The Raptor 700 Big 3 refers to upgrading the main components that affect the airflow and fuel flow – the air intake, the exhaust system, and the power commander.
Here are the highest recommended upgrades for the Raptor 700, along with what you can expect when making these upgrades.
Best Upgrades For The Raptor 700 Big 3
Upgrade The Intake System
The intake system consists of the airbox and air filter. It allows clean air into the engine and determines how much fuel the engine can be fed, which both affect the amount of power produced.
By upgrading the airbox and air filter, you’ll enable more airflow into the engine while also ensuring the air is clean so it runs better.
While it has an abundance of low to mid range power, the Raptor 700’s factory intake is known for choking out the top half of the RPM range.
Upgrading the intake eliminates this issue and focuses on adding more power at the higher RPM ranges. This should translate to more top-end speed as well.
By upgrading the airbox and air filter, you should see an additional 1.5 to 3 horsepower from the 5,000 RPM range on, with added torque in those ranges as well.
There are a number of upgraded intake options out there, with the highest recommended being the following:
- Barker’s Performance Custom Intake
- LoneStar Racing Custom Intake
- FCI (Fuel Customs Intake)
- Monster Flow Intake System
If you want to add a separate air filter, K&N high flow filters are among the highest recommended for the Raptor 700.
While you’ll have more air coming into the engine with this upgrade, you’ll also need to send more air out as a result. This is where upgrading your exhaust is crucial as well.
Upgrade The Exhaust System
Upgrading the exhaust system helps provide a more efficient escape for this added airflow from the intake once used up.
An upgraded exhaust system focuses on increasing the horsepower and torque of the Raptor, with riders ideally experiencing the feeling of a higher amount of torque from all four corners of the machine along with an overall increase in power throughout all gears.
Not only that, but an upgraded exhaust will also give your Raptor 700 a much deeper and aggressive growl than that of the stock exhaust when riding.
But it will be louder, as depending on the aftermarket exhaust you go with, it will increase the sound output by somewhere around three to six decibels.
The highest recommended aftermarket exhaust systems for the Raptor 700 are as follows:
- Evo Exhaust
- Empire Exhaust
- Barker’s Exhaust
- Curtis Sparks
- HMF Racing
- Monster Exhaust
While each of them increase the Raptor’s performance by the same amount, they all differ in appearance and the type of sound they emit.
To see how they compare to each other, check out this Empire Exhaust Guide.
Add A Power Commander
To ensure the Raptor performs at its best with the upgraded intake and exhaust systems, a power commander (also referred to as a fuel controller) should be added as well.
The power commander is a tuning device that will provide the upgraded exhaust system with the proper amount of added fuel flow it needs to perform at its highest level.
This device monitors the air to fuel ratio of your quad and calculates the correct fuel adjustment needed to achieve the optimal proportions.
The addition of this tuning device will ensure the proper air to fuel ratio at every RPM, throttle position, and engine load level will result in improved throttle response along with increased horsepower and torque.
The addition of the Big 3 should translate to better acceleration and a higher top speed of closer to 85 mph for the Raptor 700.
Most aftermarket providers offer Big 3 packages with each component needed for the Raptor 700 upgrade, but each upgrade can be purchased individually as well.
