Spragueville, IA (5/2/2009) - After
a successful 2008 race season aboard the Polaris
Outlaw 450MXR, I was excited to have the opportunity
to race both 2009 Outlaw 525s and Outlaw 525
IRS in the 2009 Iowa ATV Hare scramble Series
for 2009.
The 2008 Outlaws were all new front the ground
up and after a lot of racer and consumer feed
back Polaris made even more improvements for
2009. I feel the best way to show case these
two units is to write a race by race report
informing everyone of the performance and
reliability of these two ATV’s and over
the course of a grueling Hare Scramble season.
The 2009 IATVHSS race season got underway
April 26th in Spragueville, IA. The Hanson
Hallow facility was voted 2008 most popular
track by the series racers for its challenging
terrain. This course has it all; fast open
straights, tight woods, creeks crossings,
and even a large deep sand section left by
the devastating floods of 2008.
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2009
Polaris Outlaw 525 S |
As with any season opener in the mid west
in the spring thunderstorms and rain are always
a good possibility. Mother Nature was happy
to follow in the IATVHSS tradition and provide
us with a season opener MUD FEST. Not knowing
the track condition were going to be so poor
I chose to race the Polaris 525 S for this
race because I had spend the most time prepping
it for racing. If I would have had a crystal
ball I would have prepped the 525IRS these
types of conditions really make the ground
clearance of the IRS a big advantage. None
the less, the old saying “ Run what
you brung” holds true and Outlaw 525s
was about to be put to the test.
As the board dropped and the mud began to
fly I found myself towards the front of the
pack thanks to the fast reliable starting
of the Polaris Outlaw. Most people never even
give a second thought to an ATV that takes
a second longer to start than others but when
a race series uses dead engine starts that
can mean the difference between front of the
pack or back of the pack on the first lap.
As with any mud race as track condition worsen,
you find yourself needing to back up to take
an alternate line around bottle necks or needing
to back up to clear that tree you just slid
into. The ability to put the Outlaw in reverse
and backup has quickly become one of my favorite
features on these ATV’s and really saves
time and energy for the rider. Another sure
thing in this type of race is the mud builds
up on your ATV over the course of the race
it really starts to rob horsepower and can
slow you down.
The Outlaw 525 gave me an advantage over
some smaller displacement ATV’s in my
class I had no problem pulling a gear higher
and passing other racers in the deep rutted
field sections. Although the Outlaw performed
well at this first race there were a few problems.
As I exited each creek crossing the ATV wanted
to die out and I had to pull in the clutch
and rev the motor until it cleaned out usually
30 seconds or so. I would attribute this to
the high flow aftermarket intake system I
was running on the Outlaw and not to any faults
in the ATV. I also had some ground clearance
issues at the rear swing arm while the factory
molded plastic skid plate is almost indestructible
it hangs a little low for competitive racing
and drags in the ruts.
All in all the Polaris Outlaw 525s performed
well in some really adverse conditions and
I look forward to racing it at the second
round on the IATVHSS in dryer conditions.
