COLD FAST STATS! FACE THE. 11th ANNUAL. Let s clear the air... This is the Real World, baby! And we ride in it everyday! Ideal conditions don t

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1 COLD FAST 11th ANNUAL REAL WORLD SHOOTOUT! STATS! FACE THE BY ROSS HALVORSON Mark Savage Photos Let s clear the air... This is the Real World, baby! And we ride in it everyday! Ideal conditions don t FACING UP... to the Real World stats, performance and ride impressions! That s what we do for you, our readers, at the Real World S.O.! include wind gusts, blinding snow and temperatures dropping faster than the green flag! All these conditions happened at AmSnow s original Real World Shootout. A drifting track, 25-plus mph crosswinds and teeth-chattering temps was the hand Mother Nature dealt us. We know the weather doesn t always cater to us snowmobilers, and that, my friends, is what the Real World is all about. For scores of seasons we ve been showing our loyal readers what each of our demo sleds can do on any given day. These are consumer stock sleds with the only performance modification this year being our Stud Boy Power Point trails studs and Super- Lite backers paired with 7.5- inch Shaper Bars. A common setup you ll see parked in front of any watering hole. March

2 FOR Real! TRUE, LEGIT DATA ACCELERATION STATS ACTUAL WET WEIGHTS MID-SEASON RIDE IMPRESSIONS GAS MILEAGE UPDATES BY MARK BONCHER Scott Stollberg/Mark Savage photos ou guys really calculate mileage after each fill-up? That s the question we got from a stranger at a lonely gas station in upper Wisconsin while doing our Real World testing this year. Truth is, we get this type of question often, and let me tell you, it is not easy trying to write down mileage numbers for seven sleds on a piece of paper at a gas station during a blizzard at -5F. But it s real! Getting accurate mileage records is just one of the things we do for our Real World Shootout that others don t take the time to do, or are afraid they ll offend someone by reporting such results. This year, our January test was in jeopardy after a freak warm-up and heavy rains swept through the Midwest just before New Year s. This warm weather threatened to ruin any decent testing spot in a 3-state area. Fortunately, the cold and snow came back quickly to the Northwoods and on test day we had a perfect 1 4-mile ice test track with just a bit of snow on top. As usual, our test morning dawned cold as we broke out our radar gun, computer, cameras, generator, scales, trucks and sleds. The thermometer was struggling to edge above zero until 10 a.m., just 2015 Kalmbach Publishing Co. This material may not be reproduced in 32 AMERICAN SNOWMOBILER any form without permission from the publisher. as we were warming the sleds for their runs. What started as a small crosswind suddenly changed into a stiff 10 mph headwind with swirling snow which somewhat slowed the times, but not enough to keep a couple sleds out of triple digits. In short, the weather was less than ideal and getting reliable data was a challenge. Test overview In our annual Real World Shootout we test all our long-term demo trail sleds for acceleration, top speed, and mpg. Also, while we hold our test in Wisconsin, our Western Editor Stephen Clark conducts We test all our long-term demo sleds for acceleration, top speed and mpg. REAL WORLD

3 INTO THE WIND! A brisk headwind and single digit temps made this year s Real World Shootout a challenge. But our sleds performed well, the fastest being the Yamaha Apex at 104 mph. our Real World Powder Sled Eval in Idaho, where he tests our demo mountain sleds for different criteria, including weight, climbing ability and more. (See p. 38) For all our sleds (both trail and mountain) we weigh them fully wet with gas, oil, coolant, brake fluid, etc. Also, for the trail sleds we weigh them WITH their stud packages installed and without any snow or ice on them. This gives an accurate Real World weight, just as you would see as you were headed out for a day on the trails. We use incredibly accurate professional digital Intercomp floor scales for all our weigh-ins. For our acceleration tests we mark off a ¼-mile with at least another ¼-mile of STATS shutdown or run-out room and then use our radar gun and accompanying computer software to determine acceleration stats. We give each sled just two runs (unless a rolling start negates our data) and the best run gets published. We do this all on the same day, same time, and same conditions and all back-to-back so that not one sled gets an advantage. That said, some ¼-mile times and speeds did not get recorded this year due to turbulence from blowing snow and whiteouts (you ll see that in this story s charts). To be fair to the other sleds involved we did not give third or fourth chances to any sled that would allow it to possibly record a better run, or more data. These are not straight out of the box sleds like those we test at our New York Shootout each December. We make sure our sleds are well broken in before Real World testing. This year our sleds had more than 450 miles on them before test day, the only exception was Yamaha s Apex XTX. Due to logistical hurdles we didn t receive this sled until just a few days before the testing so it only had about 200 miles on it at test time. Also, our mileage data for the Apex reflects an average of several tanks of fuel that we ran through the sled, just after the first 200 miles. Spring

4 1 2 3 FAST COMPANY All the sleds showed prowess at something. Arctic Cat s Crossfire (1) had the fastest 1,000-foot time, while Ski-Doo s TNT 600 ACE (2) was our MPG winner at Meanwhile, the Ski-Doo Renegade Adrenaline 800R E-TEC (3) was fastest in the quarter mile at 100 mph. Our main objective with our test fleet this year was to test a majority of the 800cc or 150+ hp crossovers. We also tested the Polaris 800 Rush, which was new this year, and the new 4-stroke ultra-efficient Ski-Doo MXZ 600 ACE. Finally, we studded every sled in our fleet this year, except the modestly powered 600 ACE, which we felt would be more enjoyable without studs. Snow Studs supplied all the traction, templates and carbide packages for the Real World Shootout. Only trail studs were used and all sleds were studded down the center. Hybrid Heaven We had five long-track crossovers at our Real World Shootout, all with 800cc, or larger, engines. Arctic Cat was represented by a standard Crossfire 800 with its 15x141x1.25- inch Cobra single-ply track and an F8 EXT with its 15x144x1.25-inch Cobra track; both have flat rail profiles. These sleds are powered by the same 163-horse high-output 794cc 2-stroke engine and registered and mph for top speeds, respectively, and the Crossfire recorded the best 1,000-foot time of seconds. The Crossfire also was quickest out of the hole as it hooked up well and scored the best elapsed times of any of the longtracks through the 1,000-foot mark. The standard Crossfire was the second lightest crossover we tested at 579 lbs. and not surprisingly, the F8 EXT weighed in as the second heaviest of the fleet at 667. This EFI motor got 12.1 and 13.1 mpg, respectively, on the machines, so the EXT is actually more efficient when it comes to Real World trail riding. We might expect that as Crossfires are geared low for smoother engagement in deep snow. So a quick start makes sense, but that doesn t account for the Crossfire having a better top-end than the EXT. We re baffled too! From Polaris we had a beautiful new orange Assault Switchback 800 with a 15x144x1.352-inch Cobra track and tipped-up rails. This bad boy went mph for a top speed and recorded the second quickest ¼-mile time. In acceleration testing this sled fell solidly in the middle of the pack, which is impressive considering this is the only sled of our group that s really made for extreme riding, more tailored to a rider who spends 60-70% of his time boondocking off-trail and 30-40% on-trail. Our positive acceleration stats show we can t always rely solely on dyno results to indicate performance. The Switchback also was the lightest of our crossovers, by quite a bit! A few pounds here or there aren t a big deal, but this was more than 11 lbs. lighter than the next closest competitor! Granted we didn t have a Cat Crossfire Sno Pro or Renegade X model to compare to, and those are lighter than the standard versions, but the Assault Switchback is still pretty light for a 144 inch sled. It was even 9 lbs lighter than its short-track brother the 800 Rush Pro-R! At 12.6 mpg it also got better gas ACCELERATION RUNS AND TOP SPEEDS* (SPEED/TIME) TIMED SPEED RESULTS Arctic Cat Crossfire 800 Arctic Cat F8 EXT Polaris 800 Rush Pro-R Polaris 800 Switchback Assault Ski-Doo MXZ TNT 600 ACE Ski-Doo Renegade Adrenaline 800R E-TEC Yamaha Apex XTX Top speed (mph) ¼-mile (sec.) ¼-mile (mph) ft. (sec.) ft. (mph) ft. (sec.) ft. (mph) mph (sec.) mph (sec.) mph (sec.) Note: * = Top speed can be from a separate run, but all other data reflects the best single run for each sled. Due to poor visibility, some sleds did not electronically register a complete 1/4-mile run. 34 AMERICAN SNOWMOBILER REAL

5 4 5 mileage than we ve seen from most recent Polaris 2-strokes. It was even better than last year s 600 Rush which got 12.4 mpg. Our Ski-Doo hybrid was the Renegade Adrenaline 800R E-TEC. This was the quickest recorded long-track through the ¼-mile, completing the test in seconds. The Renegade s wide 16x137x1.25- inch single-ply track did not slow it up either, as it also had the fastest speed at the 1,000-foot mark and it was second in the top speed category, posting 101 mph. Renegade hooked up well out of the hole too, right on the heels of the Crossfire all the way through the 1,000-foot mark. The Renegade was a little heavier than we ve become accustomed to from Ski-Doo, weighing in at 591 lbs. totally wet and studded. But that s still substantially lighter than the Cat EXT or Yamaha s Apex XTX. However, Ski-Doo claims the gas mileage trophy for 800s, achieving 17.2 mpg with its new direct-injected 800 E-TEC. That was better than the 4-stroke Apex and miles ahead of any other 2-stroke 800 in our fleet. The E-TEC is currently using about half of what the competing 2-stroke 800s use in oil consumption as well! Yamaha s Apex XTX was the Shootout s surprise sled. It s incredibly speedy, ranking either first or second in speed at the 660-, 1,000-foot and ¼-mile marks. Additionally the Apex blasted out the fastest top speed we ve seen from a stock sled in the past three years, hitting 104 mph. That s slightly better than we saw from the Arctic Cat Z1 Turbo three years ago, but naturally in different conditions. Yamaha s 4-stroke really winds up! The XTX has a 15x144x1.25-inch track, but has tipped-up rails, which help it act more like a short-track in the flats and no doubt helps it achieve its blistering top speed. At 717 lbs. many may second guess the Apex, but we think its speed speaks for itself. The XTX got 15 mpg too in our Real World testing. Since we received this sled late, we only had a couple hundred miles on it when we started taking fuel mileage numbers, so we expect mpg to continue to improve throughout the season. WORLD STATS SHOP PREP AND ICY RUN AmSnow Senior Editor Mark Boncher (4) tightens the track on our Arctic Cat F8 EXT while test rider Butch Veltum and test track groomer Al Kolve supervise. Back on the ice, the Polaris Assault Switchback posts a solid mph top speed in its radar run. Short-Tracks Our short-tracks this year didn t compare to each other directly, or to the longtracks, but both were impressive. The Polaris 800 Rush Pro-R absolutely owned the holeshot and had virtually all the best ETs. While its speeds were slower, the Rush got there quicker. This sled quite possibly would have had the quickest ¼-mile time if the blowing snow had allowed for a reading. The Rush rocketed to 660 feet and showed its corner to corner effectiveness between 0 and 60 mph and that s what is important on the trail. Again, being our only short-track 800 we kind of expected this. The Rush Pro-R was only slightly heavier than its Switchback brother. While many may find this an oddity, it s really not surprising. From the factory, Polaris states that the Rush Pro-R is 7 lbs. heavier than the Switchback Assault. So a 9 lb. difference when fully wet and studded should not be a shock. Both the shorttrack Rush and Switchback got virtually the same mpg as well. As for the Ski-Doo MXZ TNT 600 ACE, well, the marketing people weren t fudging. We saw almost EXACTLY the same mpg numbers for this sled as was advertised 29 mpg. We saw 28.5 mpg and that s simply fantastic! At a time when gas looks to be going well north of $3 a gallon in the States, this is the perfect economy sled for folks wanting to rack up miles. ACE won t win any speed battles, but we saw 65 mph with the radar gun and several of us hit nearly 80 mph on the speedo across lakes. We didn t stud this sled, but if you added a standard stud package, the total wet weight would probably settle near 540 lbs. Ride Impressions: The Uppers Cat s F8 EXT rides like a Cadillac. It has oodles of available power, is smooth and turns easily for a big sled. It s warm, comfortable and takes rough trails and smooth trails equally well. It s actually better off-trail than we thought it would be too. Cat s standard Crossfire 8 really bites and hooks into the snow. It is glued to the trail and was by far the warmest of our demo sleds. We still like the ample storage room on the Cats too. Polaris Switchback Assault is extreme, and every bit as good as we thought it was in pre-season testing. BUT, it deserves just as much praise on the trail as it does in the powder. This sled can hang with the SLED WET WEIGHTS &MPG SLED WET WEIGHT/ LBS. MPG Ski-Doo MXZ TNT 600 ACE (no studs) Polaris 800 Switchback Assault Polaris 800 Rush Pro-R Arctic Cat Crossfire Ski-Doo Renegade Adrenaline 800R E-TEC Arctic Cat F8 EXT Yamaha Apex XTX * Note: Sleds driven at varying trail speeds with various drivers for several hundred miles after full engine breakin. Full wet weights, including complete Snow Studs stud packages for all but the MXZ 600 ACE, taken with highquality Intercomp floor scales. More info: *Apex was a late delivery, so fuel mileage includes early break-in miles. Spring

6 1 2 3 HARD CHARGERS The Polaris 800 Rush Pro-R (1) charged hard right out of the blocks to post four top times in the shorter distances, while the Arctic Cat F8 EXT (2) pounded out a top speed of Before the rumble (3) the crew gathers for a photo with our long-term test machines. best trail sleds and its engine is smooth, its sound is inspiring, and it delivers more than enough power to hang at the front of any pack. The Rush 800 also continues to make us believe Polaris is on the right track. After our pre-season tests we did not think this sled handled as well as the 600, but after several adjustments, it has become a test rider favorite and is NOT as tippy as we had initially thought. Ski-Doo is hitting home runs with fuel mileage for both its direct-injected 2-stroke 800 E-TEC and 4-stroke 600 ACE engines. The Renegade still carves up the trail and corners sharper than any of the other long-tracks we have and doesn t sprinkle 2-stroke cologne all over your clothes. (Some may like this, some won t!) But everyone in our group loved the TNT 600 ACE as it handles easily, corners well, is plenty powerful to slice up the trails, and it barely sips fuel from the tank. This sled is just good fun! Yamaha s Apex with its EPS feels lighter through the trails than many a 600. You cannot tell this sled tips the scales as seriously as it does. The rear suspension is Yamaha s best in recent memory and, oh yes, the Apex is screaming fast. If the Apex kicked chicken tail there would be feathers all over the trail! It s warm too and the seat is like sitting in your favorite leather upholstered recliner, comfy! Ride Impressions: The Downers The EXT pushes in the corners sometimes with that long flat 144-inch rail in back. The Crossfire chassis is past its prime. It pales in handling comparison to newer sleds, turning was extremely labor intensive and it was our least favorite trail rider of the group. The Assault is not for everyone as it has a stiffer ride than some will like and it sits tall, so shorter riders may have a harder time sashaying it through tight trails. The Rush 800 takes a bit of working with to get it set up correctly for each individual rider, but it IS crazy quick. The Renegade s front-end does not If the Apex kicked chicken tail there would be feathers all over the trail! BREAK-IN PROCEDURES: A MFGS HOW-TO EACH NEW SLED has a slightly different break-in time and procedure. Here are a few tips from some of the manufacturers. POLARIS 800 Folks at Polaris tell us that the break-in period for the 800 is considered one full tank of fuel and oil. They note that the first tank should be pre-mixed at a 40:1 ratio or 32 ounces per 10 gallons of fuel. In addition, Polaris engineers tell us that filling the oil reservoir with Polaris Premium 2-cycle semi-synthetic oil will seat the rings faster than using Polaris VES Gold Plus. Once this first tank of oil is drawn down, change to VES Gold Plus. During break-in, oil levels and lines should be inspected periodically to make sure there are no bubbles and that oil is flowing freely. Coolant and hoses and wire routings also should be inspected. Polaris says it is important to vary the throttle opening and speeds and not hold the sled wide open for extended periods. This will allow the sled to break in slowly and reduce friction on close-fitting machined parts. The engine management system features a break-in calibration that automatically makes minor adjustments during the first couple hours of vehicle operation to complement the break-in procedures as well. Finally, the engine break-in procedure is meant to be performed during normal vehicle operation on snow. The practice of revving the engine with the snowmobile on a track stand, or prolonged engine idling are never recommended as they do not put the snowmobile under real world conditions required for proper engine break-in. SKI-DOO 800 E-TEC It takes 120 liters of fuel passing through the injectors in the new 800 E-TEC for it to reach complete break-in. The ECU is programmed to track the exact milliliters of fuel that pass through the injectors. For the average rider this equates to 4 or 5 fill-ups as most people don t burn an entire tank before refilling. At 80 liters the E-TEC s ignition timing becomes normal. It takes another 40 liters for the oil programming also to become normal. YAMAHA APEX XTX Like all sleds it s important to read the owner s manual for proper break-in procedures, but most critical for the Yamahas is getting the first oil change done at 500 miles. New Apex models have an oil change reminder function in the gauge. Owners will see an OIL 0000 message displayed. It will indicate the miles since the message started, the same way as the fuel light tracker. This message is normal and does not indicate anything is wrong. It s just a friendly reminder to be good to your engine. The demo team managers at Yamaha and our own riders believe that the time the Apex sleds start to loosen up and really shine varies from sled to sled and how they are ridden. It usually takes several tanks before the tracks are fully broken in, the bearings have been seasoned and the sleds are wide awake. 36 AMERICAN SNOWMOBILER REAL WORLD STATS

7 handle the big bumps as well as the others here and can dart quite a bit if not set up right. The 600 ACE s engine tone takes some getting used to as it sounds more like a garden tractor than a snowmobile. The Apex still tends to push in corners, especially when there are several inches of fresh snow. It also has a high pitch whine throughout the powerband that was not noticeable on past models and proved irritating to some of our testers. Conclusions We are long-track lovers, and the new class of crossovers are the best to ever hit the snow. It is hard to pick out anything from this full grouping of demo sleds that would stop us from buying one and all the OEMs are bringing their A-games right now may be the year you NEED to buy new.

8 OFTEN IMITATED, STACKING UP THE STATS WITH ACCELERATION TESTING, REAL WET WEIGHTS, EARLY RIDE IMPRESSIONS, AND MPG DATA BY MARK BONCHER Scott Stollberg and Mark Savage photos SNOWMOBILERS SPEND A LOT OF TIME CHASING. Whether it s following our buddies down the trail on our sleds, or on a race track, or maybe just chasing down the best food in a little snowmobiling town we happen to end up in. We love the thrill of the chase, no matter what it is. That s good because at the beginning of this snowmobile season we were chasing snow just to be able to use our sleds and the snow was elusive! Thankfully the first real storm of the year for most of the upper Midwest came just before our Real World testing in Wisconsin s northwoods and Michigan s Upper Peninsula. After a few days of logging miles on marginal trails with not much more than snirt, the snow gods sent us a bounty of inches to test in. We were able to do all our acceleration testing, fuel mileage preliminary testing, wet weighing, and put our fleet of demo 2012 AMSNOW REAL

9 NEVER DUPLICATED! sleds through their paces. If you re keeping track, this is two years in a row that we have gotten lucky with a snowstorm right before the shootout. Each year we break out the radar gun, professional Intercomp scales, computers, digital cameras, prepare the test track, and bring you the earliest independent eval we can on our demo fleet. No one else does this early in depth testing. It doesn t always make us the most popular mag with the OEMs (each one thinks its sleds are the best in EVERY category), but like you, we want to know the truth and give you numbers you can trust. THE START IS IMPORTANT as shown here by Senior Editor Mark Boncher as he carefully prepares the Polaris 800 Rush Pro-R (left) for one of its two radar runs. Test rider and vintage expert Les Pinz captures times and speeds on the gun and Editor Mark Savage snaps the pix. FAST N LUXURIOUS our 2011 Yamaha Apex XTX (top) launches from the start to post the top speed for the second year straight. Below that Ski-Doo s fast luxury cruiser, the GSX SE with the 800 E-TEC engine proved it has plenty of guts with a second 1/4-mile time. Ready, set, test! For newcomers, our Original Real World Shootout is actually a 2-piece endeavor. In addition to the trail sled testing we do in the northern Midwest, our Western Editor Stephen Clark also conducts a Real World Powder Sled Eval in Idaho at roughly the same time. (See Powder Sled Eval, p.26) The first thing we do in both our Evals is the Wet Weight Test. We weigh ALL the sleds fully wet with gas, oil, coolant, brake fluid, etc. We do this weighing before we ever take the sleds out of the garage so that we don t have any extra snow or ice buildup and so that you know exactly what they weigh at the start of a day. WORLD SHOOTOUT

10 2012 AMSNOW REAL WORLD SHOOTOUT TURBO POWER helped our Limited Edition XF 1100 Sno Pro from Arctic Cat blast from the blocks in our acceleration tests. It was quickest to 1,000 feet and 1/4-mile. In addition, we often install traction packages on the performance-oriented trail sleds (like most consumers) and we weigh these sleds WITH the traction packages installed. We want to portray the sleds as a buyer would most likely ride them. After standing on our Intercomp scales we use for this test I happily declared that they were correct to within less than a pound unhappily I realized that I need to lay off the fried food! After wet weighing we put several hundred miles on every sled in the fleet to make sure they are fully broken in before we do acceleration testing. Our sleds all had well over 300 miles on them by the time of our radar runs, which just happened to take place on Friday the 13th. Thankfully we had our lucky rabbit s foot with us and everything went perfectly. We mark off a flat ¼-mile for our test run and then at least another ¼-mile of run-out space to be safe. This gives us the opportunity for what we call the full pull and it helps our computer software that is hooked up to the gun to accurately read both ¼-mile times, speeds and a peak (top) speed. After warming up each sled we give each two runs, back to back, in order to garner its best acceleration run. We tell you about the best run of the two. Our track this year had more loose snow on it than the previous year due to the continuing snowfall when we tested. The less tightly packed test track certainly was evident in the slower top speeds we saw. We had almost zero wind on test day, with what little there was at our backs, and the temperature was about 5 F. All our test sleds were 2012 models, except for a Yamaha Apex XTX. This XTX is the same 2011 Apex we tested last year, but we swapped the standard RipSaw for a new Ice Ripper track. This 1.25 inch lugged track comes with small studs already installed atop the lugs for increased traction. Finally, after the acceleration tests we ride the sleds for a couple hundred miles, at least 3 tanks of fuel (this is after the sleds have been broken in), to get an early AMSNOW S REAL WORLD ACCELERATION RUNS AND TOP SPEEDS (SPEED/TIME) TIMED SPEED RESULTS Arctic Cat XF 1100 Turbo Sno Pro Arctic Cat F 800 Sno Pro Polaris 600 SB Adventure Polaris 800 Rush Pro-R Ski-Doo GSX SE 800 Ski-Doo MXZ X-RS 2011 Yamaha Apex XTX Yamaha RS Vector Top speed (mph) ¼-mile (sec.) ¼-mile (mph) ft. (sec.) ft. (mph) ft. (sec.) ft. (mph) mph (sec.) mph (sec.) Note: * = Top speed can be from a separate run, but all other data reflects the best single run for each sled. Red numbers indicate best time/speed in that segment. Yamaha RS Venture GT

11 season fuel mileage average. We ll give you the full-season mpg figures early next fall. Battle of the 8s Possibly the most anticipated acceleration matchup was between the new Arctic Cat F 800 Sno Pro and Ski-Doo s MXZ X-RS 800R. We won t harp on the fact that Ski-Doo is currently suing Arctic Cat in the U.S. and Canada and names this particular Cat model in the suit. The lawsuit and these two sleds in particular have been a hot topic among many performance minded riders. We were lucky enough to have both sleds, PLUS Polaris 800 Rush Pro-R. There are several notable differences between these three 800cc sleds. The Sno Pro has the longest track with a 15x128x1.25 RipSaw while the X-RS has the shortest track with a 15x120x1.25- inch RipSaw and the Rush has a slightly longer 15x121x1.25-incher. In our Dynotech dyno tests earlier in the season (right out of the box) the Cat and Ski-Doo 800 motors were within 3.4 horsepower of each other, the Sno Pro making and the X-RS making The Polaris 800 was down slightly at hp. However, it s important to note that once Ski-Doo s E-TEC finally finishes its pre-programmed break-in period, the motor REALLY wakes up and just from our dyno experience, it seems the E-TEC was programmed to run even more rich in its break-in mode this year than last, so the E-TEC may actually be the most powerful engine once all is said and done. Conjecture aside, any way you cut it, these sleds are VERY evenly matched as far as power goes and in our wet weight testing only 4 lbs. separated the Cat and Ski-Doo. The X-RS was lighter at 558 lbs. and the Sno Pro was a svelte 562 lbs. The 800 Rush was heavier at 593 lbs. All of these sleds were studded, but the total number of studs was highest on the F 800 due to its longer track. Our radar tests showed the Cat F 800 Sno Pro to be fastest of these three performance trail sleds. The Cat s top speed was mph and it finished the ¼-mile in just seconds. The X-RS had a top speed of mph and finished the ¼-mile in seconds and the Rush had a top speed of mph with a ¼-mile time of seconds. From the holeshot through 660 feet, through 1000 feet, and finally through the ¼-mile the Cat had the best times and fastest speeds of these three. The Ski-Doo was close on its tail throughout the acceleration test, but we think the test track s fresh snow benefited the longer tracked Cat. Last year we had a Rush Pro-R demo sled and its top speed was 96 mph so CAT S SPEEDY F 800 SNO PRO is our project sled this year, so we ve added a Racewerx wrap and custom front bumper and skid plate, some ROX Speed FX accessories and more. We plan more on the mechanical end, including adding Boyesen reeds later in the season. AMSNOW PROJECT SLED BEGINS YOU HAVE PROBABLY noticed that our F 800 Sno Pro in these photos does not look like any F 800 that came out of Cat s factory for That is because this is the sled that we are using as our project sled this year. So far we have added a custom graphic wrap from Racewerx, as well as a Racewerx custom front bumper and skid plate. Our stud protectors came from JohnMaster and we had a Stud Boy traction package. We also quickly added a set of handguards. Under the comparing the numbers, you can see our test track was slower this year. However, each sled s first run was extremely consistent with its second, so while the track was slower, it was slower for all the sleds consistently - a level playing field. Crossovers and cruisers The big duel in the crossover acceleration tests this year was between the reigning acceleration champ, the 2011 Yamaha Apex XTX, and the all new Arctic Cat XF 1100 Turbo Sno Pro. A little background on both these sleds is necessary to set the stage for this epic battle. Both these big 4-stroke crossovers were not necessarily built as top performance muscle / speed sleds for the trail. The Apex XTX is a 4-cylinder naturally aspirated 4-stroke that Dynotech tested earlier this year at about 151 hp. It comes with a long 15x144x1.25 inch track and has tipped up rails for a little better trail maneuvering. It has Yamaha s exclusive hood we kept the F800 stock for our Real World test, but this sled will get an upgrade there as well now that we ve completed our Real World test. We re planning a set of Boyesen reeds and we are toying with adding a Y-pipe and new exhaust. Other accessories not shown, but added as well, include storage accessories from True North Adventure Gear, Skinz and ROX Speed FX. For more info on the wrap and products for this sled check out the above mentioned companies websites. electric power steering and is positioned as a do-it-all hybrid sled that is smooth on the trails, has good power, and still enough track to play off-trail. However, the Apex is a little long for some to feel comfortable buying it strictly as a trail cruiser and a little heavy (706 lbs.) to be a true off trail tamer. We think it does many things well, but nothing exceptionally well, maybe one thing keep reading. The Cat XF 1100 Turbo Sno Pro was our Best Crossover sled this season and is positioned as a big power off-trail powder player by Cat. It has a big 15x141x1.5- inch Cobra track with a flat rail profile, and this turbocharged twin 4-stroke pumps out upward of 180 horses. Yikes! Last year, the XTX was the surprise acceleration test overall winner and it turns out that this sled DOES do one thing perfectly, and that is launch to a mighty top speed! This year the Apex held onto its title as 2015 Kalmbach Publishing Co. This material may not be reproduced in Spring any form without permission from the publisher.

12 2012 AMSNOW REAL WORLD SHOOTOUT REAL WORLD TRACTION: STUD BOY STEPS IT UP! THIS YEAR WE USED traction products from Stud Boy on four of our Real World Shootout sleds. We used Stud Boy s recommended stud patterns for aggressive trail riding on each of these sleds, the Cat F 800 Sno Pro, the Ski-Doo X-RS 800R E-TEC, the Polaris 800 Rush Pro-R, and the Ski-Doo GSX SE 800 E-TEC. More importantly we tested these stud patterns using Stud Boy s new Super-Lite Pro Backers. These backers are designed for the rider who is looking for the lightest weight stud support and best traction and quickest stopping available. The backers include the support nut molded directly into the backer. These are available in both single and double configurations in black and white and the doubles come in inch and inch heights with the singles available in the inch height only. All Pro Series backers are 5/16-inch - 24 self-tapping thread size. The double backer is used for standard tracks using regular Power Point type carbide studs while the Pro Series singles can be used with either standard or Plus style studs on both single- and doubleply tracks. Note that when you re installing these backers make sure you soak them in VERY hot soapy water first to help make them easier to install. Each of our riders commented on the excellent grip and especially the stopping ability of this new stud/backer system. If you have not seen the backers, they look almost like a scoop or small shovel surrounding the stud. Tested on the race track and the trails, the Power Point studs give lightweight performance and durability for whatever riding you do and are basically the top all-around stud from Stud Boy. This stud offers a 60º carbide point for superior penetration and strength. The 1-inch diameter Track Trapping head design provides great support. Special tapered shank and thin penetration profile, provide rigidity that ensures good traction. In addition to the studs we used Stud Boy s renowned single Shaper carbide up front on each of our four studded sleds. We noticed much more positive and aggressive turning ability using these bars. Used in conjunction with the new backers and Stud Boy s recommended setups for each sled we feel we have some of the best possible turning, traction, and stopping that a stock sled can offer. No wonder we had so much fun! On the Cat F 800 Sno Pro we used a combination of double and single backers and used 170 count of the inch studs and the full 9-inch Shaper bar up front. For the Ski-Doo X-RS 800R Stud Boy recommended a 168 count of studs that were inch, with single backers. We again used the Shaper Bar up front. On the Polaris 800 Rush Pro-R we used 192 count of the inch Power Point studs with a combination of single and double backers and the 9-inch Shaper. On the Ski- Doo GSX SE 800 we used 192 count with single backers and the Shaper up front again. WE REAL WORLD TESTED STUD BOY S Super-Lite Pro Backers, one of the more interesting innovations in traction technology. This year we used the Pro Backers on 4 different sleds from 3 different OEMs and found them to be great substitutions for traditional backers. Stopping and off-trail scenarios saw the best results. More info: WE RUN WHAT WE BRUNG including Yamaha s Vector (below), plus Ski-Doo s racy X-RS (top right), and Yamaha s Venture GT 2-up, with 2 riders, naturally. our fastest demo sled. Yes, it had a higher top speed than our Cat long-track turbo and ALL three 800cc performance sleds we ran. Apex posted a top speed of mph. Not to sound like a broken record, but anyone who says Yamaha doesn t make fast sleds should shut their big yappers! Cat s XF turbo showed a top speed of mph, which was faster than all the 800cc sleds. In addition, the big Cat was actually quicker than the Apex, and all the 800cc sleds, in the ¼-mile with a time of just seconds. Apex finished the ¼-mile in seconds. The Cat XF Turbo was also quicker than the Apex and all the 800cc sleds through 660 and 1000 feet. We feel that the Turbo s big 1.5-inch lugs held down its top speed a bit, but seeing what happens in the real world is why we do these tests! In addition to the Apex XTX and XF 1100 Turbo crossovers, we also had a pair of crossover touring sleds, the Ski-Doo GSX SE 800 E-TEC and Polaris Switchback Adventure 600. While these two sleds do not compare based on their motors, their clientele is likely to be quite similar. The GSX comes with the 800R E-TEC and garnered a top speed of mph, which was about 1 mph slower than the 800 Rush Pro-R. The GSX was 0.20 seconds quicker in the ¼-mile than the Rush though, posting a time of just seconds. The long 15x137x1.25-inch track

13 SLED WET WEIGHTS &MPG SLED WET WEIGHT/ LBS. MPG Ski-Doo X-RS 800R E-TEC Arctic Cat F 800 Sno Pro Polaris 800 Rush Pro-R Ski-Doo GSX 800R E-TEC Polaris 600 Switchback Adventure Arctic Cat XF 1100 Turbo Sno Pro Yamaha RS Vector Yamaha Apex XTX Yamaha RS Venture GT NOTE: Sleds driven at varying trail speeds with various drivers for several hundred miles after full engine break-in. Full wet weights taken with high quality Intercomp floor scales. Complete Stud Boy stud packages for the MXZ X-RS 800R, GSX 800 SE, F 800 Sno Pro and 800 Rush Pro-R. Ice Ripper track on the Apex XTX. More info: that was fully studded helped the GSX off the line as it posted quick times all the way through its run, actually beating its performance minded brother (the X-RS) on the holeshot and through 30 mph. The GSX also was quicker than the Apex XTX through 660 feet, so there is no denying that corner to corner speed on the GSX is impressive. Also at 616 lbs. the GSX is a relatively light cruiser. The Polaris Switchback 600 Adventure did not directly compare to any other sleds in our fleet this year, but posted a top speed of mph and finished the ¼-mile in seconds. We did not stud this sled, but it gripped well in the fresh snow. The 15x136x1.25-inch tracked machine is Polaris first attempt to build an enduro type segment into the snowmobile market as this sled comes with extremely useful side compartments, a rack in back, mirrors, and is more for the performancesport-touring-hybrid-long distance-luxury-utility crowd. (Is that enough adjectives for ya?) In the 120-horse trail cruiser segment we had Yamaha s Vector. This 3-cylinder 4-stroke fell about where it should in the speed ladder. The Vector s 15x121x1.25- inch RipSaw track was not studded, and the numbers from holeshot through the The corner to corner speed on the GSX is impressive. ¼-mile were about what we expected. Vector s top speed was mph, which did not compare to any of the 150+hp sleds, but the Vector was dynoed to have ponies earlier this season, so this is no surprise. The Vector did beat the 600cc Adventure on top speed, but that s no surprise as the Adventure has a few less ponies, is pushing a longer 136- inch track, and has the utility rack and two storage compartments on the back, which doesn t make it the most aerodynamic sled. Our last demo unit was Yamaha s stout Venture GT 2-up touring sled. While many may thumb their nose at running a 2-up through an acceleration run, we wanted to prove that today s 2-up sleds are just as fast and fun as many of the performance minded sleds. Just because you own a 2-up does NOT mean you frown upon performance. Our triple 4-stroke Venture showed us just that. Also, we are not advising or endorsing anyone to ride a 2-up in ways that it was not intended to be ridden. This was simply an exploratory test as we were as curious, as we know some of you are. We did two separate acceleration tests with this sled - one with just one rider, and another with 2 people aboard. The fastest top speed was mph, and that was achieved with 2 people on the sled (79.96 mph with one person on board). The Venture finished the ¼-mile in seconds and was quicker all the way through the ¼-mile with just one person on board. That is PLENTY fast for trail fun and Venture is breaking the mold that says 2-ups should be targeted simply at the geriatric crowd. Early ride impressions, thumbs up A big thumbs up goes to Cat s F 800 Sno Pro. With a good studding package and large Stud Boy Shaper 9-inch carbides up front, this sled really handles! There is zero push in the corners, which is different than what we felt on the pre-pro models with smaller carbides. This sled also stays flat in the corners, as much or moreso than our Ski-Doo X-RS. If you take into account the longer track and extra studs on this sled, it may have been the lightest in the wet weight category as well! Our Cat XF Turbo also was a crowd favorite. It is soooo smooth and actually was the pick of many riders for the choppy stuff. The 141-inch track bridges bumps perfectly and we caught people several times arguing over who got to ride Spring

14 the sleds with heated seats. 80 mph feels like 40 mph here. It s scary smooth! We also still like our Apex XTX. This sled is freaking fast. Down the long straight railroad grades of the northwoods several riders remarked that this sled just checked out and was gone. Cruising at ridiculous speed is surprisingly easy on the Apex and it s comfy as well. The Vector also is a speed demon. In the 120-hp class we are not sure there is anything that would come close to touching this sled (stock) on long sweeping trails. It kept all the riders that spent time on it warm and protected as well. Probably the biggest sleeper sled in our fleet was the large-but-not-braggingabout-it Yamaha Venture 2-up. It was a sleeper because riders who had not ridden it before didn t expect it to be so enjoyable to ride. It is warm, fast, has great wind deflection (although a bit noisy), has a plush suspension probably why it was our Best Touring Sled this season. We also have to give accolades to our Ski-Doo X-RS. Our Best Sled for 2012 did not disappoint and was certainly the best big mogul, rough trail sled in our fleet. Ease of suspension adjustment and total suspension capability are not matched by any other stock trail sled currently. It stays flat, corners well, and is light too! Ski-Doo s GSX SE also was a pure joy to ride and was everyone s pick on cold days. The heated seat, good wind protection, adjust on the fly rear air suspension, ample storage, and solid performance made this a contender for the overall top READY FOR AN ADVENTURE, that s the Polaris 600 Switchback Adventure, which was very handy on our trail rides and as quick as the Cat Turbo from 0-30 mph. sled in many rider s eyes. And yes, this was another Best Sled of ours this season, AmSnow s Best Luxury Touring sled. The Polaris Adventure also got a happy nod from our test team as it turned out to be extremely comfy and handy. While setting up for our acceleration tests we hauled out the majority of the gear and equipment on this sled. It was a pleasant ride on the trails, handling well and was one of our warmer sleds. The Rush 800 Pro-R also was well liked by our taller, more aggressive riders. Having an electric start on the Rush was a huge plus too. Early impressions, thumbs down By and large our group of demo sleds has never been better; seriously, there is not a bad sled in the bunch. However, there are always little things we notice that tweak us a bit, and here are a few. The Cat F 800 did not have electric start, even as an accessory! Not a single 800 from Cat this year came with an electric start option. That s just not right. But it has been rectified for In addition, the F 800 s gauge pod went haywire a few hundred miles into our testing, at press time we were installing a new pod. In addition, a recall affected both the F 800 and XF 1100 Turbo involving the tie rod nut on the steering linkage. If you have one of these sleds we suggest you take it to your dealer ASAP for your sled to be inspected, and fixed, if needed. Finally, the XF Turbo liked to start in reverse, and there was a service bulletin on the reverse forks and beeper. We had to constantly turn it off and on to get that to stop. The Turbo s hand guards were useless and at least a medium height windshield is a MUST on the Cats. The bikini-sized windshields direct cold air from your chest to your crotch. As expected, the big 1.5-inch lugged track on the 141-inch long XF Turbo makes it push a bit in the corners on hard pack trails. Until we worked on the monoshock in the Vector s rear suspension and dialed in the front ski springs, this sled was pretty twitchy even with power steering. After we found the sweet spot two days into our rides, it was much better. But undoing the collars for the springs and trying to tune this suspension on the trail on a cold day is no fun. A more user friendly system is warranted. The longer Apex XTX still pushes in corners, but the steering effort is easy thanks to EPS. Both the Apex and Vector still dart a bit more than we d like. The only thing that really annoyed us about either of our Ski-Doos is that the warm-up period takes what seems like FOREVER! The words warm up flash across the gauge pod screen for quite a while. They definitely took longer than the Yamaha 4-strokes and the Cat 4-stroke turbo to warm up. Oh, and the X-RS needs a bigger windshield. It s cold. Annoyances on the Polaris sleds included a sticky electric start. Both sleds seemed to have it. Often the sleds would seem to still be trying to start after they were running. It happened to several riders so it s unlikely it was user error. In addition, there is still more inside ski lift on the 800 Rush Pro-R than we like. This was noticeable as we fidgeted with suspension settings along several trails and in various conditions while comparing it to the X-RS and F 800 Sno Pro. Shorter test riders still describe it as tippy. Mileage and Conclusions Fuel economy was not as stellar as we had expected on our sleds, but we had quite a bit of fresh snow and the trails were heavy with traffic during the few tankfuls we tested mileage. But overall, no big surprises. Our GSX 800 E-TEC got the best mileage at 17.1 mpg, followed by two Yamaha 4-strokes, the Vector getting 15.6 mpg and the Venture at 14.7 mpg. However, our Apex XTX got worse mileage than what we had seen last year. Please remember that these are just PRELIMINARY numbers and we will have season MPG averages in our long-term tests next season, so keep an eye. One final mention, four of our heaviest sleds, which also had the best wind protection, got the best fuel economy. Now there s some fodder for your evening discussions! 2012 AMSNOW REAL WORLD SHOOTOUT

15 LIKE A THIEF ON THE RUN! Our giddy test pilot Butch Veltum rockets off the groomed starting line of our perfect acceleration testing area on a new 2013 Ski-Doo MXZx. The 600 E-TEC surpassed 92 mph! Just

16 2013 AmSnow Real World Shootout the facts, Jack! READ YOUR BENCH RACING RIGHTS... ON ACCELERATION TESTS, REAL WET WEIGHTS, EARLY RIDE IMPRESSIONS, & MPG STATS BY MARK BONCHER photos by Scott Stollberg and Mark Savage Embellish a little? Nah, no snowmobiler would ever do that yeah right! Just like no angler has ever told a fishy story, about his 15-lb. bass. Nor has any athlete ever padded his or her stats a little when talking about those high school glory days. Let s be honest, we all like to paint ourselves in a good light and we snowmobilers often take embellishing to new heights in the heat of a good bench-racing session at a trailside watering hole. Fortunately, if your most obnoxiously out there buddy takes it a little too far you ll have THIS issue of AmSnow to bring him back to The Real World. Every January we run our Real World Shootout, a test of the seven or eight new sleds the manufacturers allow us to demo ride for the entire season. The snow on the trails was thin this January at our north woods test facility, but conditions on the lakes and ponds could not have been more conducive to going fast. We had 1 to 2-inches of super-hard packed groomed snow on our acceleration course this year and the sleds were disappearing down the track faster than the deer on opening day. We assembled a convoy of trucks and trailers, digital cameras, HD video systems (including POV), radar guns, wireless Intercomp scales, laptop computers, smart phones (no signal, usually), tablets, snow-making machines, 6 groomers, 10 huge freestyle ramps, 2 helicopters, and more for this test! OK, we didn t have any helicopters but we did compile the Spring

17 most honest Real World test of these sleds you ll find anywhere! Get to it already! Enough bravado, it s time for the nitty gritty. As most loyal readers know, our Real World Test is actually twofold. We test numerous trail sleds in the upper Midwest for a week, but we also test the newest mountain sleds each year out west at about the same time. Our Western Editor, Stephen Clark, conducts this test along with several friends of the magazine at our Real World Powder Sled Eval (See p. 44). We have been doing these tests for 9 years now, so we have tons of comparable data that you can see in our extensive website archives if you re a subscriber. (www. amsnow.com/sledtests) First is Wet Weight testing. Before we put any miles on the sleds or get any snow or ice built up on them we fill them to the brim with gas, oil, coolant, and all the necessary fluids and put them on our cool Intercomp racing scales. We do this so that you will know exactly what your sled will weigh as you would ride it, not some manufacturer supplied estimate. This year we tested a new set of wireless Intercomp scales and if you are big into any motorsport and looking for a weighing system we HIGHLY recommend these as they are easy to use (See Any traction products we choose to use also are part of the sled s weight we record just how you would ride your sled with studs and carbides (See box p. 40 for studding info). We next put hundreds of miles on every sled to make sure they are sufficiently broken in before we run the acceleration tests and before we start calculating fuel mileage and checking oil consumption. We also go through a several point inspection of each sled before running the acceleration tests, which includes things like tightening the tracks, checking the studs, carbides, hyfax and more. We next mark off ¼ mile on our groomed lake track and another ¼ mile for shut down. Our goal is to always make a full pull on the acceleration tests through the ¼-mile and give the sleds a chance to really reach their top speed. We warm up each sled just before we pull it up to the line and then give each sled two back-to-back runs to garner its best acceleration run. We report the better of the two runs. All our sleds were 2013 models and all were 100% stock except for those with traction packages. One exception was our Yamaha Nytro XTX 1.75, which added a Yamaha approved low elevation supercharger kit from MPI. This is a dealer installed upgrade and something we had been looking to test on a quasi-trail sled for a while. Finally, after the acceleration tests we ride as a group for several tankfuls of gas and record early season MPG figures. These can change over the season, but we give these numbers now AND the full-season MPG figures in our Long-Term Test reports in next fall s issues. Sick Sixes Do kids still say sick to mean cool? They do in our world! Well, our most anticipated duel of the Real World AMSNOW S REAL WORLD ACCELERATION RUNS AND TOP SPEEDS (SPEED/TIME) TIMED SPEED RESULTS Arctic Cat F 1100 Turbo Sno Pro RR Arctic Cat XF 800 CrossTour Polaris 600 Indy SP Polaris 800 Switchback Pro-R Ski-Doo 800R Renegade X Ski-Doo MXZx 600 E-TEC Yamaha Nytro XTX 1.75 Supercharged Top speed (mph) ¼-mile (sec.) ¼-mile (mph) NA* ft. (sec.) ft. (mph) ft. (sec.) ft. (mph) mph (sec.) mph (sec.) *Our timing equipment did not record a 1/4-mile speed despite several attempted runs of the Polaris Switchback, apparently the snow dust interfering more on that sled, than others Kalmbach Publishing Co. This material may not be reproduced in 38 AMERICAN SNOWMOBILER any form without permission from the publisher.

18 Shootout was the sick battle between the new Polaris 600 Indy SP and Ski- Doo s MXZx 600 E-TEC. They recently squared off at our New York Shootout with the Indy showing hp on the dyno and the Ski-Doo 600 logging hp. That didn t mean much when they hit the track in New York. The Indy easily topped the MXZ from start to finish in our 1,000-foot acceleration test there (See NY Shootout, p. 26, Feb. 13). HOWEVER, the sleds were not broken in at that point. New York Shootout sleds are straight out of the box and we know that Ski-Doos in particular have a more abrupt break-in, once the ECU has finally counted the correct number of injections, the E-TEC sleds really wakeup. So, the stage was set for a showdown at the Real World, the impressive rookie in the Indy taking on the stalwart 600 E-TEC. The Ski-Doo E-TEC won this round of the acceleration battle, but wow, was it close! The ¼-mile mph was actually exactly the same for both sleds! Top speed was only 1 mph different and throughout the ¼-mile less than a half second separated the two machines. Small differences between these sleds include a different track as the Indy is a 121-incher and the MXZx has a 120-inch track. The Indy was 23 pounds heavier at 609 vs. 586 for the MXZx. The Indy also had a few more studs than the MXZx, and that adds a little weight, but aids hookup. The direct injected E-TEC also was much better on fuel getting 5.6 mpg more than the Indy, but oil consumption was not quite as impressive as fuel economy on the E-TEC. Any way you cut it, these sleds are pretty darned close and were definitely the two most enjoyed trail sleds on our test rides. Just how much faster were the conditions this year vs. last year? Well, our Polaris 600 Adventure went just over 80 mph at Real World last year for a top speed and our 600 Indy easily topped 90 mph this year. The primary differences between the two are that the Adventure has a 136- inch track with the Pro-Ride rear-end and a rack on it. We think 90+ mph is fast for a 600cc sled! Crossover Craziness We had 4 crossovers in our cadre this year and each had its only personality. None of these sleds could really be compared apples-to-apples as each served its own purpose. Such is the way of the crossover world today every sled is extremely specialized. On the hyper side we had our crossover super sled in the supercharged Yamaha Nytro XTX 1.75 with its 144-inch long and 1.75-inch lugged track. We received this 3-cylinder 4-stroke sled just a few days before our Shootout so it only had a couple hundred miles on it at test time whereas every other sled had 300+ miles, several nearly double that. Yamaha distributes this Trail Supercharger kit, and it is a low-elevation bolt-on, premium pump-gas upgrade for its FX Nytro models and exclusive to Yamaha from Mountain Performance Inc. ( all/1/10435/0/detail.aspx). Base MSRP for the kit is $4, and Yamaha says the supercharger gives the Nytro a 45-horse boost over stock. However, Dynotech gave us numbers of hp and 99.3 ft.-lbs. of torque. That s just a few horses shy of the Cat Turbo that we dynoed this year at horses. Even with that big track the supercharged XTX had the second fastest top speed of mph and the second fastest ¼-mile speed of mph. The only sled moving faster at either point was Arctic Cat s F 1100 Turbo. The Nytro also was not very heavy, considering that it had the largest track and footprint as well as a full supercharger system on board. At 645 lbs. and hp the power-to-weight ratio of this sled was the best of any in our fleet. With all that power and length Yamaha touts this one as a great boondocking option for powder days and with the tipped-up rail, it s a capable trail sled as well. The sleeper of this crew of crazy crossovers was the new Arctic Cat XF 800 CrossTour. This was undeniably the surprise sled of the entire Real World Shootout. It was FREAKY fast! Not only that, but it handled like a THE FLEET OF SLEDS we had this year was eclectic, other than the two short-track 600cc sleds that went head to head. Top is the vintage wrapped 800cc Polaris Switchback Pro-R, middle is our fleet of sleds, and the bottom is our fastest sled on the snow, the new Cat F 1100 Turbo Sno Pro RR. WEATHER & TRACK CONDITIONS WITH A 5-10 MPH tailwind this year, 30+ degree temps with sun, and a near perfectly groomed and set-up track we saw some of the fastest acceleration times we have ever recorded for stock sleds. Hook-up was excellent and times and speeds across the board were much faster than last year. One other change, we used our drag racing expert and regular test rider Butch Veltum as the pilot this year. ON THE WEB More Real World at Spring

19 BULLET IN THE BLUE SKY The Ski-Doo 800 Renegade (left) was an absolute bullet for a long track and sipped fuel. Our blue sky day was just the right setting for the new Indy 600 (bottom) to stretch its legs. gem and was comfortable, warm and really just about everything you could want. Did I mention it was FAST? Yep, at mph for a top speed and mph in the ¼-mile this sled had long legs and was the 3rd fastest sled of the fleet. But it also was quick off the gun, being quickest of our sleds to 60 mph, and second quickest/fastest through 660 ft. and second through 1000 ft. as well! Oh, and this one didn t even have studs! The Crosstour fell on the lighter end of the crossover weight spectrum too at 623 lbs., which was lighter than the Polaris Switchback Pro-R and Yamaha s Nytro XTX. More surprising, this sled was No. 3 as far as fuel efficiency. As we said, this sled was full of surprises. Right behind the CrossTour on the crossover speed ladder was Ski-Doo s Renegade 800R E-TEC. It was less than 1 mph behind the Cat on top end, and at ¼ mile. The Renegade was just tenths of a second behind the Cat from start to finish. A difference in wind direction could have been enough to give an edge to one or the other. Where Ski-Doo s Renegade really shined though was on the trail getting, 16+ mpg. Being the second lightest sled in the fleet (just under 600 lbs.) it was also easy to toss around and not fatiguing to ride. The Renegade is still hard to beat in the crossover market when all factors are taken into account. Our standout best-looking crossover this year was our Polaris 800 Switchback Pro-R. SLED WET WEIGHTS &MPG SLED WET WEIGHT/ LBS. MPG Ski-Doo MXZ X 600 E-TEC Ski-Doo Renegade X 800R Polaris 600 Indy SP Arctic Cat XF 800 CrossTour Polaris 800 Pro-R Switchback Adventure Yamaha FX Nytro XTX 1.75 w/supercharger Arctic Cat F 1100 Turbo SP RR NOTE: Sleds driven at varying trail speeds with various drivers for several hundred miles after engine break-in. Full wet weights taken with high-quality Intercomp wireless floor scales. Complete Stud Boy stud packages for the MXZx 600 E-TEC, Indy 600, Renegade 800R and F1100 Turbo RR. Due to a late arrival the Nytro had fewer tanks of fuel through it after engine break-in, for purposes of gas mileage calculations. More info: We know that looks don t have anything to do with the other tests we ran, but style points definitely count to many new sled buyers. Switchback was 3rd heaviest of our demo sleds and at horsepower it doesn t quite have the ponies the other crossovers deliver. However, it was within.01 seconds of the Nytro in the ¼-mile and was within striking distance of all the 800+cc sleds. Our Switchback also was a springbuy unit and we opted for the bigger 1.5-inch lugged track. No doubt this cut a few mph off the top-end. The STUDS OF THE REAL WORLD DON T GET TOO EXCITED ladies, we are talking traction here. Although we editors and test riders all like to think of ourselves as fine specimens of physical health and prowess, alas, there will be no cut-off shorts or banana hammocks here, just straight talk on studs and carbides. Stud Boy was again our traction sponsor for the Real World Shootout and we have used Stud Boy products for years and are always happy with them. The four sleds we studded this year included the Polaris Indy 600, Ski-Doo MXZx 600 E-TEC, Cat F 1100 Turbo Sno Pro RR, and the Ski-Doo Renegade X 800R. Like last year, we exclusively used Stud Boy s new Super-Lite Pro Backers for each sled. We were so impressed with them last year that the test crew overwhelmingly wanted to use them this year. These are some of the lightest backers you can find and support the studs superbly and offer some of the best stopping and best forward traction of any product on the market. The support nut is molded into the backer and available in 0.50, 0.75-inch in the double backers and.75- inch in the single backer. These backers standout feature is that they are molded almost like a small scoop or shovel surrounding the stud. This gives better traction and stopping and ultimately better STUDS GIVES BETTER TRACTION AND STOPPING AND ULTIMATELY BETTER PERFORMANCE. 40 AMERICAN SNOWMOBILER

20 Switch was a rocket out of the hole though, as it was 3rd quickest through 30 and 60 mph, and 660 feet. That track really dug in and these stats also show how snappy the Polaris 800 is off the start. We figure 90% of most sledders riding is done at less than 60 mph and with this sled you really feel power in corner-to-corner speed. The Top Dog Arctic Cat proved it still has the fastest production snowmobile in the F 1100 Turbo Sno Pro RR. This sled hit a top speed of mph and finished the ¼-mile first with a time of just seconds. That is the fastest run we have EVER had at the Real World Shootout with a totally stock sled. After 660-feet there was not another sled that came close to touching the Turbo in acceleration. In the wet weight testing and the fuel mileage though, Cat s Turbo was not quite as impressive. At 713 lbs. this sled was the heaviest by a large margin. It was more than 60 pounds heavier than the next heaviest sled and the Cat is a 128-inch skid so we are comparing it to some much longer crossovers. Gas mileage was mid-pack, but again, we are comparing the RR to several long-track 2-strokes and the turbo is a 4-stroke. It just proves the point that you need more fuel to create more power, but the power here is pretty awesome! YAMAHOLYCOW! The new Nytro XTX 1.75 with Yamaha-approved supercharger is one of the best all around engines we have ever flipped the fun flipper on! Cat s RR was still the fastest or our sleds though. Early positive ride impressions Dark horse honors go to Cat s CrossTour. This sled made believers out of everyone that an EFI 2-stroke big crossover can be fuel efficient, light, and warm, take little effort to steer, and be stupid fast. Staying on the topic of Cat, the Turbo RR is a barn burner and the fastest sled we ve ridden stock. The FOX Evol shock package and adjustability in the ride in the rear-end make this sled less of a tank over the rough stuff. Trail handling on the big Turbo is surprisingly responsive. We also noted the turbo s clatter has been tamed quite a bit between pre-production and now. Yamaha s new Nytro supercharger kit is extremely smooth. The only time you could tell this long 144x15x1.75 tracked sled had a power-adder on it was when you would quickly get in and out of the gas and notice just a little of that supercharger sound. It was definitely cool and performance was never lacking. The real surprise on this sled was how well the rear skid ate up big bumps. Yamaha has got that dialed in like a bookie in Vegas. Ski-Doo still has the best 600cc trail sleds. Hands down, no lie. The MXZx 600 E-TEC handles the corners like a Ferrari and the rmotion suspension is the best trail suspension out there. You can t beat the E-TEC s fuel efficiency either. It was No. 1 in our test fleet, while the 800 E-TEC had the honor last year. Renegade is still the best trail riding crossover, again the rmotion makes this sled that much better - better than the brochures brag, and that s rare. Polaris has the best value trail sled in the industry with the Indy 600. I like it better than the 600 Rush and it gives up nothing in performance to much more expensive models from other OEMs. It is exactly what we need right now in the industry, a reliable clean 2-stroke with a lot of power and performance. They can be used on either single- or double-ply tracks and we used both standard and Stud Boy PowerPoint studs to go along with them. The PowerPoint stud has a 60-degree carbide point to sink into the ice and help you stop more quickly or accelerate with greater consistency in slippery conditions, so great on lakes. Stud heads are 1-inch in diameter and of a special Track Trapping design for support. A tapered shank and thin profile provide rigidity and penetration. We are a fan of the Shaper single carbide from Stud Boy as it is extremely durable and gives a great aggressive turning feel to just about any machine. Our studding and carbide setups varied from sled to sled. We ran inch studs in our MXZx 600, which conformed to the 120-inch track and up front we used 6-inch Shaper carbides. On the Indy 600 we ran 120 of the 1.0-inch studs along with a 7.5-inch Shaper single bar carbide. For the longer sleds, in the Ski-Doo Renegade X 800R we ran a few more studs with a total 144 count of inchers. We opted for the 7.5-inch Shaper bars up front on this 137-inch track as well. Finally our big Cat F 1100 Turbo Sno Pro RR used a healthy 158 studs of the inch variety. The hefty Cat also got 9 inches of Shaper single carbide up front for added turning aggressiveness. Spring

21 SPEEDOMETER VARIANCE WE HAVE REPORTED on this before and we are happy to say that consistently, year over year, the manufacturers have gotten more accurate with their speedometers. At top end the Polaris and Cat speedometers this year were on target, or within one mph of what we measured via the radar gun. The Yamaha was much closer too, than what we had seen in the past, varying between 1 and 4 mph higher on the speedo. The Ski-Doo MXZx 600 E-TEC varied the most, between 4 and 5 mph higher than actual. The Renegade was just behind that, reading 3 mph higher on the speedo. superb cornering at a low price. The Switchback has a great rack! Yep, I said it the rack system on the back of this sled is perfect and highly useful. The 1.5- inch lugged track also is exactly right for this sled and the retro paint job is a staff favorite. Early negative ride impressions We had more early problems with our Cats than we have had in several years. The idler wheels on the CrossTour were installed incorrectly so the track prematurely shredded a set of hyfax before we caught the error. There was a service bulletin on it, so the dealer fix was free. We also had a ski-loop eject itself mid-trail. We aren t sure if that was a set-up error or if the bolts worked themselves loose. In addition, after 42 miles a clamp from the turbo s intercooler came loose and we had to pull the entire pod and top of the sled off to find the problem. The turbo also is very heavy feeling in the tight trails and it needs the good shocks it has in the big bumps. We also have had several instances where the turbo does not like to go into reverse and the tool sign shows up on the dash pod until we turn it off and clear it and try it again several times, sometimes having to ride between attempts. Sitting it overnight seems to solve the problem too. Our Yamaha has been bulletproof so far. Unfortunately the tendency to overcorrect in the corners with the Nytro is still prevalent. We are working with some more carbide combinations with the dualkeel Tuner ski in hopes of correcting this more, but to date we are still doing a fair amount of sled wrestling in the corners. With our two Ski-Doos we ve had only one problem creep up, and that is our gauge pod in our dash one day magically worked itself loose at about 70 mph and nearly fell out of its mounting area into our lap. The answer was to take a Dremel and make sure the tabs had space to hook into the plastic they seats into. In addition, the way the front/center shock is mounted, you have to be careful how you stud them as to not have the metal backs of the stud backers rub directly on the shock body when the tracks rolls around. By the Real World test both Polaris sleds had 700+ miles on them, the most of our demo sleds, and both had zero issues (one reason they have so many miles already). One thing we noticed was that the correct dealer setup position of the skis is with the shims in the narrower stance. We moved these wider. Also the ski-bolt that goes through the spindle sticks out further than the actual ski. So, when putting the sled in a trailer you could scrape the inside of the trailer.

22 It is what it is and WE LIKE 10TH ANNUAL REAL WORLD SHOOTOUT!

23 IT! BY MARK BONCHER No way!... Check the radar gun again. Seriously?... Make sure those scales are zeroed out and let s weigh this one again. Are you doing the math correctly? Maybe this gas pump is faulty. Yep, pretty much every staff member here at AmSnow has said something similar to these laughable statements over the years as we have performed our Real World Shootout. But, it usually turns EIGHT HOT TRAIL SLEDS were put through the ringer by our peppy test pilot Butch Veltum (left, with no hat). The sleds were tested on our lake acceleration course that was groomed by the Clear Lake Forest Riders Snowmobile Club (right).

24 AMSNOW S REAL WORLD ACCELERATION RUNS (SPEED & ELAPSED TIME) TIMED SPEED RESULTS Arctic Cat El Tigre 6000 Arctic Cat ZR 7000 Limited Polaris Indy 550 Polaris Indy 800 SP Ski-Doo Renegade Adrenaline 900 ACE Ski-Doo MX Z X-RS 800 E-TEC Yamaha SR Viper Yamaha SR Viper LTX SE Top speed (mph) ¼-mile (sec.) ¼-mile (mph) ft. (sec.) ft. (mph) ft. (sec.) ft. (mph) mph (sec.) mph (sec.) out that it is, what it is. For a decade we have been doing numerous quantifiable tests on each crop of demo sleds we have in our fleet each winter. We report the Real World info just as we find it, with no bias, no preferential treatment to certain sleds, no buttering up of manufacturers and most of all, no outside interference. We know EXACTLY what is going on with our machines. It is a big undertaking. Loyal readers know what it takes to do this test every year including trailering the whole fleet to an undisclosed location in the heart of snowmobile country, weighing all the sleds individually full of fluids on our brand new digital Intercomp scales, setting up the Stalker radar/gps acceleration testing (kind of makes you feel like a state patrol officer for a bit), plus hours and hours of trail testing and mileage calculations. We also put well over 350 miles on every sled in our fleet (eight sleds total this year) before we even set up for testing so we know all our sleds have been broken in thoroughly and correctly. Other snow-media types just don t take the time to do this type of legwork, or if they do they are too afraid to publish the results, but we do! This year, conditions couldn t have been better! An abundance of snow and early cold temps meant the trails, play areas, lakes, rivers, and just about anywhere you wanted to go were in prime condition. Folks like you all over the country were just as happy with the early snow and cold as we were! After 10 years of being at the Real World Shootout I know these were the best conditions yet. In addition to the trails and backcountry areas being in superior condition, our acceleration course was groomed to perfection (by the Clam Lake Forest Riders Snowmobile Club) and the course was smooth as butter. Check out the video online if you want a better look at what the snow was like. Put through the wringer We put every trail sled the manufacturers let us get our hands on through the same wringer at our Real World Shootout. In addition, our Western Editor, Stephen Clark, does the same thing at the same time! While we are conducting our Real World Shootout here in the Midwest, Stephen and our head Mountain Test Rider, Josh Skinner, are conducting our Real World Powder Sled Eval out west (See p. 24) with our line-up of mountain demo sleds. And you guessed it, we are putting the mountain sleds through their own separate wringer in order to find out if HOT OFF THE LINE the SR Viper LTX had a 0-60 mph time of 3.68 seconds (left). The Arctic Cat El Tigre 6000 topped out at mph to kep up with the heavy hitters (right). The higher horsepower sleds including Polaris Indy SP 800, Ski-Doo X-RS 800, Arctic Cat ZR 7000 and Yamaha SR Viper received a little traction help with packages courtesy of Stud Boy.

25 they are everything we thought they were when we tested them in pre-production form. Our first test is always our wet weight test. This is done basically with the sleds straight out of the box. We fill them with oil, fuel, coolant, etc. and this year weighed them before any traction or other accessories of any kind were put on the sleds. This is as close to a true wet weight as we could get! Our Intercomp scales are very accurate ( and used in numerous other motorsports racing activities. Every one of our sleds was then broken in per manufacturer instructions and also using manufacturer recommended oil and fluids. Before we do our acceleration and mileage testing we put the sleds through a multi-point inspection including track tensioning, hyfax and chain inspection, oil change if necessary (on 4-strokes), ski/ carbide/stud checking, and at least a dozen more little checks. Finally, we groom and mark off a ¼-mile test track on the lake with at least another ¼-mile shutdown area. We always make a full pull past the ¼-mile mark to give sleds a chance to reach their true top speed. We also put each sled through the same warm-up procedure individually before giving each sled two chances to go down the acceleration test track to garner their best acceleration stats. We report the better of the two runs. Of our eight demo sleds at the Real World Shootout this year, four of them received traction packages from Stud Boy. These higher horsepower sleds included the Polaris 800 Indy SP, Ski- Doo X-RS 800, Arctic Cat ZR 7000 and Yamaha SR Viper. After the acceleration testing we put five full fill-ups of fuel through the sleds and average the mileage in order to get an early season MPG number. We continue to keep track of all our sleds mileage throughout the year and in each Long Term test article in the fall we will tell you the overall average from the season-long testing. MXZ ACCESSORIES Our Ski-Doo MXZ X-RS got a few accessory extras this year as we like to personalize our sleds a little, especially when it comes to wind protection. Guards, shields, bags, decals, we like to be comfortable. Here s a few pieces of flare we ve added to our X-RS. LinQ Premium Tunnel Bag - Short 10+3L ($119.99, # ), Sport Performance Flared Windsheild - Medium ($119.99, # ), Handlebar Air Deflectors - ($69.99, # ) and Full Body Skid Plate - Yellow ($99.99, # ). Awe-inspiring 800s This was the most anticipated battle of the Real World Shootout. Our Polaris 800 Indy SP versus the Ski-Doo X-RS 800. Now, we know these two sleds are aimed at a little bit different consumer, the X-RS being a big bump tamer and the Indy being a smooth trail ripper, but you will certainly see both these sleds on the trail a lot this winter so boasting at the pitstops and watering-holes will be rampant! Less than 1.5 miles per hour and.36 seconds separated these two big dogs, but at the end of the two runs the Ski-Doo X-RS 800 was the faster of the two and the fastest in our entire group of demo sleds. Recently at our New York Shootout the X-RS showed to be 155 hp This year, conditions couldn t have been better! An abundance of snow meant conditions were prime! on the dyno and the Indy was 145 hp so the Indy REALLY showed well considering the fewer horses under the hood. The Indy was the big winner in our New York Shootout (See Feb issue) too, but after break-in and backing up two runs at our Real World Shootout, the X-RS took the cake. These two sleds are incredibly close in acceleration performance and within a pound of each other weight-wise before studding (See charts). Gone are the days when Ski-Doo could claim to be dozens of pounds lighter than any other trail sled because the 800 Indy (and Cat Sno Pro 800) have erased the gap in the 800 class. But the X-RS showed it is still an incredibly quick sled! With a shorter 1-inch lugged track we were thinking that we might see the Indy show a little bit higher top speed, but there was just enough loose snow (even with having it groomed) that the larger 1.25-inch lugged track of the X-RS had a little less spin and a little more bite from the track. Our X-RS ran almost exactly the same top MPH that the one did at the New York Shootout, but it had a much quicker time and faster speed in the ¼-mile here at the Real World Shootout. The X-RS also saw fairly low fuel mileage for an E-TEC at mpg. We have seen 14-17mpg fairly regularly on several other 800 E-TECs in the past, but our last X-RS 800 E-TEC that we had back in model year 2012 showed 12.3 mpg at our Real World Shootout that year. So, this one is not out of the ordinary, necessarily. The 800 Indy garnered just mpg, but with a slightly larger 11 gallon tank this 800 still had a solid range for an afternoon of spirited riding. Yamaha motor, Cat chassis, 3 sleds, Giddy-up! Probably more important to many folks out there is how Arctic Cat s ZR 7000

26 stacked up against Yamaha s SR Viper. Both have the same Yamaha motor and Cat chassis, but (supposedly) with different mapping, different clutching, different windshields, different shocks and a few more discrepancies between them. Our Cat was a Sno Pro Limited version so it had the FOX Float 3 shocks versus the HPG coil-over rebuild able shocks on the Yamaha. The Sno Pro also had a shorter shield than the warmer, more trail focused Viper. Both had heated seats though! Yes! It was a very interesting test session because looking at the numbers you can see that the Viper got the jump out of the gate through 30 mph and then the ZR 7000 roared back to reclaim the lead and ultimately the faster top speed and quicker ¼-mile time. However the SR Viper had the faster ¼-mile speed these two were close competitors (as they should be) and barely more than 1 mph separated them. A top speed of mph was recorded for the SR Viper and mph for the Cat. Fuel consumption was a different deal as the Viper got the nod with mpg to mpg for the ZR So is that the end of the Viper versus ZR 7000 story? Not quite! We thought we would throw a wrench into this otherwise civilized duel of two short-track 129-inch studded trail sleds and toss an unstudded 137-inch Yamaha Viper LTX SE in the mix just for fun. The longer Viper LTX showed a better top speed than the ZR 7000 Sno Pro! Yep, the long-track was more than 2.7 mph faster with a top speed of mph. The longer LTX was quicker time wise and faster speed wise all the way through 1,000-feet than both the short-track Viper and ZR The ZR was quicker in the ¼-mile, but only by.06 seconds! The Viper LTX also got slightly better gas mileage than the ZR 7000 but worse than the short-track Viper, as the LTX showed mpg. Oh, and the longtrack weighed exactly the same as the short-track ZR 7000 and less than the shorter SR Viper. This was the icing on SLED WET WEIGHTS &MPG SLED WET WEIGHT/ LBS. MPG Arctic Cat ZR 7000 Limited Arctic Cat El Tigre 6000 Ski-Doo XRS MXZ 800 E-TEC Ski-Doo Renegade 900 ACE Polaris Indy NA* NA* Polaris Indy 800 SP Yamaha SR Viper Yamaha SR Viper LTX SE NOTE: Sleds driven at varying trail speeds with various drivers for several hundred miles after engine break-in. Full wet weights taken with high-quality Intercomp wireless floor scales. Weights taken before install of Stud Boy stud packages on the ZR 7000, X-RS, Indy 800 SP and SR Viper. Gas mileage not recorded for El Tigre 6000 and Renegade 900 ACE due to mechanical issues possibly compromising engine performance. This occured after acceleration testing. the cake and solidified how much this sled impressed many of us test riders. The little sleds that could Ok, to be honest none of these are little sleds by any means. They are all full grown trail slicers, but compared to our strokes and larger horsepower 4-strokes, these were the smaller horsepower sleds in our demo fleet. The brand new Arctic Cat El Tigre 6000 was announced to the Cat faithful who were desperate to have another lightweight 2-stroke 600cc machine to buy this year. This sled did not disappoint in several categories. It was by far the lightest sled of any in our demo fleet at just over 500 pounds wet. This was even lighter than our 550 fan demo sled! It also posted a top speed faster than the short-track Yamaha Viper! The El Tigre showed mph on top end which was.15 mph off the mark set by its larger brother the ZR Oh, and the El Tigre was not studded! Would that have changed things? It is quite possible! Another impressive smaller horsepower sled in our demo fleet was the new Ski- Doo Renegade Adrenaline 900 ACE. This long-track 100 hp 4-stroke showed almost 80 mph as a top speed and was going mph in the ¼-mile. The short-track version most likely would have done over 80 mph which makes this engine great for use in any fun trail machine. The 900 s wet weight of 577 pounds was interesting as this is a 4-stroke, but still light. Finally, our little 550 Indy was no doubt the slower of the demo sleds, but still posted 73+mph as a top speed. If you have kids who are just getting a snowmobile certificate, or novice drivers, just need an extra sled for friends when they drop by, or you are a rental operator, going any more than 70+ mph in the ¼-mile is hardly necessary. Great early ride impressions It is tough to beat. That sentence was said over and over again as our group of test riders (from 30 years old to 70 years young) cycled through our demo fleet during our trail test riding. It was always uttered after each person got done riding the Ski-Doo X-RS 800. The ease of suspension adjustment, razor-sharp cornering, and amount of standard stock storage, top engine performance, little oil usage, and basically great handling in any trail conditions are all positives that each test rider took away from this machine. This was our top dog in the acceleration tests, but also the top dog as far as test rider evaluations were concerned. The Polaris Indy 800 is soon to become our project sled for the year and we recently installed a new Hayes TrailTrac WEIGHING IN at 577 lbs., the Ski-Doo Renegade 900 ACE (left) is a 100 hp long-track 4-stroke that is still fairly lightweight. The Polaris Indy 800 SP (right) weighed 9 lbs. less than the Renegade and had a top speed of Like the Viper, Arctic Cat s ZR 7000 Sno Pro Limited (far right) weighed 605 lbs. It had the second best mpg at

27 HAYES TRAIL TRAC BRAKE KIT AS PART OF OUR PROJECT SLED this year, we recently equipped our Polaris Indy 800 SP with the new Trail Trac Brake Kit from Hayes. This kit can replace the stock brake on Polaris Rush, Pro-R and Indy sleds. Installation was quick and easy with plug-and-play wiring and bolt-on parts, and can be done without specialized tools. The kit includes ECU, toggle switch with face plate, wiring harness, pre-filled and bled brake system (with hydraulic control unit), wheel speed sensor, speed sensor cap and fasteners, and cable ties. To begin the install, we removed the side panels, hood, belt and driven clutch. Next, loosen the track tension so the track hangs freely. This allows less tension on, and easy access to, replacing the speed sensor. You will also replace the brake caliper and master cylinder with a full new system. This is very easy being a pre-filled and fully bled system. Also included are a dash switch and wiring harness. Hayes supplies a great set of instructions with photos to help speed things along... we also had a Hayes supervisor to make sure we didn t screw up! Once we got out on the snow with the Trail Trac system, our test riders noticed a huge difference. The Trail Trac allowed the track to remain engaged while braking. This gave our riders the ability to approach corners more aggressively and have the capability to steer through turns while applying the brake. (Some riders commented that they could basically ride the brake all the way through the corner AND steer, although that isn t recommended) The dash switch allows you to turn the system on and off. With the switch in the off position, the sled slows like it would with a traditional brake system. However, we haven t turned the Trail Trac off too often. We all enjoyed the confidence it allows to approach tight turns more aggressively and a higher comfort level knowing we could maneuver the sled through a sticky situation with ease. One of our rider s called it the oh crap corrector. See the video on amsnow.com! TOOLS REQUIRED T25, T30, T40 Torx drivers 13 mm and 15 mm box wrench 13 mm and 15 mm deep and shallow 3/8 inch drive sockets 3/8 inch ratchet Phillips screw driver 1/4 inch drill bit and drill Utility knife or similar controlled braking system. We re also adding Hygear custom calibrated Axis trail shocks, added Curve skis, Stud Boy studs and several other accessories to take this machine to the next level. However, it doesn t really need all that because it is a fantastic Midwest trail grinder right out of the box. This sled surprised everyone at the level of performance that a valuefocused 800cc machine could provide. Polaris is certainly on to something here! It handles the corners extremely well, the seating is comfortable, it is lightweight and reminded all of us of more traditional riding with modern amenities and performance. With almost 800 miles on this sled already we have had zero issues and lots of smiles. Arctic Cat s orange ZR 7000 was by far the most eye-catching sled in our fleet this year and received a lot of attention on the trails. The heated seat was a test rider fave and this sled pulls like a freight train through 80 mph. On the trail the ZR is locked down in the corners and this is one of the most aggressive and positive cornering 4-strokes we have ever ridden. The Sno Pro package with the FOX Float 3 front shocks and 2-inch diameter rear shock eat up any trail bumps of just about any size. But this sled can tame a fast frozen river run as we found out on a couple tight twisty frozen river outings. The Yamaha SR Viper was the sled everyone clamored for on the long railroad grades of Northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This sled is VERY comfortable at 75+ mph and the heated seat, large windshield, and soft suspension make it easy to cruise at speed. Yamaha s Viper LTX SE was wellliked by our test crew and its longer length was hardly noticeable, even without a tipped up rail like former Yamaha crossover sleds. This one was fast, fun, and added the dimension of being a more capable off-trail performer. The more aggressive FOX Float shocks were certainly something that showed positively in our testing. These new shocks have changed at least a couple people s opinions on air shocks versus coil-over shocks. Arctic Cat s El Tigre 6000 was the easiest sled to toss around and felt the lightest, because it was! Like we experienced in our pre-production testing, this new 600 dual-stage injection liquid twin is just as

28 GRIP TO RIP STUDBOY PROVIDES REAL WORLD TRACTION AT THIS YEAR S AmSnow Real World Shootout four of our demo sleds were equipped with traction products from Stud Boy including Power Point studs combined with Stud Boy s 7.5-inch Shaper Bar carbides. Our Arctic Cat ZR 7000 Limited, Polaris Indy 800 SP, Ski-Doo MX Z X-RS E-TEC 800R and Yamaha SR Viper each received Stud Boy traction packages and the carbides. Stud Boy supplied AmSnow with the recommended amount and length of Power Point carbide tipped studs and Super Lite Pro single or double backers. AmSnow studded the sleds ourselves going on Stud Boy s guidelines for their trail safety package, not the aggressive package. The SR Viper, ZR 7000 and X-RS 800 all had a 1.25-inch track lug and called for inch studs with.750 Pro Series backers. The Arctic Cat and Yamaha sleds came with matching 129- inch tracks and each took 90 studs with the double backers. The Ski-Doo was equipped with a shorter 120-inch track requiring 84 studs and for this we used single backers. The Polaris Indy 800 SP track measured 121 inches with a shorter 1-inch lug height and required 96 studs at 1.08-inch in length with.500 Pro Series double backers. One note on installation, we had to install tunnel protectors on the Indy 800 SP and MX Z X-RS prior to putting studs on the track. The SR Viper and ZR 7000 came with tunnel protection. We took all four sleds through their paces over several hundred miles with several different riders piloting each over those miles. We also tested in varying snow conditions, from extreme hard pack snow in sub-zero temps to softer trails near the freezing mark. Regardless of the scenario, each rider had the same opinion. The combination of the Shaper Bar carbides, Power Point studs and the unique scoop shape of the Super Lite Pro backers gave our riders superior traction, turning and stopping ability in any snow conditions on the trail and lakes. at home up in the air as it is carving up a corner. Big or small, short or tall riders instantly feel comfortable and fast on the Ski-Doo s Renegade Adrenaline 900 ACE is a remarkable smaller horsepower machine in that you hardly ever know that it is a smaller horsepower machine. The tractor-like pull of this 4-stroke will keep you on pace with any sleds in your group and offtrail that linear power and 137-inch track will get you through more powder than you anticipate. It is surprising how many more of our test riders like this sled in standard mode, rather than the all-out sport mode. We also noticed how much easier this sled is to back up in reverse because it has a reduction to allow smooth and slow engagement when going in reverse. Moving around the trailers, garage and gas stops were much easier with this one. Finally, the Polaris Indy 550 fan was what it was. It s a great little sled with surprising pep and plenty of value. Early shortcomings Both the X-RS and Indy 800 got worse gas mileage than we hoped, and the 800 This was the most anticipated battle of the Real World Shootout. Our Polaris Indy SP 800 versus the Ski-Doo X-RS 800. Indy is truly not a big bump sled by any means. However, we did not have ANY mechanical issues with our 800s to date. They are great 8s! We noticed that the ZR 7000, SR Viper and Viper LTX all had the same quirky starting anomalies after they were warmed up and ridden for a while. If you would shut them off after 50 or so miles they would have a hard time starting again. We are currently waiting for official bulletins for a real fix from the OEMs. Also, dialing in our SR Viper with its softer coil over shocks and harder to get to rear shock springs has been difficult. In certain conditions it works great, but we are hoping that future adjustments to several variables including handlebar positioning and suspension tweaking helps its tendency to push on corners in some snow conditions. Our El Tigre 6000 ran flawlessly up until just after our acceleration tests when we started to have a code flash intermittently. The code was a knock sensor and would therefore put the sled in limp mode. At the time of this writing the reflash and diagnostics were being run on the El Tigre to get the true issue detected. The Ski-Doo Renegade Adrenaline 900 ACE had a very finicky DESS key/post and gauge. We know this engine is also used in Sea Doo watercraft, but we have had these post issues before on sleds. Even good posts often chirp and beep if you don t have the tether on exactly correctly, but ours was bad. After we switched that out our gauge had some funky issues and the display would often cut out or not read properly. You ll see season-long mileage averages and more in the Long-Term tests of all these sleds in fall issues next season. More on Mileage and other conclusions This was the first time in many years that we did not have a sled break the 14mpg mark. Now, we did have more fresh snow and arguably faster trail speeds due to better conditions this year, but it is just an observation. Also the 900 ACE will be over the 15mpg mark judging on the unofficial data we have collected so far. We will say that oil consumption on both the 800s and the El Tigre 6000 was impressive and that means that these new 2-strokes are running lean. Guys and gals, fathers, mothers and even numerous grandpas! Not a sled was cursed by any of them and that s not always true. The truth? Well, it is what it is. 22 AMERICAN SNOWMOBILER 2015 Kalmbach Publishing Co. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher. ON THE WEB More sled reviews at

29 FACING UP... to the Real World stats, performance and ride impressions! That s what we do for you, our readers, at the Real World S.O.!

30 COLD FAST 11th ANNUAL REAL WORLD SHOOTOUT! STATS! FACE THE BY ROSS HALVORSON Mark Savage Photos Let s clear the air... This is the Real World, baby! And we ride in it everyday! Ideal conditions don t include wind gusts, blinding snow and temperatures dropping faster than the green flag! All these conditions happened at AmSnow s original Real World Shootout. A drifting track, 25-plus mph crosswinds and teeth-chattering temps was the hand Mother Nature dealt us. We know the weather doesn t always cater to us snowmobilers, and that, my friends, is what the Real World is all about. For scores of seasons we ve been showing our loyal readers what each of our demo sleds can do on any given day. These are consumer stock sleds with the only performance modification this year being our Stud Boy Power Point trails studs and Super- Lite backers paired with 7.5- inch Shaper Bars. A common setup you ll see parked in front of any watering hole. March

31 SETTING THE PACE While the acceleration testing only happens on one day, the entire process of getting to that day is a long, painstaking and often bloody process (no joke!). It starts around mid- November when our test fleet is ready for pickup from our dealers. After we ve filled the corral, everything is filled to the top with liquids and weighed on stateof-the-art Intercomp racing scales. Those are the same scales used by racing organizations all over North America to verify vehicle weight, including the past 19 NASCAR Cup Champions. Our Western Editor, Stephen Clark is also hard at work with Mountain Test Rider, Josh Skinner, doing their own wet weight testing of several mountain sleds and putting them through a series of break-in rides. After wet weighing, we personally stud the higher-performance trail sleds to ensure safety on the trails, stopping, a good hookup on each radar pass and confidence. More than 800 studs were installed across six sleds this season. That is why we said this can be a bloody process, as installing that many studs is bound to cause a couple bloody knuckles. Once sleds are weighed and studded, it s time for the real testing to begin. We spend the next miles making sure engines and suspensions are broken in correctly for fairness come radar run time. These initial miles were difficult as late arriving snow forced us to hold off on the some of our break-in miles until just a couple days before the Shootout. After several full 16-hour days of riding, each of our seven test sleds had well over 300 miles. And we re not just talking heat laps around the lake. Our sleds are put through a grueling march through twisting trails, mogul-filled ditches, power line runs, lakes and more. We took care of business on the crossovers with a few powder carves through the trees and meadows too. Pride is taken in the time it takes to break these sleds in the right way, according to manufacturer s recommendations. It s not always easy, but it s what readers ask us for that s Real World numbers and testing! After our break-ins are complete, we go through a pointby-point inspection on all the SAY WHAT YOU WILL about the colors, our X-RS demo sled ran quickest down the quarter in sec. (1). The Polaris Switchback 800 H.O. Pro-S took home top speed honors at mph (2). Our team of seven Real World test riders includes men and women with varying riding styles and across a large age range so we get riding input from all ends of the spectrum (3). Our team had a blast on the Arctic Cat 6000RR channeling our best Tucker Hibbert holeshot in hopes of gaining a few more tics on the speedo! 1 2 sleds tightening tracks, checking hyfaxes, inspecting studs, carbides, chains and more. All fluids are topped off again before our Real World acceleration runs. After all, every snowmobiler usually starts the day with a full tank. Only after checking every detail on our sleds do we set up our 1/4-mile test track. Enough width is given on the test track to ensure every sled has a fresh takeoff. We add an additional 1/4-mile of extra straightaway for shut-down and to hopefully ensure we get a full throttle pull on each machine. Each sled is properly warmed up prior to their two passes. The better of just two runs is kept. Long-time readers will The weatherman says... Clear and crisp with sunny skies High Temp: 2F Low Temp: -11F Wind: 19 mph Wind Chill: -35F remember that usually early season gas mileage numbers are reported with Real World testing as well. Typically, mileage numbers are averaged over the course of five or more full tanks of gas. This is done AFTER break-in because most machines see a fairly significant jump in MPGs. However, due to the late snow this season, break-in was delayed and therefore we didn t feel we had enough reliable data yet to report fuel mileage numbers taken after break-in. Midseason MPG numbers will be reported on amsnow.com. BUT, don t forget you ll get FULL-season MPG averages in our Long-Term test articles in upcoming AmSnow issues. 800 TO GO, PLEASE The 800cc engine has become the go-to engine. The crossover segment has also seen steady growth, so it makes sense that we would pit Ski-Doo s Renegade X-RS 800R E-TEC, the Polaris Switchback 800 H.O. Pro-S and Arctic Cat s XF8000 Sno Pro against one another. Ski-Doo s 800R E-TEC and Cat s 8000-class motor from Suzuki have been known rippers for the past few years with minor tweaks each season. The Polaris 800 H.O. was a relative unknown as a firstyear engine. It felt strong in our pre-production rides last spring, and it proved it was strong by taking the win at 18 AMERICAN SNOWMOBILER 2015 Kalmbach Publishing Co. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher.

32 our New York Shootout (See Feb issue), but would it hold up in the tough Real World testing? Given the conditions, it d be difficult for any sled to blow us away with a super top speed on this particular day. With strong crosswinds, it did not take long for the track to start to develop small drifts which we knew would hamper the sleds ever so slightly. However, it did not stop us from being impressed with the 2-stroke powerhouses the OEMs produced for MY2015. Polaris s new 800 H.O. in the Switchback Pro-S took the honors as the fastest sled, 3 4 posting the day s top speed at mph, nearly 2 mph faster than its short-tracked relative, the Rush 800 H.O. Pro-S. The Ski-Doo Renegade X-RS 800 E-TEC pulled a none-tooshabby mph. Arctic Cat s XF8000 Limited showed strong as well, topping 91 mph. The Ski-Doo Backcountry X 800 had its runs hindered by the increasingly blowing snow because in both runs the radar gun could not pick up the sled for a full 1/4-mile. It was, however, very impressive off the line with the bigger lugged 16x137x1.75-in. track. It bears mentioning that the Backcountry X was our only non-studded sled, but still pulled the quickest time off the line going 0-30 mph in a very impressive 1.74 seconds. Examining the charts for the 800s clarifies that Polaris s new 800 H.O. engine is here to stay and will be a major player going forward. You ll also notice a clear distinction along OEM lines when it comes to determining quickness vs. speed. The Polaris 800 sleds claimed the top MPH awards in each section of the track. The Rush posted the top speeds in 660 and 1000 ft., while the Switchback took over on the top end with the best 1/4-mile and the overall top speed of mph. (See charts below.) Where it gets interesting is when you look at the times and find the Ski- Doo 800s took all the top honors in the quickness category. The X-RS posted the day s quickest time in the 1/4-mile at sec. and was quicker than every other sled at each timing interval with the exception of the aforementioned Backcountry X between 0-30 mph. Most impressive was the X-RS s 0-60 mph time which AMSNOW S REAL WORLD STATS (SPEEDS, ELAPSED TIMES & WET WEIGHTS) TIMED SPEED RESULTS Arctic Cat ZR 6000RR (588 Lbs.) Arctic Cat XF 8000 Sno Pro (622 Lbs.) Polaris Rush 800 H.O. Pro-S (552 Lbs.) Polaris Switchback 800 H.O. Pro-S (567 Lbs.) Ski-Doo 800R Renegade Backcountry X (572 Lbs.) Ski-Doo 800R Renegade X-RS (599 Lbs.) Yamaha Viper R-TX LE (625 Lbs.) Top speed (mph) ¼-mile (sec.) ¼-mile (mph) NA NA NA NA 1000 ft. (sec.) ft. (mph) ft. (sec.) ft. (mph) mph (sec.) mph (sec.) Real World Shootout March

33 1 2 beat out every other sled in the group by nearly a full half second! As far as which is better, being fast or quick, the jury is still out. Either one will give you barstool bragging rights, but it s an interesting development along OEM lines. A SIDE OF 125(ISH) HP We had more than enough fun stuffing our faces with the 800-class sleds, but what could be better than completing a full plate of testing with what s becoming a very intense competition between the 600cc 2-strokes and Yamaha s 4-strokers? Nothing could be better! Cat s ZR 6000RR was lined up against Yamaha s Viper R-TX LE. Both are what we consider each OEM s race or rough-trail suspension packages. Both utilize the 129-in. Cat ProCross chassis. The 6000RR uses the much-admired new 600cc C-TEC2 2-stroke while the Viper employs the equallyliked Genesis 4-stroke. Let the fun begin! The pure brute strength of the Yamaha engine showed well here, outrunning the RR across the board. However, it was not a lopsided affair. Less COMPARING YEARS vs 2015 TIMED SPEED RESULTS 2014 Arctic Cat ZR 6000 EL Tigre than 2.5 mph separated the two at top speed. Again, weather interfered and prevented us from getting a 1/4-mile time or speed for the Yamaha. The results we did get were wider than one might expect from a sled using the same chassis, but the Viper holds a slight horsepower advantage according to our dyno testing at this season s New York Shootout (see Feb issue). Of 2015 Arctic Cat ZR 6000RR Top speed (mph) ¼-mile (sec.) course, at the New York Shootout the Viper also showed strongly. What is incredibly encouraging for 4-stroke fans is the wet weight testing. Yamaha was quoted in several recent issues on making big strides in closing the weight gap between 4-strokes and 2-strokes. Neither Yamaha nor Arctic Cat publish their sled s dry weights, but luckily AmSnow brings you the wet weight of our demo sleds! If you look back at last season s Real World Shootout (Spring 2014 issue). You ll see Arctic Cat s ZR 6000 El Tigre was 98 lbs. lighter than Yamaha s SR Viper. Hop in your DeLorean and come back to 2015, and you ll see the gap between a comparable 6000RR from Arctic Cat and Viper R-TX LE is just 37 lbs! That might be the most impressive number from our Real World Shootout! Conditions have a big effect! TO GIVE OUR readers an idea of what changing conditions can do to speeds and times, we compared our two most similar sleds from 2014 s Real World Shootout to Same track, different conditions, different results. ¼-mile (mph) ft. (sec.) ft. (mph) ft. (sec.) ft. (mph) mph (sec.) mph (sec.) EARLY SEASON POSITIVE IMPRESSIONS After our pre-production test rides a year ago, assumptions were made that 2015 would be a fantastic year to be a snowmobile consumer. The full production version of the sleds have had very few early season disappointments. All our test riders were impressed with Polaris new AXYS sleds in both the Rush and the Switchback. The sleds feel 20 AMERICAN SNOWMOBILER

34 light (duh, they are!) and handle very well. Our early impression favors the Switchback slightly more than the Rush simply because the longer track absorbs the trail chatter a little better. The two Polaris machines were also easiest on oil consumption in the early going. And the new LED headlights are a great upgrade as well. There was little doubt in our mind about Ski-Doo s Renegade X-RS. Their race package in the 137-in. skid length has been everything we ve hoped for. It s smooth, snappy and an ideal all-around sled. We were all pleasantly surprised with the trail capabilities of the Quantifying things into an easy to understand format and comparison of stock trail sleds is what this test is all about. THE ONLY SLED without studs, Ski-Doo s Backcountry X 800, claimed the holeshot prize (1). Polaris 60th Anniversary Edition of the Rush 800 H.O. Pro-S turned a lot of heads on the trail and held down the low-end speed category on the track (2). The Yamaha Viper R-TX LE is creeping ever closer to bringing 2-stroke weight to a 4-stroke sled (3). A little heads up racing also took place... we re still waiting for the shorter guy to finish (4)! 3 4 Backcountry X as well. You hardly notice the wider track on the trail and the longer paddle on the track really hooks up well. Of course, we all knew this would be a great sled off trail. Keep watching AmSnow.com for more backcountry riding on this bad boy! Yamaha has made huge strides in handling. Moving to the dual-runner ski has really quieted this sled down for The 4-stroke Genesis feels as strong as ever when you get behind the bars, and the LE suspension is a fantastic addition to this machine. It s more than capable of tackling the big bumps on the trail. Arctic Cat s trail and crossover lineups are also keeping pace with the rest of the pack nicely. The 6000RR is an extremely fun sled for the trails. It s quick and agile, which is exactly what you want on a winding trail ride. This sled just feels sporty! Stand-up riding is also very comfortable thanks to the taller bar risers on the RR. The XF8000 is a very smooth operator with a slightly higher engagement that will certainly get your attention. It s got a nice strong throttle pull as well. WHAT NEEDS IMPROVE- MENT? What about those previously mentioned early season disappointments? I think I speak for everyone when I say Old Man Winter has been our biggest by far! We re really nitpicking when it comes to the sleds here, but there are a few things we might change. The Arctic Cat 6000RR is a very cold sled. That s expected given the sporty prospects for this sled, but in sub-zero temps with strong winds, it s not going to be a long day for anyone. A bigger windshield will be put on this one for sure. The XF8000 seemed to dart a bit more this season. It was more pronounced for some riders than others, which makes us believe it s more of situation where we just have to dial in the suspension and ski pressure a bit more to our liking. Uncharacteristically, the Ski-Doos have been our heaviest oil consumers, especially during break-in, but also after. Heavier usage is obviously expected during the engine s break-in period, but they are definitely using more than last season at this stage of the game. Increased oil usage by the Ski-Doos has been seen in a couple previous years, but never quite this pronounced. Also, the break-in time Snowmbilers hooking up! KEEPING IT FAIR is of ultimate important the Real World Shootout. To ensure each of our trail sleds get a fair shake right from the word go, we personally studded our six trail machines with Stud Boy Traction s Power Point studs and Pro Lite single and double backers. We paired each studded track with a set of 7.5- inch Shaper Bar carbides. Following Stud Boy s recommendation for the right length stud and amount for their trail safety package for each of our sleds gave our riders just the right amount of grip to ride aggressively and safely through icy trail corners, hard-packed lakes, soft snow or any other Real World conditions. Stud Boy Traction products help keep you confident on your machine, so you can concentrate on what s going on above the track rather than worry about what s happening below Real World Shootout PLUS! It was more than 800 studs that the AmSnow editorial staff installed, with the help of a few trusted confidants. Of our seven demo sleds, we found only the Ski-Doos and Arctic Cats required the installation of aftermarket tunnel protectors. Check out Episode 3 of AmSnow TV on amsnow.com to see the fun of installing 800-plus studs in one day! NOTE: Wet weights were also taken with studs installed. March

35 required to get that built-in break-in countdown ticker down to 0 seemed like it took forever! The R E-TECs took 400 miles to clear their break-in countdown... a long time for a 2-stroke! For some, that s a quick weekend. For others, that s a full season. Hopefully Ski-Doo has something in the works to cut that number down for MY2016. The Yamaha is a bit on the cool side as well, especially at high speeds. This sled is a little more work to drive at pace through tight, winding trails. Our issues with Polaris come more on the tech side than the performance side. Our 60th Anniversary Edition Rush Pro-S came with the upgraded color dash display with GPS, diagnostics, Bluetooth, yadda, yadda, yadda. BUT, it does NOT come with electric start. That XF IS XTRA FINE! Arctic Cat s XF8000 Sno Pro earned high marks from our test folks in comfort, warmth and storage (1). At the Shootout each sled is warmed up prior to its turn on the gun. The AmSnow warmup crew awaits the signal to stop joy riding. (2). 1 2 should be the first bell added when adding bells and whistles to a spring buy sled. The dash display is fairly intuitive for users, but it has a small timeframe for recording your trips with the GPS. At around 230 miles our screen displayed a memory full message you had to stop and clear. Day one of our Shootout break-in ride consisted of more than 300 miles for myself. Good thing we knew where we were or we d still be 70-plus miles from camp! If that s all there is to complain about at this point, you d have to agree that MY2015 is a great time to be a snowmobiler! 22 AMERICAN SNOWMOBILER

36 OCT It s more than a hobby. It s Life. Subscribe to American Snowmobiler and get 6 EXCITING ISSUES, which include: The industry s No. 1 Buyers Guide, full of stats and prices. Honest evaluations of the latest sleds. Expert tech advice & how-to stories. Real world shootouts, vintage sled stories, and more Arctic Cat p. 55 Ski-Doo p. 61 Yamaha p.63 BUYERSGUIDE THE INDUSTRY S #1 BUYERS GUIDE 174 New Sleds» 10 BEST OF THE BEST PICKS p. 49» 100s OF VITAL SLED SPECS p. 55» 20+ NEW PRODUCTS & REVIEWS p. 66 P24311 WIN A SLED! HOW TO ORDER: p.9 DON T MISS!» 2-STROKES COMPARED p. 32» TOP TECH WARS p. 78» LONG TERM TESTS p. 26» EXPERT ADVICE p. 80 SUBSCRIBE TODAY! ONLINE Go to AmSnow.com/offer and enter the code in the lower right. PRINT & DIGITAL EDITIONS ARE AVAILABLE! CALL Monday Friday, 8:30 a.m. 4:30 p.m. CT. Outside the U.S. and Canada call , ext Please have your credit card ready. IK4BL