engine brake on the sportsman

[Ryano]

A bunch of us went out quading today and ran into some hills, Now on the hills is a layer of mud ontop of a layer of ice all the quads has no problem navigating these obstacals except the sportsman the dam enginge brake would engage locking up your tires and sending you in to a free for all skid down the hill this resaulted in one machine rolling 4 times down the hill,luckly both the lady and her duaghter did not suffer and major injuries but it could have been worse I came down a few of these hills like a bat out of hell just trying to keep it pointed in the right direction. So my question is is there any to disengage the ADC on these units and if so how.

 

[arff]

What I found with my other polaris quads was the same kind of thing.
I ran in low range 4x4 and just give it enough throttle down hill so the belt engages.

It seemed to work,,

Or use the bakes thus the front wheels will slow you.

Last idea is new sportsman with ADC

 

[Ryano]

I tried all of the above the problem is the brake is so strong that when we were decending the engine brake would lock the tires up and nothing I tried would stop them I even tried giveing it some throttle but i would have to give it so much to disengege the engine brake that I would end up picking up more speed then I would let of the throttle and the engine brake would engage and turn it into an 900 lbs tobagan the only thing I can think of is to change out the clutch so there is no engine brake at all or stud the tires in hopes that they would bite and allow the tires to rotate

 

[arff]

I tried all of the above the problem is the brake is so strong that when we were decending the engine brake would lock the tires up and nothing I tried would stop them I even tried giveing it some throttle but i would have to give it so much to disengege the engine brake that I would end up picking up more speed then I would let of the throttle and the engine brake would engage and turn it into an 900 lbs tobagan the only thing I can think of is to change out the clutch so there is no engine brake at all or stud the tires in hopes that they would bite and allow the tires to rotate

My wife almost rolled her sportsman because of the rear wheel lockup.
Her reason for wanting a rzr

 

[Ryano]

The couple that we were out with are now thinking the same thing we are almost always with the kids so protection is key. does the rzr have the same engine brake as the sportsman

 

[youngpolarisguy]

i have never had a problem with the engine brake. but then polaris is all i ever ride and i guess i am used to it. i find you have to use just enough throtle to stop it from braking and use your hand brake, and all polaris machines use the same system unless you have adc then it brakes the front wheels as well.

 

[Ryano]

I tried the throttle but I had to give it a lot to disengage the engine brake and buy then I was going preety fast anyhow and I have ADC but it was not on I think I did everthing you could do it was just a little disconcerning and when the trail had a corner at the bottome of the hill I was always on the lock out for the softest tree

 

[arff]

The couple that we were out with are now thinking the same thing we are almost always with the kids so protection is key. does the rzr have the same engine brake as the sportsman

I think it is the same.
I just asked her as I rarely drive the rzr.
She claims it gives no problems

 

[850 xxxp]

The RZR does not have the same engine brake. we have not had any problems.

 

[oliver doc]

I experienced the same problem as you describe with my rear wheels locking in steep or slippery slopes while I was in 4x2 mode. I almost solved it doing several things :
- I deflated my rear tyres down to 450 mbars when polaris recommends 550 in a 4x4 use, and inflated my front ones to 500 mbars
- I set the rear shock absorbers to the lowest position, allowing for maximum flexibility

With this setting, I found myself able to manage this indeed very strong engine braking without locking, provided I use a very little bit of throttle, and even more easily when switching the 4x4 mode on (without ADC)

 

[H2O]

If you have ADC then it only engine brakes all 4 wheels when you are in ADC mode and traveling under 15 mph.
If you are traveling above 15 mph and are in ADC mode then engine braking only works in the rear.
IMHO when I decend a steep slippery hill, it is best to put your quad into neutral then use your brake to go down the hill that way you have much better (skid)control.

I have found that my 850 XP has a lot more aggressive engine braking than the 08 700 X2

 

[OnlyPolaris]

if you want to turn the adc off put it on 2wd. but with the adc on and all 4 wheels breaking you should have no trouble coming down a hill. other option is to put in neutral and use the brakes.

 

[Ryano]

yep tried that to still an 800lbs tobogan and kept forgetting to put it back in 4 for the up hill and getting stuck

 

[zeebs]

yep tried that to still an 800lbs tobogan and kept forgetting to put it back in 4 for the up hill and getting stuck

At least your down to an 800lb tobogan v.s. a 900lb. :d
Back on a serious note I dont seem to have a problem but maybe thats because im use to keeping my clutches from chattering even in dry conditions by giving it a little throttle and riding the brake a bit.

 

[Rockwerx]

My buddy took me for my first ride in a RZR over the Canada long weekend down in Crowsnest Pass. We went out on some steep trails that we were quading on earlier that day. I was interested in how it rode on rough and steep terrain. The ride was a lot smoother than I thought it would be. When we started to decend down a long steep trail he flipped a dash switch on that engaged an engine brake system. I did not get to test it very much but it seemed to work well on the dry loose terrain we were on.

I could see these systems failing to work very well in slippery condtions. Probably best to use neutral and work the brakes to keep from skidding. Sometimes when I am doubling kids (or even the wife lol) I will make them get off and walk while I manouver the quad through a bad area...that way the kids do not get hurt if something goes wrong.