Their presence in the ATV market has been headed by a comprehensive range of workhorse ATV machinery and utility vehicles along with sports machines such as the Predator and Outlaw 500.

While the Predator was a quick machine, it wasn’t quite as race focussed as the 450cc Japanese opposition and thus never really became a true sporting icon and image builder for the brand. Recently however Polaris got more serious with the introduction of the new Outlaw 525.

Powering the Outlaw 525 is essentially the same 510.4cc engine that powers KTM’s hugely successful 525 EXC enduro machine. The KTM engine has a proven race pedigree and a good reliability record.

The decision to use a KTM powerplant also makes smart business sense for Polaris as the American company took a 24.9% share of KTM in July 2005. Both companies are benefiting from the partnership. KTM provides engine expertise while Polaris has been helping the Austrians to develop a new chassis for their own upcoming KTM branded ATV range.

I recently spent some quality time with the Polaris Outlaw at Newcastle’s famous Stockton Beach and came away quite impressed.

The engine easily grunted the 179kg Outlaw up the massive dunes and the five speed transmission made it easy to keep the engine on the boil.

For ATV use the KTM powerplant drops one forward cog in favour of a reverse gear.

The jetting on our test machine was not perfect and it didn’t have the snap and high revving nature of the 450cc race machines. That’s to be expected from a larger capacity engine and the trade-off should mean less engine wear and longer service intervals between rebuilds.

But don’t get the idea that performance is lacking, I have little doubt that the Outlaw 525 would win any drag race against the 450s. Polaris claims that the Outlaw 525 accelerates faster than Yamaha’s 700 Raptor. Unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to put that claim to the test.

While all dedicated race quads use a solid rear axle and single shock suspended swingarm, the Outlaw 525 leaves a different footprint thanks to a long travel independent rear suspension system complete with a stabiliser bar. This gives the Outlaw a distinctly different feel.

It doesn’t slide the same way as the swingarm models which means aggressive riding needs a slightly different approach.

Where the IRS layout really shines is in deeply chopped out surfaces where the long travel independent shocks give a much plusher response.

The IRS made lifting the front of the machine over rutted whoops a little more difficult in all out attack mode and here the swingarm equipped opposition may hold a slim advantage. But at anything less than 100% pace the Outlaw proves more comfortable and easy to ride than the 450 racers.

The IRS equipped Outlaw 525 is perhaps a smarter choice for riders who want a reasonably hard edged machine, but will probably not be chasing championship wins, and thus don’t have to stick to the 450cc capacity restrictions in the Pro classes.

Polaris backs the outlaw with a six month warranty and the price of admission is $12,995.