It was good to finally get out and ride some last weekend during Test & Tune.  There are still a few traps in the snow if you go looking for them, but conditions are decent, especially now that there’s a base.  When we get some fresh snow on top, it will be a lot of fun.  After one weekend of riding and testing, here are some preliminary thoughts on where the sleds stand.

Ski-Doo:  The Rev XP production sleds feel and act much like the prototypes that I wrote about in the spring.  It’s really a lighter Rev.  Unfortunately, like last year, Ski-Doo did a very poor job on the stock clutching and it’s erratic at best.  We didn’t change the stock clutching much since Ski-Doo had already changed ramps, springs, and the entire driven clutch for 2008, but now we know we’ll need to.  There’s a lot of chatter on the net about belt failure and belt heat.  We did observe and confirm that the clutches and belts are running hotter than normal.  It appears that the first thing that happens is the cord starts to come out of the belt.  If you stop and trim the cord, it seems that the belt will continue to work okay but if the cord continues to unravel, eventually the belt will come apart, sometimes in spectacular fashion.  We experimented some with a setup similar to what we ran in the 2007s with good results and will do some more testing this weekend.  I'm hoping we can test enough to feel comfortable finalizing the setup.  So far, that clutch scenario is much more consistent and does lower the belt and clutch temps significantly.  As has been the case with Ski-Doo, installing a set of aftermarket vents in the side panel is also a worthwhile upgrade to help dissipate that heat.

Service Bulletin:  XP customers also need to know that there is a bulletin out to replace the handwarmers, as they will all eventually fail.  As of today, parts are still scarce to perform the bulletin but please be aware that the update will need to be done.  It appears that running them on low might extend the life somewhat but that data sample is also small enough to just be a guess at this point.

Polaris: The new Dragon 800 is really what we all hoped for.  It feels a lot like the 700 with more power.  Compared to the spring prototypes we rode, the production engine feels stronger in comparison to the 700.  In our preliminary tests against the Ski-Doo, it appears that the Dragon 800 and Rev XPs are very close.  As we've said before, the choice really comes down to a question of which chassis feel you prefer.  The XP is more stable, especially when you’re making a banzai run up the hill, but the Dragons really roll around and are easy to sidehill.

The 700s also continue to be great sleds that offer a lot of bang for the buck.  The 700 RMX kit has very similar power to the 800, especially on the bottom end where compression helps throttle response a bunch at altitude.  It is also worth noting that while the 800 doesn’t feel heavy, you can tell that the 700 mill is just enough lighter that you can feel it.

Cat: The M8 has almost become the forgotten sled for 2008 with all the excitement over the new XPs and Dragon 800s but it’s still a really decent sled. For most guys, the handlebars are too low, but that’s a $40 fix.  We also found on the dyno that the new Cats, both the M8 and M1000, are about 3.5 horsepower better than the ’07 models.  That still leaves Cat a little low compared to Polaris and Ski-Doo but an RMX kit would help close the gap further.  The new steering geometry also really helps with turning radius and gives you better control when you tip the sled over since the skis can turn further in the opposite direction.

The M1000 is still king in the horsepower department and it still shows in the field.  The combination of some extra horsepower and the three tower clutch has also combined to improve the big Cat’s throttle response.  It’s no wonder that Polaris and Ski-Doo gave up on the big bore class since Cat has the only sled with a big engine that’s still really fun to ride.  The 900 RMK was low on horsepower and the Summit was just too heavy.  The Cat also has the advantage of being able to bolt an RMX kit on which bumps the high altitude dyno number past 137 horse and really makes it fun to ride.

Yamaha: The turbo Apex is fast. Even with the boost turned down and the fuel turned way up to make it safe for anybody we put on it, it’s still considerably faster than anything else around without a turbo.  However, we did run in to some turbo two strokes that were right there with it.  We just had a turbo Dragon 700 on the dyno and are building an M8 turbo currently.  Given that the Dragon 700 would happily make 175hp on fairly low boost, it makes sense that the two strokes are in the ballpark with the Apex on low boost.  Time will tell, however, if the two strokes will take the continual flogging without failure that the Apexes have over the past few years.  It will also be interesting to see where the edge of the envelope is with the two strokes.  We’ve made about 260hp on the drag sled engine which is still basically stock with the boost turned up.  In the old days playing with two stroke turbos, we called big boost "Angel Boost" because when you got there it wasn't long before the engine was dead and the angels were singing.  It should be interesting to find out where that line is that summons the angels with the current generation of turbos. 

The new Yamaha Nytro MTX also proved to be a crowd favorite.  Yamaha has finally hit the four stroke ball right down the center.  For most folks, the Apex is too heavy and the Phazer is not enough snowmobile.  The prior Vector Mountain was built on the old RX-1 platform and the engine response was about like riding a sewing machine.  To say that the Nytro is different would be a massive understatement.  It revs fast, the chassis is nimble and easy to ride, and the four-stroke power band gives it a lot of bottom end.  It’s not an 800 class machine but when you consider that it comes with Yamaha reliability which means twisting the key and riding, it’s at least worth considering.  Unlike their previous sleds, the Nytro really will appeal to and be a decent fit for a wide variety of riders.

All in all, it looks like it’s going to be a good fun winter with the new product. We have some fine tuning to do but it appears that most of what the OEMs told us in the spring is fairly accurate which is nice. 

Thanks,
Donavon