For a growing number of backcountry riders,
boost is where the party's at. But fuel injection has
been a limiting factor. Or so you thought.
Turbo Performance, a performance shop out of
Roy, UT, builds specialized turbo kits for Ski-Doo
sleds. Turbo Performance has build kits for the
carbureted 800 twin for years, and this past season
we spent some time on the snow with them with
a 2009 Summit XP 800 turbo and a 1200 XR four-
stroke turbo.
We met up at a remote location in the southern
end of Wyoming's Salt River range on a cold day
dotted with heaps of fresh, dry powder. Although it
was 25 degrees below when we left the parking lot,
the temps climbed as quickly as we did. After gaining
a thousand feet of elevation, the temps were in
the teens with sun shining on the untracked powder.
It was a perfect day to see how these two Ski-Doo
mods would rip.
Josh Kennedy and Bryce Kendrick spent a little
time dialing the two sleds in for the conditions. It
doesn't take much-the 800 XP turbo and 1200 XR
four-stroke turbo are pretty easy to tune and make
minor adjustments. We hit several good climbing
spots and played around in the trees. The snow was
perfect in the trees for challenging the power of a
stock sled. The turbo Summit XP had no problem
going up and around any part of the
mountain.
The Summit XP is a natural in the backcountry,
and the Turbo Performance setup
added to its mountain abilities. Turbo
Performance added an Aerocharger 66
turbo with a chrome charge tube and
exhaust, plug and play electronics, boost
and fuel pressure gauges, clutch components,
a fuel pump and rising fuel pressure
regulator, turbo-spec reeds, custom
exhaust valve parts and silicone hoses
with constant-tension clamps.
For chassis modifications, the XP runs
a 163-inch Camoplast Challenger with
2.5-inch lugs, a Shockwave secondary
clutch with Turbo Performance's own
setup and gearing, and R&M Lightning
Products' vents.
The 1200XR was too much for tree riding,
though Kennedy muscled it around
anyway. It was built for a customer in
western Canada, where the hills are
long, straight and open. It has a Turbo
Performance Stage 1 kit with a 174-inch
track with 2.5-inch lugs. The sled is an
absolute school bus right down to the
color, but it hauls up the side of a mountain
like a Ferrari on the Autobahn.
The huge track wraps around an
EZ-Ryde suspension and it all sits beneath
a Van Amburg custom tunnel. A Rage
IV primary and Shockwave secondary
clutch handle the power delivery. Turbo
Performance has its own clutching and
gearing setups for these builds.
Turbo Performance uses R&M
Lightning Products' vent kits to keep the
big four-stroke motor cool.
The Stage 1 turbo kit puts out 260
horsepower at 12 pounds of boost. It
uses an Aerocharger 66 turbo, external
fuel pump, fuel regulator and an Attitude
fuel controller. The kit comes with the
charge tube, intercooler, constant-tension
clamps, boost and fuel pressure gauges,
exhaust system, boost line and all necessary
hardware.
See more of Turbo Performance's creations
at www.turboboyz.com.