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Accommodating
The GSX is more than accommodating in almost every way, and it’ll provide you with the best handling and one of the finest rides on the trails.
We’ve enjoyed Ski-Doo’s X chassis, and its variations, for years now and the GSX is near the top in every category that matters to us, quickness, handling agility, comfortable ride and ergonomics.
Last year we ran the GSX SE 800R test sled all winter and had no complaints. Each of our test riders enjoyed it, many commenting on how comfortable it was, while still being fun and fast.
The 800cc E-TEC is powerful with good low-end power and clutching. The TRA VII drive and QRS driven do a smooth job and throttle response is quick. There are several sleds on the snow today that can rocket you down trails and feel faster, but this one snaps out of turns with authority and will keep you on the tails of all your buddies “fast” sleds.
Part of that is due to the chassis working so well and the skis staying put as you accelerate through corners. The larger 1.25-inch lugs on this newer RipSaw single-ply track give the GSX good grip, especially in fresh snow. We like the Pilot 5.7 skis too as they keep hunting and darting to a minimum.
Some suspensions may look fancier, but this SC-5 with its air-controlled rear shock is a delight, giving you up to 16-inches in travel. So if the trails are whooped out and beat, you don’t have to be. It’s easy to change the settings up on the bars to adjust the air shock as you thunder down trails so you don’t have to interrupt your ride to recalibrate if a trail goes from bad to worse.
GSX also has a 137-inch track that works well to bridge bumps along a trail. That was a good thing this past season when many of the trails were marginal.
We also were impressed with its gas mileage for the season, the GSX averaging 15.6 mpg. That was second best for us this year, behind only the Yamaha Vector GT with its stellar 18.8 mpg. But for an 800 that drinks only about a quart of oil every other fill-up, this was quite good. The previous season our 800 Renegade was even better, averaging 17.2 mpg for the season. So while most 800s are in the 10-12 mpg range, this is impressive, but note that this one prefers 91 octane.