News and Reviews

IT'S WAR - TRX700XX versus RAPTOR 700 - WHO WILL WIN?

3/Feb/2008 
By, Trevor Hedge

There's a new open-class sport ATV from Honda due later this year, the TRX700XX.

Honda claims the quad’s new 686cc SOHC liquid-cooled fuel-injected, four-valve, four-stroke engine generates the highest peak output in its class. With only a single cylinder engine it is never going to be a power match for the large capacity multis from Can-Am and Kawasaki, so we can only guess that they are claiming more power than Yamaha's big-bore single lung machine, the highly successful 700 Raptor. Currently, Yamaha own the Australian sports ATV market. Yamaha’s YFM700R, YFZ450 and legendary 350 Banshee trifecta guarantee them the biggest slice of the sales pie. Honda is aiming to cut a bigger slice of that pie with the arrival of the TRX700XX.

The similarities between Honda’s TRX700XX and the 700 Raptor are uncanny. Both have a single cylinder displacing 686cc from a 102mm and 84mm stroke. Both are fuel injected with the Honda boasting a 13 litre fuel cell to the Raptor’s 11 litre tank. Both offer easily accessible foam air filters, a five speed gearbox with reverse, powerful front disc brakes, aggressive styling and are guaranteed to thrill. Length, width and height figures are all fairly much lineball but move around to the rear of the Honda and the differences between the TRX700XX and the Raptor become apparent.

While the Raptor uses the de-rigueur swingarm and single shock rear end, Honda has opted for extremely beefy looking independent rear suspenders. The lightweight 450cc race category is still dominated by swingarm suspended machines, however buyers of 700cc machinery are much less likely to see the heat of pro level competition and it is away from the racetrack that the benefits of IRS are more apparent. Racetracks are generally graded and flowing with no large obstacles, rocks or washouts. The Australian bush features all of those and more and it is here that machines such as the 700 Raptor are generally used. With IRS offering more stability and much improved traction on uneven ground, Honda will finally have a machine that will go head to head with the 700 Raptor in the marketplace.

IRS is not new to the sports ATV market. Polaris have been using an IRS system on their Outlaw range for some time. Honda has also followed Polaris’ lead by equipping the TRX700XX with a sway bar to help keep the rear end tied down. There the similarities end. Honda have used high-spec piggyback shock absorbers with their top mounts situated closer to the centreline of the machine, while the bottom pick up points appear to be splayed wider. The Honda boasts more suspension travel along with a wider footprint despite having a shorter wheelbase than both the Polaris and the conventional rear end 700 Raptor. Honda has obviously paid some careful attention to the packaging of their new beast.

One side effect of IRS that Honda have not been able to overcome however is the weight that all those extra components that make up the IRS system bring along for the ride. Yamaha claim a dry weight of 180kg for the 700 Raptor while Honda quote a wet weight figure complete with all oils and a full tank of fuel of 230kg for the TRX700XX. In reality, the difference between the two when both full of fluids is likely to be around half that 50kg difference on paper and with neither machine likely to see any racetrack duty that becomes somewhat of a moot point.

While IRS has its advantages, at the end of the day most buyers in the market for a large capacity sports quad like pulling skids. And there is no doubt that skids and slides are more easily accomplished on swingarm machines. To my mind, this means that the Yamaha will continue to have the most appeal for the skid merchants while the Honda will prove more capable in an adventure role thanks to its longer fuel range and more comfortable ride over obstacles. Either way, more competition in the marketplace can only be a good thing for buyers.

Check out our feature on the 2007 Australian ATV Sales Figures

Cast your vote on who you reckon will win the sales war in our new forum poll

Click any image below to see a selection of TRX700XX Desktop Wallpaper
TRX700XX DESKTOP WALLPAPER  TRX700XX DESKTOP WALLPAPER 
TRX700XX DESKTOP WALLPAPER  TRX700XX DESKTOP WALLPAPER

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