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Cat's Hill Climb Racer was a surprise to us. We did not expect it to be such an excellent mountain sled.
The Sno Pro HCR is a titanium-equipped M8 Sno Pro 153 LE with a wider front-end, 43-inches to be exact, and spindles and A-arms raked for competitive uphill mogul speed runs. There's narrow deep-keel skis, the stiffer (90 duometer) Power Claw track for hard pack and rock-infested hill climb courses and an ultra-lite BOSS seat.
We learned in light waist-high fluffy powder, the HCR's stiffer compound track lost some of its traction and flotation ability. Its sibling Sno Pro with the softer duometer track would pull away from the HCR. But, if the snow conditions were harder or packed, the stiffer Power Claw (90 duometer vs. the Sno Pro's 80) made up the difference and the HCR would pass the Sno Pro M8. The HCR's stiffer track is similar in performance to Cat's Camoplast Challenger track used on the 2007 and 2008 M8 Sno Pros. If you have ridden on a Challenger, then you'll be better able to relate to the track's performance.
Additionally, when the powder was deep, the motor was able to spin the HCR's 153-inch track faster than the M8 Sno Pro spun its 162 track. The tradeoff was speed on the HCR vs. larger footprint, and therefore more flotation on the Sno Pro. Given that, the difference between the two track lengths was minimal, with the only downside being the HCR's harder track. Remember though, the HCR is built for competitive racing.
When sidehilling across a mountain, or boondocking through a complex tree-filled slope, we learned the HCR's wider front end required just a bit of extra planning. After mastering the wider front-end, we were able to perform most any boondocking maneuver on it as we could AmSnow's M8 Sno Pro.
The race-tuned suspension and 43-inch wide front-end gave the HCR a more stable feel than the Sno Pro's 39-inch ski-stance, but that was expected. The narrow and deep-keel skis turned the HCR better than the Sno Pro, but did not float as well. We wondered what would happen, performance-wise, if Cat blended these two skis together for the Sno Pro, that is, give the Sno Pro ski the HCR's deep keel.
Test rider Kevin Allred said, "The HCR is basically a tricked-out M8 Sno Pro LE designed for hill climb competition. I loved the factory installed BOSS seat. In the deep powder I hardly noticed the wider front end. In fluff-powder the stiffer track had a tendency to trench a bit more than the softer M8 track. But, as the season progressed and the snow set up, the HCR with its wider ski stance was about as fun a sled as I have ever ridden. I feel for those areas where mountain snow is sticky, such as the coastal states, the HCR, with its stiffer track over the M8 Sno Pro may be the better choice.
"One aspect I appreciate with Cat's EFI is starting ease, especially after a Cat mountain sled sat on its side, or was positioned upside down for a lengthy period, due to…well….whatever. The pressurized fuel rail EFI will usually start on first pull after the sled is righted. After digging out a stuck sled, which often includes rolling it over, the last thing I want to do is spend 20-minutes yo-yoing on the pull cord. Cat should be complimented on how well its mountain sleds start in this scenario."
Our HCR was shipped without the little blue button to dim the headlamp. That was our only quality control issue. Other than that, the HCR's telescoping handlebars, battery-less EFI, direct drive, and electronic reverse performed flawlessly. We expect the HCR, for 2010, to continue its dominance on the professional hillclimb circuit as it did in 2009.