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Why spend more money and add weight to have a 1000cc 165-horse goliath sled, when a 140-horse sled is usually more maneuverable, costs less and still produces arm-stretching power?
We ask ourselves such things, and bet you do too. So, for our Real World Shoot-Out this year, we put three 140-horse ruffians to the test. They didn't disappoint!
January snow conditions dictated a change of venue, so we schlepped our demo fleet north to a smooth, flat frozen lake in the western part of Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
As always, we took our sleds straight from the box to the snow and made sure to put 150-200 miles on each before we ran them through a ¼-mile speed run and before we started averaging fuel economy. All the sleds were run through the same tests on the same snowy morning.
Where else can you find this much objective testing of the 2007 machines in a controlled atmosphere? Answer: No where, unless someone copies us, again!
Sled contendersLast year we tested the 120-horse class, and this time we upped the ante by pitting three of the top 140-horse machines in a chilly duel. The Arctic Cat F8 Sno Pro, Polaris Dragon 700 and Ski-Doo Blizzard 800 went nose to nose to nose in our snow brawl.
You may be asking yourself why we included the Dragon with the 800s. It's simple, like Cat's F7s of years past, we thought this new 700 would be capable of running with the bigger boys. We thought right!
Test day in the UP was a doozie, a good ol' snowstorm (remember those?) dipping out of Canada brought us several inches of new snow along with 8-12-degree temps and a good breeze. Ahhh, winter!
We topped off all the fluids in our three 2-strokers and used 93-octane fuel. As in our previous Real World tests, we also used the same test rider (175 lbs.) and took three consecutive back-to-back runs with each machine, after they had been warmed up. The best of those three runs is reported here.
Also, to give our test rider a better grip on the ice, this year we studded the three contenders with model-specific PowerPoint stud packages from Stud Boy in Ravenna, Mich.
As we expected, these three machines were extremely close in their acceleration, elapsed time in the ¼-mile, actual speed at the end of the ¼-mile and top speed. (Note: The test track is ½-mile long and the test rider would continue the pull through the ½-mile to see a top speed.) Less than 3 miles an hour separate our brawlers in top speed and there is just over a ½-second of separation in the ¼-mile elapsed time.
Top stallion(s)!As with many tests, the winner is not always 100% clear. In true ¼-mile style, the fastest ET is the winner. This year, the sled
AmSnow named Best Sled of the Year in our premier issue, the Ski-Doo Blizzard 800, had the quickest ET. The Ski-Doo clicked off just 12.77 seconds before it crossed the ¼-mile tape. However, the new white machine was third in this group when considering top speed. Still it clocked a solid 101.13 mph.
Top speed honors went to Cat's F8 at a blistering 104.07 mph. The new Cat completed the ¼-mile in 13.18 seconds, making it second in the ET category.
The Polaris Dragon was working with fewer CCs, and less horsepower than its rivals, but still managed to best the Blizzard in top speed, hitting 102.67 mph on the radar. The Dragon's ¼-mile ET was 13.33 seconds, a close third to the Cat.
This class of sleds is brought even closer when you examine the speeds at the ¼-mile mark. The Dragon had the highest mph at 99.81 mph, the Blizzard was just a tick behind at 99.71 mph and the Cat was charging hard at 99.42 mph.
The Blizzard had a strong low- to mid-range pull that set it apart from both the Cat and Polaris. This was evident in the 660 ft. times and speeds which showed the Blizzard ahead in both.
Cat owners will be happy that their new F8 Sno Pro is just as fast as their old F7. Comparing the bigger lugged (therefore slightly slower) 2005 F7 Sno Pro, we see that the F7 completed the ¼ in 13.29 seconds and had a top speed of 103.85 mph. The Polaris faithful have something to brag about in their new Dragon which posted a top speed just short of the 900 Fusion we tested 2 years ago. The now discontinued 900 ran 103.85 mph, and had just a slightly quicker ¼-mile ET of 13.05 seconds.
Why go big?If nothing else, this test proves that you don't have to have a 1000cc monster 2-stroke to have a fast, fun machine. Conditions, suspension set-up, correct break-in, rider weight and ability have just as much to do with working your buddy over in an impromptu stock lake run. Who needs to go more than 100 mph anyway? Maybe I'm the wrong person to ask that, but the fact remains that all of these stock machines will put you near the top of the lake racer sledding food chain.
These three ponies are so close as far as acceleration and top speed go, that any of them could have been the winner under varying circumstances. Our advice, if you hang around the lakes waiting to challenge the next guy that comes near you to a pull across the lake, pick someone who is a lot bigger than you, still hasn't taken off the sale decals from the dealer and make sure your sled is set-up correctly for you.
Mid-season trail reportYou'll get full long-term reports on all our sleds in next fall's issues, but here are a few impressions after several hundred miles on the production versions.
Ski-Doo's Blizzard is still a Ferrari in the corners, and the throttle pull on this PowerTEK 800 makes you think you are on a crotch-rocket and just dropped the hammer in first gear in order to wheelie the next ½-mile. A little extra steering effort is needed, but will not bother the hard-core rider. Gas mileage seems to be on par with pre-season testing, and overall, this sled simply performs well in every area.
The Dragon is the surprise of the bunch. It's much better than the pre-production version we tested, and after throwing the 144 Stud Boy studs onto the track and adding an 8-inch single carbide up front, this sled really ripped! I believe the production version of the Dragon took the bumps the best of these three, followed closely by the Cat F8. However, the Dragon unquestionably had the best braking of the group. The only downside, so far, is extremely poor gas mileage, but we've got a whole season to test that yet.
The F8's adjustability came in handier than we expected, especially being able to raise the seat. The F8 and the Jaguar are the most comfortable machines we have in our demo fleet this year. Steering is flat as a 2x6, and requires hardly any effort. While it may be difficult to reach or perform some of the under-hood maintenance, the storage has proved invaluable on the F8. We still love this thing in the bumps too, especially after adjusting the seat and handlebars to our liking. That said, the windshield is basically useless.
Results: Dragon, Blizzard & F8Timed
speed results | Polaris Dragon | Ski-Doo Blizzard | Arctic Cat F8 |
| Top speed (mph) | 102.67 | 101.13 | 104.07 |
| ¼-mile (sec.) | 13.33 | 12.77 | 13.18 |
| ¼-mile (mph) | 99.81 | 99.71 | 99.42 |
| 1000 ft. (sec.) | 11.05 | 10.55 | 10.94 |
| 1000 ft. (mph) | 92.96 | 96.10 | 94.84 |
| 660 ft. (sec.) | 8.47 | 8.05 | 8.39 |
| 660 ft. (mph) | 86.33 | 89.34 | 87.06 |
| 0-30 mph (sec.) | 2.05 | 1.82 | 2.01 |
| 0-60 mph (sec.) | 4.31 | 3.79 | 4.19 |
| 0-60 mph (ft.) | 198.46 | 174.13 | 189.50 |
| 30-50 mph (sec.) | 1.40 | 1.28 | 1.42 |
Real World weightsArctic Cat F8 Sno Pro LXR: (153 Stud Boy PowerPoint kit) 652 lbs.
Arctic Cat Jaguar: 659 lbs.
Polaris Dragon 700: (144 Stud Boy PowerPoint kit w/support nuts) 593 lbs.
Polaris FST: 676 lbs.
Ski Doo Blizzard 800: (144 Stud Boy PowerPoint kit w/support nuts) 586 lbs.
Ski-Doo Renegade 1000: 658 lbs.
Yamaha Phazer: 563 lbs.
Yamaha Attak: 691 lbs.
Note: Weights are full wet weights. Scales provided by Intercomp Co. Inc., Minneapolis, Minn.