2001 zrt 600 apv
Amsnow
The once-popular 600 triple triple class has withered down to a lone model, the ZRT 600. Arctic Cat showed it still thinks the segment is important by rolling out a new iteration of the engine, equipped with its Arctic Power Valves, for 2001. No changes to the powerplant have been indicated for the coming model year.
"This engine has a nice wide power band for a triple," commented our dyno tester, Rich Daly from Dynoport. "The power valves help to make that broadness, which allows guys to be a little off in their clutch tuning and still run well."
Arctic Cat lists the ZRT 600 at 120 horsepower. But with a nice, long run, we managed to reach almost 122 hp. "This motor needed a long slow pull to make power," explained Daly. "It wanted to be really heated up, which is why we have water temperatures much higher than our normal 90 to 100 degrees.
"But," he continued, "we weren't that far off with a quick run. We saw 119 horsepower on a quicker test."
The best run we made put the ZRT at 121.9 hp at 8300 rpm. The little triple's torque curve maxes at 78 foot pounds at 8000 rpm, but stays above 77 foot pounds from 7900 through 8300.
Like Cat's other APV engines, when the servo-operated valves pop open at 7000 rpm, the power curve spikes by about ten percent. This power spike delivers a tangible boost in the ZRT's seat of the pants performance feel while riding on the trail.
Our most recent ZRT 600 dyno test was on a '98 model. Without the valves and without jet tuning, the sled only made 112 hp at the Shoot-Out. With the upgrade, the ZRT 600 should stay competitive with some 700 single pipe sleds and stay ahead of the 600s.
Finding additional power from the aftermarket should not be difficult. "The wide power band and the fact that the pipes need to be very hot make this sled a good candidate for aftermarket performance products," added Daly.