I am going to assume you are comparing the 600 ETEC Renegade and the ACE 900 Renegade. Your reference to “EFI 600” would indicate the new “Sport Series” Renegade but there is no Sport Series ACE 900. That would be like comparing apples to oranges.

Comparing the non-turbo ACE 900 and its 95 HP to the 600R E-TECS performance is not reasonable. While the 95 HP ACE is a torquey and fuel efficient engine it is no match for the 600R E-TECs 125 HP.

The 600 E-TEC is also considerably lighter than the 4 stroke ACE 900. Throw in this reality – the 600R E-TEC is among the most fuel efficient snowmobile engines in the market.

The 900 ACE engine would be better on fuel at slower speeds and the 600R ETEC would be better at mid to WOT throttle settings.

In case you are comparing the new 600 EFI Sport Renegade with a 900 ACE Renegade the Sport EFI Model with its lightweight 2-stroke and 85 HP power output would likely equal or better the 900 ACE for performance but the EFI 600 would not be as fuel efficient as the 900 ACE or – for that matter – the 600R E-TEC.

Remember this adage – it has always been true and remains true to this day – light is right!

Thanks for your comment. It concerns me when I realize I’ve been around long enough to remember not just landmark sleds of the past but obscure ones as well.

To answer your inquiry Ski-Doo (with Rotax) did develop and produce a sophisticated (for its time) EFI system which was fitted on the Rotax Rotary Valve 580cc twin cylinder engine and stuffed into a PRS chassis variant called the “Formula Plus EFI” or more specifically the “Plus EFI”.

The sled or more appropriately, the EFI system, was a one hit wonder living as a very limited production (I believe one per dealer – late release) powerplant. It disappeared faster than it arrived.

I may stand to be corrected here but I’m pretty sure the EFI system was developed in cooperation with Mikuni. This was a departure from the JECS systems both Polaris and Arctic Cat used at this time. Oh, what time are we talking about? I believe the “Plus EFI” was officially a 1992 model.

We had a Press Unit here at Supertrax and found it to be a nice improvement over carbs – except for one problem – the system was riddled with glitches which further undermined Ski-Doo’s reliability reputation they were working intently at improving in the early 90’s.

Everybody who rode the Plus EFI had at least one return trip on the rope. Ski-Doo never fiddled with EFI again until the arrival of the Semi-Direct Injection SDI 600 and 800 Rotax Series III engines in the early 00’s.

There’s more to the arrival of EFI on snowmobiles that’s interesting. I think I’ll write a column soon on how costly the patent infringement settlement was between Ron Chastain – owner of Injection Research Services (IRS) and Polaris. It is an interesting 30 year old tale.

Thanks for your comments and glad to hear you’re watching the show.

We constantly get told we’re biased to one manufacturer or another. More often it’s by Yamaha and Arctic Cat guys because we have more criticism for many of the sleds from these 2 brands. Before I go any further I’d like to just say that I understand where this frustration comes from, but it’s simply the nature of what we do. We do not cater to loyalties and simply report the truth on the good and bad of what we test. Period.

Our short track shootout was one that viewers had been asking about for a while. The results were not just the opinions of one or two of our crew. They were based on the opinions of our WHOLE crew who each ride thousands of miles every season and get a unique opportunity to ride competing sleds that they don’t own back to back, day after day. Something few, if any, consumers get to do.

This gives us a very interesting perspective because we have NO investment in the sleds we ride. I didn’t spend my own money on any of them so I have no reason to want to praise or defend one over the other. Also, riding the sleds back to back…literally jumping off the running boards of one onto the running boards of the other on the same day, same trail, exactly the same conditions gives us the ability to identify what works and what doesn’t from one sled to another. There is NO better way to determine which one rides the best, or which one has the best handling, ergonomics etc. Riding a buddy’s sled from time to time doesn’t cut it.

So saying our story is biased only does one thing. It points out your own bias toward one of the sleds that did not win, in this case, the Arctic Cat ZR. You’re not happy because it didn’t do as well as the others so you accuse us of being biased.

Why would we be biased? How does that benefit us. All 4 manufacturers advertise with us. It does us no good to unfairly praise or criticize one sled over another. We get no more or less money either way. You, on the other hand, want to be told that your sled, or the sled you like the most, IS the best. You have a desire to be right or to have your own opinion validated. That IS an example of bias.

In terms of picking winners, we do this for one very good reason: our viewers overwhelmingly demand we pick winners. We have done “comparos” in the past and the majority of our viewers don’t like the format. They WANT to know which one we think is best…they WANT a winner.

In some instances there is a good reason to simply compare and not compete, but in a case where the 3 sleds were looking at are direct competitors with the same intended usage, similar features aimed at the same buyer, it is literally our JOB to find the best of the bunch. If you want to know what we think of each sled on its own, watch the test ride. The entire purpose of a shootout is to pick a winner.

Your comment about Arctic Cat being lightyears ahead of the competition with the 91 EXT is irrelevant. It is not 1991 any more. Snowmobiles today are not judged based on sleds a brand built 28 years ago. Furthermore, the tall spindle design is a very good one – there is no question, but the true test of a design is how it actually performs. Not one of our crew would ever say Arctic Cat sleds handle badly. They certainly do not. In fact, for 2020 we fully expect Arctic Cats new front end to push its sleds near to the top of the list when it comes to front end ride and handling.

However, as I said before, we get to ride all these sleds, back to back, day in and day out. In our well informed opinions, based on tens of thousands of miles of actual real world experience, Arctic Cat’s original tall spindle front end did not ride or handle as well as some of its competition. Due to your obvious bias toward Arctic Cat I can see why you might not like or agree with our findings, but at the end of the day, our job is to report the truth as we see it, not simply cater to the loyal followers of one brand or another.

The Arctic Cat/Yamaha relationship is based on a long list of factors. One of which is that Yamaha sees real value in Arctic Cat’s platform, but don’t for a second think that THIS is the only reason Yamahas are based on Arctic Cat chassis. There is WAY more to it than that.

To your final point that Arctic Cat sleds are the best built sleds on the snow in every category, this is what gives away your bias the most. I don’t blame a fan for having strong opinions toward his brand. I have strong opinions about GMC and Chevy trucks, Ducati motorcycles and SCOTT mountain bikes. They are fantastic products based on my own experiences. However, I wouldn’t for a second try to argue against a professional test rider for any of these products that I know which one is best more than they do. In fact, I go to these sources for advice when it is time to buy a new toy… I read, watch and listen to their reviews and opinions and I base mine on what they say. Maybe I still let my own bias impact my decision making, but I’m not going to come out and say they’re flat out wrong. They have way more experience with these products than I ever will.

Thanks!

Thanks for your inquiry!
Sounds like you may need to bump the rear torsion spring preload up a bit on the rear arm to establish a slightly higher static ride height. Then you can use number 2 thru 5 depending on the trail and speed you’re riding.

The torsion springs can be bumped up twice – try just one bump. What disturbs me is the overheating problem. If the sled is full soft and set on “1” it should be sagging way low – as a result of the rider weights you have indicated.

If its way low then the snow flap should be close enough to the snow to capture it and shoot it back into the tunnel. This overheating issue is cropping up more and more on 137s – I think it’s time for some of the OEMs to use a longer snowflap on these models.

Hope this helps!

This is a question we’ll be asked a hundred times this fall!

First, even though we’ve had lots of exposure to the new Polaris Patriot 850 we have not been able to run the Ski-Doo 850 nose-to-nose against it. This would help us answer your question because ultimately the comparo will come down to which is fastest (top end and acceleration).

Here’s what I can say from the exposure we’ve had to both 850’s individually. The Polaris feels softer at engagement and trail speeds. Not slower – just a more easy power curve while the Ski-Doo “feels” more abrupt and edgy.

As speeds rise – and according to my seat-of-the-pants-o-meter the Polaris feels stronger. At mid throttle north of 6500RPM the Patriot Polaris beats its fist on its chest and pulls as hard as anything I’ve felt right to shift RPM and past the C-Note.

Is this top end surge stronger than the Ski-Doo’s? Honestly – there was no way to quantify that unless we had both sleds at sea-level. The OEM’s frown on head-to-head drag races at Snow Shoot in West Yellowstone and at the 6600 foot minimum altitude there comparisons are not boiler plate verifiable.

I know I’ve left you with the impression the Polaris feels less powerful at low speeds compared to the Ski-Doo and the Ski-Doo feels less powerful at high speeds. This is my opinion based on very limited testing.

I can tell you this – we have both of these 850’s in varying platforms in our Press Fleet this winter and we will report on the results of heads-up comparison here at sea-level as soon as the snow is down and Kevlar Lake tightens up.

In terms of NVH it is immediately apparent Polaris has done its homework with its new and different engine mounting system. The 850 Patriot is buttery smooth – smoother than the Rotax.

In the meantime, here’s some opinion. Both these 850’s deliver more power than any normally aspirated snowmobile engine ever built. They both make at least 160 HP (probably more) and they both are blistering fast – right past 100 per.

I would also suggest you consider this reality. If you were Polaris – admittedly second to arrive in the 850 game, would you come to market with less or more power than the Ski-Doo?

Thanks,

Whew! You are in the classic position of over-adjusting your rear suspension. The fact you tweaked the limiter was just one clue you are in way over your head.

Whoever told you about the angle of the rail thing requires a limiter adjustment was just plain wrong. You have the very best snowmobile rear suspension under your butt and you are not abnormally heavy. So here’s my recommendation. Limiter strap adjustments are mysterious and have far reaching implications all the way down the rail – put it back to stock!

Put everything except the air suspension back to dead stock – including the front IFS shock preload settings the centre shock and the coupler block.

Think about what you did when you dialled in more snail cam preload on the front IFS and then pulled the limiter up! You did two contradictory things at once.

When you get everything back to stock take the sled for a spin – (probably next winter now!) Adjust nothing – zip, nada except the air spring until you get the ride you want in the terrain you ride most.

Setting one or two is not going to be enough air for your weight – you’re going to be at three or four for sure. Completely forget about static ride height – this is an air suspension which only uses the torsion springs minimally – get them back to stock as well!

The whole idea of the air suspension on the Enduro is max on-the-fly adjustability – not fiddle until you’re confused sno-X racer set-up.
If you want a sled you can mess around with suspension settings you would be much better off with an MX-ZX or XRS.

The Enduro’s air ride is the among the very best suspensions we’ve ever ridden – for general trail duty. If you’re trying to ditch bang and clear doubles it’s not the right suspension for that behaviour.

My advice for most suspension tweaks is to use oil (shock damping)- not steel (springs) to control your rear suspension. In the case of the air ride suspension on the r-Motion I would say use air – and nothing else.

Hope this helps!

I just read your review on the new Ski-Doo 600. Nice job!!! My next sled may see me going from the current 850, back to a 600.

I could not agree more on the weird steering of the G4 chassis. I love steering – razor sharp steering – even if it comes at the expense of darting and rider comfort, but the G4 is weird.

It does what I call the “Turn, Tuck and Push”, or “TTP” for short. The trails in our area tend to be notably tight and make the G4 steering issues even more pronounced. I have tried everything to make the sled steer; from suspension settings to crawling all over the sled like a monkey. Then I get off my sled and ride my 2014 600 GSX and WOW, it steers!

It is not set up to steer either. It’s just stock, yet it still steers. I believe my MXZX G4 needs just a touch more low speed compression damping on the front suspension (Yes, I know, no adjusters – big frown). Just enough to help with the tucking on an aggressive turn.

I also believe the front end needs a little more caster, which would help to reduce the hard initial turn in and also help it hold a line better through the middle and out of a corner; but that modification is beyond the work and tools I have in my shop. Then I read your article about the ski change and that really sparked my interest.

Do you think the skis noted in the article will make enough difference as to make the G4 chassis comparable to the older 2014 in the steering department?

Good to hear from you!

We too are excited about the coming season – snow forecast here for tomorrow! Yahoo!

Seeing as how we have talked many times in the past I’m going to be brutally honest with you about the sled you’re thinking of for your wife.

While the 1100 Suzuki mill was bulletproof and fairly fuel efficient it is not light. In fact that sled is down right heavy compared to your wife’s vintage Cougar and all the other AC iron in your stable. Here’s my point. Why do we men think our wives would want a ji-normously heavy snowmobile?

So many guys think the ultimate ride for their wives is a 4 stroke. Trust me – it isn’t! With your wife’s background on the Cougar moving her onto an F-1100 is going to be like moving from a Chevy Cruise to a Buick Roadmaster. If she gets stuck – forget it. If she gets out of shape after hitting a sucker bump forget it!

My wife loves to snowmobile but I tried the 4 stroke thing on her and it ended badly. My wife – for the record – doesn’t know the difference between a 2 stroke and a 4 stroke – however she absolutely knew the diff between heavy and light.

My solemn advice is to look for a nice 600 DSI AC. They are light, torquey and easy to ride. They are also actually better on fuel than the F-1100 which strangely never excelled in that department.

Hope I haven’t upset the apple cart for you however I am confident you will be a hero in your wife’s eyes (happy wife, happy life) if you move her onto a lightweight, easy to ride and handle AC.

Thanks,

Thanks for your Facebook post.

We agree, Ontario does have regulations relating to exhaust modifications. We stand in support of obeying the law in your jurisdiction. In all fairness Ontario’s law is too broad – it should only relate to vehicles producing recorded decibel levels above a certain limit. The presence of an aftermarket exhaust does not necessarily mean the noise level has been elevated. Agreed, in the past aftermarket exhausts have become known for outrageous noise. The law should regulate decibels – not the act of modification.

Our position on the show and in the magazines relates to this reality – we service the entire North American snowmobile marketplace with our content. Ontario is only one province out of many provinces and states in the USA. We simply cannot preclude a quality aftermarket supplier from exposing their products because of one jurisdiction’s rules.

You are correct about and we don’t disagree – using a too loud exhaust system in Ontario or any other place is not a good idea. Not sure how that relates to the other issues you’ve raised but responsibility and common sense is at times in short supply in our sport. However it is my experience there is about 3% of participants in most activities which essentially create the problems for the 97% who are responsible.