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"Arctic Cat made constant improvements to the M8000 since its 2012 debut and while the Cat has a lot of strengths I am personally not as comfortable on this chassis. My biggest complaint is the way that the M8000 sticks the ski/spindle deep in the snow when turning downhill. However, the engine and track work extremely well, as we saw in the uphill test session.
Ski-Doo has done an amazing job with the Summit by building an easy-to-handle sled for any mountain rider, especially beginners. The combination of narrow ski-stance, T-motion, Flex Edge track and predictable power delivery offers almost motorcycle-style handling where a small amount of leaning is enough to turn the sled. While climbing, the Summit likes to lift the skis and although it’s fun, it’s sometimes difficult to keep the sled pointed in the right direction. The sled wasn’t #1 in any specific test, but it offers a very fun and exciting ride.
When the snow is deep and the trees are tight there is only machine for me, the Pro-RMK. The deep snow climbing abilities of this lightweight sled are incredible and the chassis is very well balanced in steep sidehill situations. The Pro-RMK can climb out of its own trench and keep moving forward in situations where you would think you would get stuck.
It was really cool to ride the LCC mod Yamaha as it has almost the same specifications as the 2015 Yamaha mountain sled will have. Considering the Yamaha is closer to the 600 class power output, the sled fared very well in our tests. It was great to see firsthand what this machine is capable of doing with rider Chad Jorgensen at the controls. There has been a performance gap between 4-strokes and 2-stroke sleds in the mountains in the past but it’s slowly shrinking with the Viper only 50 lbs. heavier than the Cat. Which, interestingly, is the same weight difference between the Polaris and Cat. If Yamaha could shave a few more pounds and add 20-30 horsepower they could be right there with the 2-strokes.
Each machine has certain situations where they really shine and with the right rider, each can do amazing things. I still dream of a machine that climbs and sidehills like the Pro, turns like the Summit, soaks up the bumps like the Cat with a reliable clean Yamaha engine. But since that isn’t currently possible, we have to prioritize attributes and my personal biggest priority is sidehilling in technical terrain. The machine best suited for this is the Pro-RMK." -
STEPHEN W CLARK