The advantage of working for SnoWest Magazine is that we usually get to spend a little extra time on the new snowmobiles in the spring before they are officially released in the fall. That was the case with the Ski-Doo Summit X 850 E-Tec and the Polaris 800 Pro-RMK 174 LE.
Although we have spent more time on the Summit 850, we have still been able to get both these 2017 snowmobiles on the snow at the same time and see what we like and dislike about them … and there are far more things that we like than we dislike.
First to note is that our Summit 850 had a 165x3-inch track and the Pro-RMK LE had the 174x3-inch track. But when you factor in the 16-inch-wide track of the Ski-Doo compared to the 15-inch-wide track of the Polaris, both would have basically the same footprint in the snow.
Weight wise, the Summit tips the scales fully fueled (and full of oil) at 536 pounds and the Polaris weighs out fully fueled and oiled at 535 pounds … again, pretty much even.