[Ilikemud]

I was shopping for a new four wheeler today and stopped by the Can Am dealership. My next four wheeler is going to have power steering and while looking at the Outlander today I now have more questions. Does anybody know if Polaris has adjustments to the power steering? Adjusting how much power assist. The Outlander came with three settings. I didn't drive it but the option interests me. Please share your thoughts with me about Can Am four wheelers.

 

[StarRider]

Polaris EPS automatically adjusts depending on your speed. The lower you are moving and the tighter you are turning more power is applied. The faster you are going less power is applied. This helps prevent the steering from being to loose at high speeds. The canned ham does not do this you must select the mode depending on driving conditions.

 

[Ilikemud]

I take it you are not a Can Am fan? I understand that. I have had many Polaris four wheelers of my own. It is time to try something else. I live in Minnesota and travel Northern Minnesota all the time. That is probably why I bought Polaris in the first place. I have friends that work at Artic Cat and Polaris. They will be upset with me but that's life.

 

[Rooskey]

You are on a Polaris forum btw. Like StarRider said, Polaris eps adjust automatically depending on speed. So no need for adjustments. Dont know much about the Can Ams but my friend just bought a 650 xmr or what ever there mud version is called. His bike is very nice but not for me. I rode it for a little while out on the trials. To me the suspension seemed very stiff and did not flex to well making it more like a yamaha grizzly. So off camber situations were very hairy with alot of three wheels on the ground type action. Also the bike seemed very tall. The seat and handle bars are so much higher away from the fenders (suspension). Anyways I guess what Im trying to say it that the Can Am had a stiffer ride and also was more top heavy. Oh yea I also noticed while he was in 4wd that both front wheels would not spin some of the times. Dont know if they have a locker up front.

 

[golf12]

right you are rooskey. can-ams visco locking front diff is a very good system but does not engage as quickly as polaris awd system.. To the op, yes, can-ams top of the line rigs have the tri mode power steering which is neat as you can tailor the assist to the way you like it.. I suppose the down side, is that its like high gear vs low gear.. Sometimes you just don't want to have to shift gears.. And by the time you realize you'd like more assist, you're probably already in a situation that requires a death grip on the bars so letting go to press a button is the last thing on your mind.. Polaris has elected to stick with their single mode dynamic power steering system which increases assist at slower speeds and the system all but shuts off around 50km p/hr to give you precise feedback at higher speeds which is what you want.. When going fast you don't want power steering to mask what the wheels are coming into contact with.. It would essentially be lying to you and making the ground feel smoother than it actually is, which is not a good thing at higher speed.. For what its worth, my 2010 850's power steering system will be 4 years old this coming feb and has worked flawlessly since day one.

 

[zoomeroo]

I rode a Can Am with their adj steering. What a PITA. I found myself screwing with the button trying to decide where to put it everytime the trail changed or my speed changed.
Why would a person want to have to think where he wanted the steering setting? It makes no sense to me.

I have a 850 touring with power steering. Never once in 1600 miles did i have to try and decide how to adjust the power steering.

But if you want a Can Am go for it.

 

[Rooskey]

right you are rooskey. can-ams visco locking front diff is a very good system but does not engage as quickly as polaris awd system..

Its not that it did not engage as fast as a Polaris system. It was that it had three wheel drive. I noticed on several occasions that only one of the front tires were pulling. Maybe the visco lock only comes in when needed. I dont know? Either way the model that I rode was top heavy and beat me to death.

 

[golf12]

I believe the visco-loc system requires 2 1/2 full tire rotations before all 4 wheels will lock in and polaris awd requires about a 1/4 of a wheel turn before the awd brings all 4 wheels into the mix.. So at a quick glance when you first get stuck on the can-am you'd only see 3 wheels turning.. The problem of course is that by then you've already lost your momentum..

 

[Vtprairie]

The CanAm PS is speed sensitive as well just like all the rest there is three different settings that change the max amount of assist you can have or like. When in tight woods you can put it on max and it gives you more for slower tighter trails and so on. I run mine on med all the time and most people with Canams leave them on one setting it just gives you more choices