Polaris sent us the 2023 Sportsman 850 Trail to test for a week, and we had a blast with it! It was great to get back on the saddle of an ATV, and during that time we came up with FIVE things we love and FIVE things we hate about the do-all ATV.
Check out the story at https://www.utvdriver.com/atvs/polaris-sportsman-850-trail-pros-and-cons-review/
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Check out the story at https://www.utvdriver.com/atvs/polaris-sportsman-850-trail-pros-and-cons-review/
For more stories, reviews, and first-looks check out https://www.utvdriver.com/
Want to see even more shenanigans from the UTV Driver team? Give us a like and follow:
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/utvdriver/
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SportsTranscript
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.
02:32 Before we go any farther, be sure to like, comment, subscribe, ring the bell, share it
02:36 with your friends, all that fun stuff.
02:38 That means we'll get to keep making content like this and bring you along for the ride.
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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05:58 We'll see you there.
06:04 [engine revving]