It’s not a side-by-side because there is no “side” to be by your side. And it’s not a four- wheeler … even though it indeed has four wheels. It’s called an Ace. And once again it represents how Polaris has thought outside the box and has introduced a product that really has no peers.
The Polaris Ace has been on the market for a couple of years. The first one was introduced with a 327cc engine. The second year it bumped up to a 570cc engine. For diehard ATVers, a 327 must seem way too small … and a 570 seems about where you would start. The editors of Dirt Toys have found that the initial 327, though being limited on power, was in no way limited in fun. And the 570 just added to our enthusiasm.
So what exactly is an Ace and why is it so much fun?
First, an Ace is a one-seater ATV that is pretty much based off a four-wheeler designed like a side-by-side. It’s about the same length and width of a four-wheeler, but features a roll bar that extends its height. However, its low center of gravity and cockpit design make it incredibly conducive to tight twisty mountain trails.
We first received a demo unit (the 327) from Polaris last summer. This spring we received the 570 demo. For the past month we’ve been riding both and forming some solid impressions about their capabilities. Here’s what we’ve found.
Love At First Sight
Although a few members of the Dirt Toys staff had a “wait and see” attitude about the thought of an Ace replacing their four-wheelers, at least this test rider fell in love with it right away.
This love affair started on a long ride on the trails near Fall Creek in eastern Idaho. The maiden ride took the Ace along a tight windy trail through the forest, crossing creeks, climbing rocky ridges and clinging to sidehills.
Initially we thought the Ace would show a weakness on off-camber terrain. But we soon discovered that its low center of gravity makes it more conducive to sidehilling than conventional four-wheelers. And being confined in a cockpit actually gives the rider a greater sense of security and control.
You just don’t ride down a trail, you cruise down it. You can ride the corners faster than an ATV because you are tucked inside. You don’t worry about falling off or tipping over. You can’t go over the bars or be bounced off the seat.
For our next ride, we went to the rocky trails north of Howe, ID. And if I said this terrain is rocky, I meant to say that there are even rocks growing out of the rocks. The only smooth part of the trail is that section that runs up the middle of a rocky creek bed with flowing water coming out of the canyon.
Again, the Ace (we’re still talking 327) exceeded all of our expectations. The more we rode it, the better we liked it.
Double Down
Just when we thought we couldn’t do any better than the Ace, Polaris sent us a second Ace (okay, technically Polaris sent a new 570 demo to replace our 327 … but we decided to hold onto the first a little longer for “comparison’s” sake).
Now, rather than riding with an Ace and a conventional four-wheeler, we were going out with two Aces. Don’t get us wrong … there still is a definite place for the conventional four-wheeler, but the fun factor on the Ace is just that much more.
The biggest shortcoming of the Ace 327 is the power. That was magnified when we got the Ace 570. However, it’s not that you get in the 327 and feel it’s gutless. Some things have to be put into perspective.
When you’re riding a tight twisty trail designed for 50-inch width ATVs, top speeds are going to be between 25-35 mph. On a conventional ATV, you are probably looking at 25 mph. On the Ace 327, you probably end up more than 35 mph. The 327 will do 40 mph down a road (50 mph if it’s slightly downhill). So on the trails, you don’t notice the lack of power.
When it comes to climbing, again the Ace will crawl up a rocky ridge as well as any ATV. It won’t blast up it … but it will get there. The places where we started to notice the lack of power were in mud and snow (which is something you can find in abundance during the spring at high elevations).
Once we got the Ace 570, we found top speeds creeping up to 55 mph down the straights and more than 65 mph if you had even the slightest decline. We also found the 570 to be just a little quicker on acceleration. This helped immensely when it came to mud and snow. Sometimes you just need more horsepower to create greater acceleration in adverse conditions.
Speaking of snow, with early spring riding in the mountains we often encountered drifts in shaded portions of the trail. If the snow was packed, the Ace would ride on top of it. If it was soft, you could cut through it unless you high-centered. One nice thing about the Ace was you could step out and grab the roll bar and rock the unit back and forth to pack down the snow enough to create a little ground clearance. We even would roll it partially on its side so we could place sticks under the tires for added traction and clearance.
Compatibilities
If you spend a lot of time with motorized recreation, you find that each particular segment of the industry has its own unique flavor for recreational needs. Most aren’t compatible.
For example, dirt bikes and four-wheelers, although used in similar terrain, travel at different speeds. You can go the same places, but you don’t have the same experiences. The same is true for four-wheelers and side-by-sides.
But with the Ace, we found we could ride the same trails and at the same speed with other conventional four-wheelers, or we could also have fun on wider trails with the side-by-sides. Naturally, the most fun (as far as sharing the same experience) is when everyone is riding an Ace. Then you lock into a riding pace that’s much faster than a four- wheeler ride and much tighter than a side-by-side ride.
Early this spring we were trying to bust through trails still spotted with snow drifts. The Ace struggled a bit when drifts were deep and long. The four-wheeler (we have a Polaris Sportsman XP 1000) had much more power to tackle the work and was much easier to get out when it high-centered in a drift. But for the most part, the Ace managed to go anywhere the Sportsman went (we just had to let the four-wheeler break trail where the drifts were a little longer through the trees).
Later in the spring we had the Ace riding trails with an Arctic Cat Wildcat and a Polaris RZR. Although the side-by-sides flew down the trails much faster and smoother, the Ace could still keep relatively close to the bigger, larger horsepower units. But once we got into the tight twisty trails, the Ace proved to be much quicker and more efficient in the turns.
Although the experiences were slightly different, the fun factor was very similar. You could go from the Ace to the side-by-side without changing your riding pace.
Talking Power
Now, as mentioned earlier, the first Ace to hit the market was a 327. It worked great. Then we got the 570. It worked greater. The natural progression would be to see an Ace with an 800 powerplant. We just learned before this issue went to the printer that Polaris is coming out with an Ace 900 SP. But the question is whether that much horsepower on that short of a wheel base would be the right match?
What we have found is that when you’re going top speed down a gravel road, the corners tend to be a little loose. It doesn’t take much to get the Ace sideways. Even on dirt with a little dust (or say any wet surface), the back end will step up and try to pass the front end through the bends. We even had a Dirt Toys test rider unintentionally spin a 180 on a tight mountain trail (that’s where you really appreciate a low center of gravity).
If you had more power, it might be just too easy to break loose of the grip on the trail. We’re sure Polaris engineers are analyzing this closely before upgrading the power. But if there is going to be a power upgrade, we want to be first in line to try it.
The “Spouse” Test
For the past 18 months one of our Dirt Toys riders has been having continuous conversations with his wife about buying either a side-by-side or a four-wheeler. His wife has been reluctant to acknowledge the need for either. She is also the type that doesn’t particularly care to go out riding on either.
Somehow he convinced her (or perhaps guilted her) to go on an afternoon ride in the mountains on the Ace. After spending a couple of hours going through terrain that you don’t experience in shopping malls—climbing over rocky ledges and splashing through creeks—they finally got back to the trailhead.
Then he posed the question: “Do you think we’d be better off getting a side-by-side to do this, or perhaps an ATV, or should we just buy a couple of Aces?”
She looked at him, her face still covered in dust and mud, and firmly said: “Why would we buy a side-by-side or an ATV when we both could be driving our own Aces?”
Testing Never Ends
We’ll continue to test drive the Ace in every condition imaginable and share our experiences with our readers (of course, this is just a ploy to keep hold of the demos and an excuse to get out of the office).
We’ll also try to spend more time on rides specifically suited for the traditional four- wheelers to see if the compatibility continues to be as good as we have already experienced. We also like these rides to find the strengths and weaknesses of the various types of vehicles.
But for now, if you haven’t had a chance to ride one, or even see one, you should be able to find one at your local Polaris dealer. And if that doesn’t work … well, we’re always looking for another excuse to get out of the office.
