Rhino Comparing....

I have always wondered the same thing. I guess I know my Rhino is slow I just want to know how slow!!

extremely slower.....  the slowest

On the open road you will be chewed up spit out! When the going gets tough we are right there with all of them and in some cases will out perform.

with what mods?  how big do we have to go just to keep up?   don't care about long distances more like hill  shooting and mtn.  driving...

built a 787 like teddy and your there...

no shit....... Teddys machine flys..  that thing is sweet.  I wonder what that ran him

A stock Rhino 700 will get destroyed by any stock RZR in a drag race. Speed is not a Rhino's strong suit. 

Now stock Rhino 700 vs a stock RZR 800-S in the trails, well I was able to pull faster times and generally just ride faster in the RZR-S. The RZR is easier to take off the showroom and go fast. The Rhino was hard for me to keep up, because I'm not a very good driver and tend to dig the corners too hard and end up getting messed up whereas it was easier for me to drift the RZR. 

The stock Rhino 700 is built to abuse. You can drive it hard and tear it up in the mud regularly and neglect it with far better results than doing the same thing to the RZR. Not that the wheel bearings on the Rhino are bulletproof, but the RZR wheel bearings are worse. If you want to water ride, then right off the showroom floor a stock Rhino 700 will absolutely embarrass a RZR 800-S. The Rhino will have no problem driving in and stopping in and idling in water up to the bottom of the seat. The RZR hates water in stock form. They sit low, have belt housings that leak, and the engine intake is in a horrible spot that could easily take a gulp of water in places a Rhino would have absolutely no trouble. Additionally, the engine cooling fan has a non-marine circuit breaker located - get this - under the engine case! They are notorious for corroding and failing if you ride much mud or water. The Rhino absolutely dominates the RZR in mud and water stock. The RZR is somewhat easier to snorkel, but in my opinion, even when both are snorkeled the Rhino handles better in deep water submarine situations because of the mid engine layout. It stays planted on the bottom better, and the marine grade electricals make the Rhino a clear winner here. 

Towing and pulling and just general bulling around also goes to the Rhino. Stock, the Rhino has a real metal bumper so you can actually push small saplings over if need be, also you can bump and toe off things to the Rhino bumper. The RZR has no bumper and just a plastic facia. The hitch on the Rhino is a standard 2" receiver vs a 1.25" class one receiver on the RZR. Not only that but the hitch is weak on the RZR. Numerous guys have bent or broken the hitch trying to tow something big. The Rhino 700 is stout there. 

When you start talking about mods, well, then it gets interesting. The Rhino 700 responds beautifully to motor mods. The RZR 800 is less responsive to motor work. Where the 700 Yamaha will gain tremendous power with a sheave, cam, and exhaust, the RZR needs a turbo to get the same kind of increase. RZR guys say the 800 motor just doesn't respond to mods real well, or at least not like a typical single cylinder thumper. 

In my opinion, the Rhino will reward you if you invest in it. It can be made to be faster than a RZR 800, but it will cost you around $1500 if you put Muzzys on a Rhino or about $1200 if you do the Alba exhaust. The other part of that grand would be a cam, JBS sheave, and MSD or comparable controller. Those mods will get a Rhino 700 RZR fast. Plus, and this is a big big plus, is that you still keep all the positives about the Rhino I mentioned above. 

I could go on, but you get the general idea. What do you think?

I totally agree I have buddies that have rzrs and with my old utv sheave and cdi  and dually two brothers I push them through the woods but they leave me on the open areas.

damn chris.  thats pretty much everything I was curious about,  I dont know if I will ever go that big in performance  maybe a cam and msd 3d  but I don't want it loud with my little kids in the back.    How many miles do ya get out of a stock 700 before ya start burning oil and such?  I  have 2500  on mine....

Don't just take my word for it. It's just a few observations I've had along the way. My opinions might not be true for different riding conditions. I live on the Texas gulf-coast where we have a lot of hot, humid weather, sticky mud, and sandy water. 

Now as for mileage on the motor before it starts smoking... I might not be the best guy to ask because my motor was perfectly fine when it was stock, and then I had some oil consumption issues when I went with a big bore kit. It ended up being a slight mix up on parts and installing the wrong oil rings in the built motor. But now all is good and the motor runs real strong and doesn't use any oil. It's a long story... lol!

Motor's last as long as you take care of them and they last as long as the parts hold up. Again, this is a highly subjective topic and it depends on riding conditions and usage. For example, mileage is pretty much irrelevant to me because we are in mud and water and smaller riding areas than guys riding in national forests and out on endless miles of desert or dunes. A bike with 3000 miles in my area is junk, and the motor is often tired, because 3000 miles in my area is about 750 hours of usage. James of JBS on here talks about motors with 8000 or more miles. That's unheard of in my area.

Back to talking mods.

A mild cam and MSD gives a solid power increase for about $500-$600. I ran a cam and MSD with the stock exhaust for a time with great results. A bored out throttle body also is another easy add on for some additional power for about another $200 or so. That setup treated me good, and it was just as reliable as stock. Yep, just change the oil, clean the air filter, put in gas and ride. It's night and day power gain over stock. With mild 25-27" tires like Bighorns or Mud Lites, you could easily cruise 55MPH on level blacktop.

most of my riding will be in the mountains (no dunes) and  maybe moab if I get better  shocks...

There's a video out there somewhere, maybe never made it on the net.  I don't know who they were, just someone I was behind in the woods.  Woman pulled out a camera and started video of me while her old man spun crap on me and took off in a rzr s.  I was about 2ft off his ass the whole way for 5 miles.  Didn't take her long to turn around, ditch the camera, and hang on.  I matched his acceleration down every straight hitting 45 mph.  Every turn he took sliding, I flat out almost ran him over.  With wider trails, I could have got a run and got beside him.  As a previous rzr s owner, it seems to me that the S handled the big wide turns that you take at over 40 a little better than the rhino due to the center of gravity.  tighter turns and rougher trails goes to my rhino hands down.  On a big road, running 50+ I don't think I want any of a rzr s, but on the trails one will never get away.  On trails that I know well, someone will get hurt in a 800 rzr trying to keep up. 

So, stage 2 rhino/stage1 raptor cam, sheave, 16s, and a cdi will let you hold your own on the trails.  Getting used to hard cornering in the tight turns was down right scary for me at 1st in this thing.  As James told me, "you just have to figure it out, and learn to trust it.  Be smooth".

isn't it like 2am back there Steve, lay off the Mtn Dew...lol

I love to debate this because guys (especially Rhino guys) never want to debate apple to apples. A stock Rhino is an absolute dog. The top speed is 40mph and it gets smoked by EVERY other STOCK SXS on the market. The RZR 570 will leave a stock Rhino in the dust. I truly believe that most guys on these forums have forgotten what a stock Rhino feels like to drive. 95% of us have clutch work and CDI/programmers and most have more upgrades.

When you start comparing a modded Rhino to a stock RZR or other stock SXS we can bridge the gap a little. My modded Rhino will keep up with a completely stock RZR 800 S but like I said that's not apples to apples. Mod the RZR and then try to keep up and you get smoked again. I'm also not buying that the RZR motor doesn't respond we'll to mods. Get someone that knows these motors and they. can make them haul ass!!

I also love the price point debate. Some will say that the other SXS cost more so they should be faster. Well that's not really true. I was at the dealer about 6mnths ago and sitting side by side was a Rhino priced at $12,200 and a Commander 1000 priced at $11,900. 

A used 5 year old Rhino is the best deal on the market by far because they run cheap. A new Rhino off the showroom floor is the worst deal on the market based on price and performance. Obviously that's just my opinion but personally I think anyone that would buy a 2013 Rhino at 12k either hasn't drive all other options or simply doesn't care about performance and over paying for the name Yamaha.

i would buy a new one in a min and do the mods before a bought a pos rzr....stock to stock..a rzr is a piece of shit...me and my buddy bought ours at the same time and his was done 2 years ago and he spent way more in upkeep than i spent in mods..no matter how much he spent it still broke.hump has had both ask him..lol...i have drove them all when they were new and after they had 1000 miles...and rhino stayed!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I  bought a  rhino cause they are tough and have proven themselves to not leave ya stranded like I have heard stories of the rzr....  it's not really a debate here, its a question to see what needs to be done to keep up with said.rzr because   that's what a lot of people run where I'm at. and a few friends as well..    but it sounds like its not too much to get to the (stock rzr s) performancee realm for my style of driving.

There is plenty of guys on this site that know way more then I do about motor building I'm just a guy that got lucky and lived close to James and was able to get him to build me a bad ass motor with that said I have raced built rzr's and rzr-s before and I smoked there ass but maybe there builder didn't know what they was doing but I guess mine did that's all I have to go off and I am very happy with the results from my engine build.

I haven't ridden with any RZR's but I am really curious now how mine would stack up.  I think they would get a surprise.

In order to talk apples to apples you must first have the same base your starting from. You can't compare a 700 to an 800 motor and think that is an even comparison. Both also handle different due to motor positions, suspension, etc. The Rhino was built as a sport/utility. The Rzr 800 was built as a sport machine. But with a few mods you can make it a lot more fun to drive. Drive it like you stole it and have fun.

Yotehunter66 wrote:

In order to talk apples to apples you must first have the same base your starting from. You can't compare a 700 to an 800 motor and think that is an even comparison. Both also handle different due to motor positions, suspension, etc. The Rhino was built as a sport/utility. The Rzr 800 was built as a sport machine. But with a few mods you can make it a lot more fun to drive. Drive it like you stole it and have fun.

. Very good point

Quote :

A used 5 year old Rhino is the best deal on the market by far because they run cheap. A new Rhino off the showroom floor is the worst deal on the market based on price and performance. 

I would agree with that. One thing people arent really talking about is how loud the Rhino is inside the cab. It's horrible! It's really hot too. I took my buddies RZR out a few days ago and couldnt believe how quiet it is. You can see the newer technology thats for sure. As far as speed, I don't know who's is faster. To me mine feels faster but we have not lined them up yet. I have mine going over 60+ and it get's there really fast so it's all the power I need in it's style of chassis.

I bought a rhino because it says  YAMAHA...

Mines is a 450 and me and the wife love it thats all that matters. Never noticed noise we wear helmets. The heat is no different than riding my harley, in west texas its always hot. Its paid for and i do all my own maintence. How many razor guys can say that. James knows we break enough suspension parts, so i think ill leave the motor stock

I have seen fortunes sunk into a RZR on repairs and mods..  and, you still can't haul a dead deer with it.