00:00 We are out at Windrock Park testing the 2023 Polaris Sportsman 850 Ultimate Trail.
00:05 It's the 850cc ATV from Polaris.
00:09 It's sort of the sweet spot in their lineup.
00:11 It's a sort of do-it-all machine, and we're going to give you five things we love and five things we hate
00:16 before telling you if you should buy this machine.
00:19 Let's get started.
00:19 Number one, this is a good-looking machine.
00:28 Polaris calls this chalk gloss.
00:30 It's a sort of glossy gray color.
00:32 It looks absolutely excellent.
00:34 You've got sharp LED headlights up front, super aggressive bull bar with an integrated winch.
00:40 It's just a handsome machine, especially when a lot of ATVs have been left to rot on the vine.
00:45 The second thing we love is this engine.
00:48 This is the 850cc ProStar single overhead cam engine.
00:52 It makes 78 horsepower.
00:54 It sounds excellent.
00:56 It has plenty of power for whatever you're doing.
00:59 If you're towing, if you're riding, if you're hauling out big game, this thing has the balls to do it.
01:05 All that power means you've got 575 pounds of payload capacity and 1,500 pounds of towing capacity.
01:11 That's pretty good for an 850cc ATV.
01:15 Number three, this is a comfortable rig.
01:18 You've got a nice wide saddle, excellent ergos.
01:21 It narrows nicely at the front so you can grip the tank with your knees.
01:25 All that's excellent.
01:26 The handlebars are at the perfect height.
01:28 It's just a good place to spend time.
01:30 We could bang out five or six hours on this rig and not bat an eye.
01:34 Part of that is because of the excellent suspension.
01:36 You get 12 inches of ground clearance.
01:38 It's nice and plush.
01:39 The shocks are nothing fancy, but they do the job.
01:42 And you've got electric power steering, which makes a huge difference when it comes to fatigue.
01:47 Number four, you've got a 35-inch wheel.
01:50 You've got a 3,500-pound winch that comes standard on the Trail Edition.
01:55 That is excellent.
01:56 Look, we're big fans of factory winches.
01:59 This one uses a synthetic line, which is even better.
02:02 You don't have to worry about the thing snapping or kinking or any of that fun stuff.
02:05 It's ready to go.
02:07 And you get handlebar-mounted controls, which is huge.
02:10 Super easy to reach in here and control the thing.
02:13 It works nice and smooth.
02:15 Couldn't ask for more.
02:16 Number five, this thing has excellent clutching and an excellent throttle.
02:20 It's super easy to control.
02:22 You can do micro adjustments if you're loading on a trailer or you're navigating gnarly terrain.
02:27 It's just, it's easy to control and it's everything you want out of a CVT transmission.
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02:42 Now for five things we hate about the 2023 Sportsman 850.
02:47 Honestly, our biggest gripe with this machine is the gearbox.
02:52 The CVT works great.
02:54 This shifter is incredibly clunky.
02:57 It takes a lot of effort.
02:58 It's really difficult to know exactly which gear you're in.
03:01 You've got to rely on the screen here to tell you whether you're in park, reverse, neutral,
03:06 whatever.
03:07 And sometimes if that thing's covered in mud for, you know, trail reasons, it's hard to
03:11 tell.
03:12 So yeah, you know, our biggest hitch here, this thing, it's not easy to use.
03:17 Number two, the second thing that we hate, storage.
03:21 There's just not a lot on this rig.
03:23 Yeah, you can carry 575 pounds either on the front or the rear rack.
03:27 There isn't a good place to put your phone.
03:29 There isn't a good place to put things you want to keep dry.
03:31 You've got a little tiny guy back here.
03:33 You've got a guy up there with two tiny little pockets on either side.
03:37 It's just, you know, there are competitors out there.
03:40 They're doing a better job of giving you sealed onboard storage.
03:43 We'd like to see more.
03:44 Number three, dinky hitch.
03:46 This is an inch and a quarter hitch.
03:48 It's just tiny, you know.
03:51 There's nothing worse than working on a farm and having to switch out a bunch of different
03:54 hitches, especially when this thing can tow 1,500 pounds.
03:58 You know, there are other competitors out there with a solid two inch hitch mount.
04:01 We do like the fact that there's an allowance for safety chains.
04:04 That's huge.
04:05 There's some side by sides that don't even have that.
04:06 We just, we need a bigger hitch.
04:08 The fourth thing that we hate about the Sportsman 850 Trail, it's a heavy girl.
04:13 You know, dry weight's 864 pounds.
04:15 You're looking at 900 pounds by the time that you top it up.
04:19 That's a lot.
04:20 It sort of limits what sort of truck you can put the thing in the bed of.
04:23 It limits the type of trailer you can use.
04:27 We get that this is a big powerful rig, but 850 pounds, that's a lot.
04:32 The fifth and last thing that we hate about the Sportsman 850 is the size of the thing.
04:38 It's over 50 inches tall.
04:39 It's 47 and change wide.
04:42 It's a big girl.
04:44 That means it can be kind of intimidating to use.
04:46 Whether you're loading it on a trailer or you're riding on a fairly gnarly trail, you
04:51 feel that weight.
04:53 This probably isn't a machine for a first time ATV buyer.
04:58 Which brings us to who is this machine for?
05:00 Should you buy it?
05:01 Look, if you've got experience on ATVs, you've been riding for a long time, the 850 is an
05:06 excellent, excellent machine.
05:09 It won't do it all, but it will do nearly everything you want to do.
05:12 If you're spending a lot of time hunting, a lot of time in the back country, you need
05:15 a rig with solid cargo and towing capacity, this is your machine.
05:19 If you need a machine to go out riding with your buddies and play around on high speed
05:24 open stuff, tackle some pretty gnarly terrain, some pretty big step ups, that sort of thing,
05:30 this is your machine.
05:32 However, if you're buying a rig for a job site where multiple guys with a bunch of different
05:36 experience are going to be riding this rig, maybe look elsewhere.
05:40 All right, that's been five things we love.
05:42 Five things we hate about the 2023 Polaris Sportsman 850 Ultimate Trail.
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06:04 [engine revving]
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