machine for me and my wife.

Now I will have to go and bug the Wolverine and Teryx owners for a couple more weeks.

@Crow_Hunter don't you dare come around here after buying a damn Yamaha!!!

Just kidding man it's still a Japanese company but we will miss you and hopefully you'll be happy with your purchase thanks for b.s.ing here you definitely do some research and have ideas that's good. I'm sure we'll see you again...when you come to your senses don't be a stranger.

 

[500]

I haven't spent much time in the competing rigs but @500 is trading a almost new wolverine for a P1000. Maybe he could let us know why.

Sent from my iPad 7G

Different strokes for different folks.
Wolverine rides great and climbs like a billy goat in 4W lock. However, I want turf mode and more seats.
There is nothing inherently wrong with the Wolverine, but I like the Honda more - especially after driving both.
If you think the pioneer whines loud, stay away from a Yamaha Duramatic trans over 20mph. It doesn't bother me, but I also thought the pioneer gear whine was "normally quiet" especially compared to a Suzuki Samurai, '65 Wyllis, or older Jeep Wrangler whining when you are pulling too tall. Please test one over 20mph with your wife on board because if she nixed the Pioneer she will def nix this for whining very loudly (since she thought the Pioneer whined loud).
I also don't like the "feel" of the Wolverine.
Annoying spring loaded doors, sit too low, etc. I am used to driving old straight axle 4x4's so I like the way you sit up and on top of the Pioneer rather than down in a cockpit much like my RZR (although the Wolverine is much better and roomier than the RZR was). Storage in the Wolverine is top notch though.
I have owned a P500, so I am 100% used to the straight cut gears and clunking when shifting. I don't even hear it, whereas someone coming from a Yamaha or Polaris would definitely say "what is that noise?" I enjoy the racecar feel of powering through the gears (which given, you couldn't do on a 10mph demo course.)
Funny about the ride - I have real world experience in both and I don't see how you could be disappointed in the P1000 as both ride excellent to myself. The P500 however is pretty harsh.
It's all perception and feel I guess. Like I said, different strokes for different folks.