P500 Need Help! P500, or Polaris Ranger?

[LindaMT]

Hi,
I’m new here but have spent considerable time reading all the posts. Thanks for all the great info. My brother and I are very close to buying a SXS but we are at a bit of a little stalemate. I am sold on the Pioneer 500 but he is concerned that the suspension isn’t as good as the Polaris Ranger 570 sxs. He thinks the Pioneer will be too rough going down the trails. I’m in MT. and he is in FL. The SXS will live and be used here is MT. so there will be hard ground, mountains and lots of rocks. Personally I won’t be doing a lot of screamin’ around so I’m not worried about the 5.9” travel (Honda) vs. 9-10”(Polaris) on the suspension. He will probably be going faster. What’s your experience? I need some ammo for my side of the skirmish. Thanks Linda

 

[Admin]

 

[hoggr9]

I have no exp with the polaris.but I have a p5 and love it. It is not a speed demon it will run 40 but thats pushing it hard.
It will cruise easily at 25ish.
3 big selling points for me were.
1 being able to control what gear I am in
2 NO rubberband in transmission
3 ITS A HONDA

 

[mikeyd]

Never had a polaris but Ive had the p500 since July.
I can comfortably cruise at 40 (dirt/gravel rd) no problem
Handles rough terrain and snow great.
Glad I got it!

 

[coonhunter70]

Get the p500 and put some 26 or 27" radial tires on it.
Or get the Polaris if you enjoy doing repairs.

 

[William]

P500...

 

[WalleyeWacker]

I bought the Pioneer 500 because of quality. You can feel,it when you drive it. I added hardtop, front ,rear bumpers, winch, and WEN Moose plow. I use it for getting on the lake ice fishing , starts in -10 below just like that,
Plows like a champ and the paddle shifting is a blast . You cannot go wrong with this machine

 

[Hondasxs]

Welcome WalleyeWacker.
Glad to have you aboard. Love to here and see more about your ice fishing trips.
Hope to see u around.

 

[Mypioneer]

Love my P500 so far.

 

[ksss]

The biggest advantage to the Honda SXS over the RZR 570 is the Honda is a Honda. That said the roll out for the 500 has not been Honda like as I was expecting it to be.

I have owned Honda all my life and in 2011 I sold a 500 Rubicon and a 400 Rancher and bought an 800 RZR. There is no stat that you can use to sell the Honda. Honda bunted on the 500. The limitations of the machine have been gone over many times but they are small engine displacement, low top end speed, limited suspension travel, and lack of an automatic tranny are some of the main issues.

The Polaris 570 is a good machine, the engine was made to go in a SXS unlike the 800. Lot of upgrades over the original RZR design. It is a Polaris so the level of engineering and quality is not likely to be on the same level as a Honda, although I have over 2K on my Polaris and it has never broken down. I will not defend Polaris and claim it to on par with a typical Honda product from a quality perspective because it is not. However Honda needed to make a SXS that could compete with everyone else in the market from a performance perspective. That is what you do when you are 6 years behind in bringing a SXS to market. They failed in that regard because it is not competitive in the dirt.

As to which is the better machine for you, I think that depends a lot on how your ride. If you are not a very demanding trail rider, and having a Honda product trumps performance, than get the 500.

 

[hondarock]

Buy the Honda if you want great reliability. If the trail is very rough it will probably last forever because you will leave it sitting in the garage while you ride with the guy that owns a Polaris.

If you want comfort and performance and good reliability and a machine you will like to get in and drive then get the Polaris. I have a mid size 800 and it has been great, I love it.

 

[Fordman]

I Came from Polaris rzr 900 to the p500 and love it ! For what we do it's great & no more tranny worries!

 

[ohanacreek]

I believe Honda is a more conservative company, they are quality, all around good, fun machines, if you are not a pure B.A.S.E. jumping, MX backflipping adrenaline junky or if you don't constantly compare your junk to everyone else's based on what you buy (which is not the logical reason to buy anything) You can have a lot of fun, Honda will get you there and back and there and back and there and back....and so one and so on. I've said it before, out of all the powersports brands I've owned Honda is the SINGULAR BRAND I got to ride instead of repair. The 500 really amazes me in what it can go over and through, impressive machine capability wise especially considering the size, use type, and engine output. You should decide what your usage is going to be and buy a machine to fit that, not what the salesman wants you to buy or thinks is cool, or will make him the most money. If we weren't growing a family and I didn't like having fun with my friends who don't have SXSs. I would not mind having a 500 or a 700-2, but we have one kid and hopefully more in our future so a 1000-5 is due to fill my garage whenever Honda lets me finally obtain one.


The 500 may not have the ride of the rzr, its also NOT A SPORT MACHINE, YOU CANT COMPARE THE TWO the Pioneer is more comparable to a ranger, not a rzr. If you want a sport machine that says Honda you will have to wait a bit. You can't compare a Ford Raptor to a F250, the F250 can pull and haul a lot more than the Raptor and the F250 may even have more power and torque, BUT they were built for two different purposes. The 500 does have stubby a-arms. They are SHORT, but its NOT A LONG TRAVEL SPORT MACHINE, I can hope and wish all I want that the Chevy truck parked in my driveway was as sporty as a Chevy Corvette but even though they are both Chevys with V8's mine is just not as sporty and it never will be.
*Deep breath*, Sport machine rant over.

 

[hondarock]

Okay. The OP's question was about a Ranger and a Pioneer.
I have to agree with you about the short stubby a arms. The Ranger is almost a desert racer in comparison. Even my little narrow Ace 570 has 8" and 9" of travel.
I have owned several rubber bands since 1996 and I have never had to replace a belt. I have 1600 plus miles on my Ranger and I figure the belt will be good for at least 5000. Our riding is mostly hilly terrain so it gets a good workout.

 

[ohanacreek]

Okay. ...
I have owned several rubber bands since 1996 and I have never had to replace a belt. I have 1600 plus miles on my Ranger and I figure the belt will be good for at least 5000. Our riding is mostly hilly terrain so it gets a good workout.

If a CVT is used as recommended it will function correctly for a period, problem is people don't use them as they are engineered. They use them like they want to, or just don't know any better then they burn up belts. However a geared trans doesn't have that issue, and you don't have parts to replace on a periodic basis.

I hated my wife's Jeep with a CVT, thankfully she now has a Pilot with a geared trans.

A CVT is like turbocharging a V6, it will never be a V8. Long term you're going to have reliability issues from the V6.

 

[joeymt33]

I had a dealer try to sell me on a Ranger vs the Pioneer. I made some comments about my concern for the belts and he stated, "you can't hammer down when deep in the mud or if it's in a bind". He also said, "try to use low range more often to help the belt last longer". He was pushing the Ranger but he was a better Honda salesman by given me rules for driving a Polaris.

Joe

 

[joey400ex]

Honda will last longer and no belt issues.

 

[hondarock]

You don't have to be a rocket scientist to drive a cvt, just use common sense and they will last a long time. I personally would rather have a belt and performance and smooth ride and comfort. The Honda sxs up until the 1000 have not had it. I am not prejudiced against them, it is just that they haven't had anything close to what I want in a vehicle. It is like they are disconnected from the reality of what the majority of Americans want.
As for the rubber band, who uses them? Everyone except Honda. P, K, C A, A C, etc, and they all combined put on more miles a week than Honda does in a year in sxs's, at least in the places I ride, and people buy them up hand over fist. I know they aren't as reliable as the Honda transmission but most the the rubber banders also have twice to three times more power and generally they do really well in transmitting that power.
If Honda will build what people want they will buy it. Maybe the 1000 is it, at least it looks promising. I know it has my interest. That is the reason I am on this forum.
To the OP, I would drive all the different ones that you even remotely might be interested in. Buying just by the specifications sometimes leads to buyer remorse.

 

[jak9922]

You don't have to be a rocket scientist to drive a cvt, just use common sense and they will last a long time. I personally would rather have a belt and performance and smooth ride and comfort. The Honda sxs up until the 1000 have not had it. I am not prejudiced against them, it is just that they haven't had anything close to what I want in a vehicle. It is like they are disconnected from the reality of what the majority of Americans want.
As for the rubber band, who uses them? Everyone except Honda. P, K, C A, A C, etc, and they all combined put on more miles a week than Honda does in a year in sxs's, at least in the places I ride, and people buy them up hand over fist. I know they aren't as reliable as the Honda transmission but most the the rubber banders also have twice to three times more power and generally they do really well in transmitting that power.
If Honda will build what people want they will buy it. Maybe the 1000 is it, at least it looks promising. I know it has my interest. That is the reason I am on this forum.
To the OP, I would drive all the different ones that you even remotely might be interested in. Buying just by the specifications sometimes leads to buyer remorse.

And how many of them will last as long as a honda!!!!!!!!! Metal on metal or rubber on metal kinda like fire vs ice sure the ice will hold for a bit but when it melts ur fires out lol rubber band breaks ur out!!!!

 

[hondarock]

What difference does it make how long a Honda will last if no one will buy them, You still don't get it.
Most never break a rubber band. Still going strong like the energizer bunny. If it does break I will put a new one on for less than a hundred.

 

[ohanacreek]

What difference does it make how long a Honda will last if no one will buy them, You still don't get it.
Most never break a rubber band. Still going strong like the energizer bunny. If it does break I will put a new one on for less than a hundred.

I don't think you understand, Hondas Reliability is THE REASON I will buy one, I'm not drinking your polaris flavored cool-aide mr. jones. I want to ride my SxS when I want to ride it. I work hard and I want to spend time with my family. So when I have the opportunity to ride with my family. I want to ride then, not after I repair it, not after I have a warranty issue sorted by the dealer. I also don't want to get stranded miles from the truck when a belt breaks. (last time I rode a guy was walking several miles out with his PREGNANT wife because the CVT screwed up when it got wet, we carried him to his ride, pulled him out and then pulled him back to his truck) When I get a wild hair I want to go to the garage, get loaded up and ride. I don't want to have to drive an off road vehicle a certain way. If I feel like going across the muddy creek on the back of our property, I'll drive across it, my only concern being "we have to remember mud boots or our feet will get wet" If I need to pull a trailer, a whole tree, a truck or a tractor I'll pull it, IF I want to crawl up a steep hill instead of ...however I have to drive a belt machine...I will in my Honda. I have owned Polaris, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Harley, I worked on them all too much to enjoy them. I don't want to buy a new machine every 3-4 years because its breaking down so much its time for a new one. Unfortunately the 1000-5 is more of what I want/need than the 700-4 so I am selling mine and buying one, based on my experience with the Honda DCT and the way it functions(had one in my Acura and it works the same as the 1000-5 Paddle Shift option), I will be extremely pleased, based on the 700's power and capability, I should be grinning from ear to ear when I pick up my 1000. All of the added features on the 1000 are what I have wanted or added to my 700.

To my next point, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE don't compare a Sport Machine to a utility, and don't expect a utility to be a sport machine, Polaris doesn't, they have two lines of machines, as do all of the other manufactures. The Big Red did not compete well against the ranger, however the Pioneer and the ranger are the same type machine. Honda's Sport is coming, yes they are late to the dance but I think with the 1000 they are making a grand entrance. The Honda Sport is not what I need, I need a utility/trail machine to use around my land and to trail ride with the family. I see why you are on the forum, HOPING that the 1000 is what you are looking for in a Honda SXS, me too as of right now I am delivering my 700-4 to a happy buyer on Saturday and have 3-4 long boring months without a ride. I hope you are looking for a utility/trail machine and not a Sport, if you are I think the 1000 will suit your needs but if you're looking for a Honda Sport I think you will be disappointed because its just not a Sport. People do want to and do buy them, for the purpose and use they were intended for, which is not a Sport machine or Mud Machine, which I have seen some cool videos of the 500 doing really well in the mud/water, even though thats not how I ride or intend to ride. People that don't want to buy it, don't want to buy it because it doesn't fit their riding style, not because its a horrid machine. If I were a Polaris fan (I'm not) I would in no way consider the Polaris ACE, or anything under a 700 it would serve me no purpose. I would not want to buy one, It would not do what I wanted it to do.

Where I ride belt machines have issues because of mud and water. Its not deep but when they go through the water/mud something tears up, not everytime or on every machine. One guy I've ridden with tells the story of his old riding buddy carrying a coleman stove to dry out his belt in cold weather, thats second hand so take it with a grain of salt but that seems too crazy to be a tale.
That is stupid to expect the possibility of having to repair/clean/dry that part EVERY time you ride, the last 4 times I have been riding I have pulled someone in a belt driven machine back(one was a broken reverse chain that tore up stuff when it came apart, again bad design for a 1000cc machine). Also dumb to pay that much to expect that possibility, or pay 25-30k for a machine that CAN do it because it has a factory added snorkel or 4 and a heavy reverse chain. (I'm looking at you Highlifter xp1k)

To the OP, I would drive all the different ones that you even remotely might be interested in. Buying just by the specifications sometimes leads to buyer remorse.

No dealers I know of will let you take them off road or really drive them around a flat parking lot and its hard to find people that have all the different ones you are looking at. Some dealers won't even let you test drive anymore. Too bad most salesmen try to push what they think is cool or will make them the most money, instead of listening to the customer and helping them find the machine they need.