I am contemplating on which one to buy. I was told that the 500 is practically a 600 anyways. Does anyone know how fast this sled is vs. the 600? Is worth the extra thousand dollars or so to get the 600? I am fairly light and ride mostly trails so I was thinking for the money and for insurance purposes maybe the 500 is the way to go. If anyone has a 500 please let me know how you like it or if you have tried both how do they compare?

for value the 500 gsx and mxz have been the talk of the industry. i see from your profile you are coming off a mach so you will be unhappy with the 500 so the 600 will have to fill the void.

The 500ss is a 600cc engine so the insurance will be the same. If you are riding mostly tight trails you will probably not notice the difference in power between the two, but you definately will notice the extra fuel economy of the 500ss (12-15 mpg). Mine will beat an f-5 in a drag race.

the 500ss IS THE same motor in the 99 but with different carbs and bigger exhaust.

the 600HO will EAT THE 500SS like its job.

grass drag for example.
500feet

Mine ) 04 rev 600Ho adrenaline ( no studs) 0 miles
friends 04 rev 500ss sport ( 96 studs) o miles
he got me out of the hole do to studs. had about 1 1/2. caught the 500ss about 100feet and walked right by him and never seen him until I crossed the line and looked back. he was a good. 2-3 sled behind me.

the 600HO yanks unreal. WILL RUN WITH THE 800HO ALL DAY LONG.

RAN SIDE BY SIDE with my 600ho and a 800HO renegade. we couldnt walk away from eachother. we were side by side ( exactlly) couldnt believe it.

have hit 107 on the speedo and let off ( didnt want to hold it to much longer0

the price of the 500ss is what gets people( save 1k) but IMO it isn;t worth it.

good post mustardman, if I were in the market you just sold me the 600HO
That would be the sled I would go for.

Extra cash in the pocket, or the GLORY of crossing the line first .........

Isn't pride a :cussing:

Either way after coming off a Mach, you are in for a whole new experience !

If you go with the 500ss, make sure it is an adren and not a trail. The suspension is way better.

the trail is like the sport model :wink:

the adrenaline is THE WAY to go if you dont get the x package sled but no x in the 500ss.

the 600HO yanks unreal. WILL RUN WITH THE 800HO ALL DAY LONG.
:p :D :) :D :p :) :D :p :) :p :D :p :p

When I was looking to buy a new sled I was looking to buy a 500. I ride mostly tight wooded trails where you rarely go over 50 mph. When I decided to buy a REV the 500ss seemed like a good choice. A 600cc sled for the price of a 500. So far I have been very happy with my decision. It has more power than any 500 out there for the same price. I have the trail model and have between 6-8 feet of air without any trouble from the suspension. I also was concerned with the reliability of the 600 HO.

reliability of the 600HO??? it's been out since 2003 ( models) i think it has proven itself as a great POWER PLANT. ring problem and other than that i havent heard of anything

My dad has the 600 HO and I had it on the lake 2 weeks ago and raced my dads friend with his 800 rev (not HO) and I smoked him up to 80-85 mph and then he left me back about 40-50 ft the 600 HO blew him off the lake the first 600-700 ft .they are fast

Don't be to quick to undersell the 500ss, I rode my wifes new Gsx for a day and couldn't believe the quickness of the sled, the sled doesn't rumble like some of the bigger cc sleds but it will rocket around corners like a breeze. A friend of mine was trying to keep up with his 02 A.C. 800 efi and it was not even close on the trails. If you don't do much draging and like smooth fast trail sled, I would save your self the extra money and put it towards some accessories. Jason

Well if the 600 HO is that much faster then I am sold! Thanks everyone for your input.

I have the 04 600HO renagade and the wife is on a 500SS trail. The 500 will pull 2 lengths out of the hole and then the HO will drive by. Personally, the clutching is much much better on the 500SS. The HO is lacking severly from the 0 to 40 MPH range and that is where the 500SS SHINES. In the tight trails the SS has WAY better throtle response as the motor seems to be on the pipe quicker and more often. Hell the SS engages at 4300 and the GAde at 3800 and the SS is Louder.
Maybe a spring will cure the gade but for now I'll just ride it. TOO lazy to pull the clutches.

I dont know where everybody gets off on how much the H.O is faster than the 500ss. I own a 500ss and i have no problem with the H.Os. The low end on the 500ss are just amazing quicker than ive ever seen throttle respnse is rediculous. I havent had an H.O whos seriolsy beaten me yet, because i get em out of the whole so bad they cant catch up, and an H.O aint that much faster to where there gonna catch u in 600 feet from 2 to 3 sled links back unless its 6,000 feet on a lake then there might be a differnce. But thats mine. when u get ure sled stock u have to play with it and be patient. ure clutch, weight to ure track, and carbs, these make a difference. But all in all granite the H.O has 6 more horsepower, But we all know whos gettin the whole shots, and from what ive seen many of times from experience 2 or 3 sleds aint gonna matter when an H.O is behind yah in 600 feet.

After reading everones replies,i think your all right on. I bought one this year with the adrenaline package and the 500 performs great I have formula111 and it side by side with it. In the trail the rev is the only way to go. The 600 is going to have more top end. But in the trail you don't see that very much.

The guys who bought 600HO's of course are going to swear they are far superior to justify the extra $ they spent. :) We love our 500SS sleds.

The 500SS are only a few(5-7) MPH slower than the 600 HO's but ehre is the killer part. They are getting damn near the same gas mileage as the SDI's. Within a few cents at every fill up. I am very impressed with the 500ss and think it is great value for the money. Nice to get more for a change instead of less.

Originally posted by permafrost@Mar 1 2004, 08:23 AM
The 500SS are only a few(5-7) MPH slower than the 600 HO's but ehre is the killer part. They are getting damn near the same gas mileage as the SDI's. Within a few cents at every fill up. I am very impressed with the 500ss and think it is great value for the money. Nice to get more for a change instead of less.
[quote]

I agree totally, I pounded my wifes 500s.s. Gsx for a day this winter and couldn't believe the gas mileage, I was riding with a 03 Mxz 600H.O. and an 02 Cat 800 and I put in 2 less gallon on every fillup. My friend riding the Cat kept saying I was riding like a madman but the sled handled the twisties so well that it felt like I was going 20 mph slower than I really was. Lots of get up, great mileage,and awsome handling, has to be the Ski-Doo buy of 04. :thumbsup:

check out the price on a 2005 500 ss trail
"Base Price Package
MX Z Trail 500 SS
$6,399.00 Cdn"
from the site

$6399 is in u.s. funds, sorry

what's new on the 05? Got mine for $5000 out the door 0 miles 2004. Bought two though and got a good deal :D

Yes we always get fooled witht he US price :blush:

I do not have either one but I can say this they are both going to be good sleds. The price dif is a $ thing if it is not a problem buy the 600ho it is a little faster than the 500ss I have ridden the sleds. As for musteredman bring your 600HO and let me show you that it WILL NOT HANG with my 800HO from start to finish. Many have tried but not even close .

This is just my experience. I don't have the 500 ss but I got a 2002 mxzx 600 that has the same motor and I haven't found a 600 HO yet that can beat by a lot if at all. I have a clutch kit and studs, thats it. My has hit 107 mph on hard pack. For a thousand dollars I think I would go with the ss.

all i can add is the 500ss is fast but, iwish people would quit comparing it to the f5. f5 499cc, 500ss 597cc ,insurance class 500, performance class 600! SWRules

I raced a 03 legend 500 on hard packed with my vmax and lost by a sled length. That would have to be a true 500 right?? theres no way I could keep up with an SS, so it must have been.

yamamaniac the 03 legend was a 497 not a 597CC motor. I am actually suprised it held together for the race as those motors were grenading non stop last year. We literally had to send boxes of pieces back to bombi for inspection. They were so bad last year that bombi dicontinued making them and just switched to the proven 600 non ho motor.

ya if u want to compare it to a cat compare it to a sabor or fire cat 600, my friend has one of these 597 cc (04)engines in his renegade i think, i dont know much about ski doo i just know that he is always infront of the pack. so howe come ski doo doesnt call it a 600???

so howe come ski doo doesnt call it a 600???

The one your talking about is probably the 600 HO, not the 500ss

they don't make a 500 rev...so the 500ss is made to compare with the other manus 500's in class, and performance....even though it's bigger....what better way to build a class winning sled than to put a bigger engine in it....

o so i guess ski doo needs to cheat to beat real 500 jk