arctic cat pulls veil off sno pros

 
Arctic Cat will be campaigning two different ZR 440 Sno Pro sleds this season, one for snocross the other for cross country and ice. The differences between the two units come in the suspensions, tracks and skis, but they'll also carry common new suspension technology and engine refinements.

The Sno Pro Cross Country sees the return of Arctic Cat's Easy Adjust remote adjustable front control arm. This allows racers to draw the arm in for more ski pressure, or let it out for more weight transfer. All from the cockpit, during the race. The Sno Pro Snocross uses a mechanical bolt system to adjust the front arm.

The tracks will be different on the two sleds. The Cross Country version will come standard with a .85-inch lug track; a 1.25-inch track is the listed alternative. The Snocrosser will spin a 1.375-inch track in the standard configuration; its listed option will be a 1.25-inch track.

Finally, the skis on the two sleds will differ. The snocross machine will feature C&A Pro skis for cutting hard corners in the sugary snow of a bump track. The cross country runner will use the traditional ACT plastic race ski.

Those are the primary differences between the two units. But there will be some similarities as well. The front and rear suspension have both been modified. The AWS V front end will use rebound-adjustable ACT shocks. This is a big departure from the conventional wisdom which said compression damping was the hot tuning ticket. We'll see how it works this season.

The rear suspension will carry Cat's all-new Cross-Link system. In a nutshell, the system incorporates the shock fluid from the quick adjust system on the front shock with the valving fluid for the rear shock. As the rear shock compresses, it forces its shock oil through the line into the quick adjust circuit on the front shock and compresses it as well. The front shock's valving oil remains in its own circuit and does not mix with the rear. "Kirk's [Hibbert] been working on this system for a number of years," said Cat's Snowmobile Product Manager Joel Hallstrom.

"He's used it to win races and championships. In fact if you've seen Tucker's [Hibbert] holeshot from the X Games, you've seen the Cross Link in action."
The system effectively couples the action of the rear shock with the quick adjuster's functionality on the front shock. When the rear shock is compressed, whether from impact or weight transfer, the front arm sucks in as well, keeping the whole sled flatter in the air and out of the hole.

The engine has only been moderately refined for this year. Back is the pipe temp sensor package and the electronic APV on the cylinders. New this year are alignment pins on the heads, cylinders and crankcase to keep all parts perfectly lined up. Also new this year is a higher output ignition and stator.

The whole package is said to come in at last year's 455 factory pounds.
The Z 440 Sno Pro fan-cooled sled will sport a whole new top end on its engine, as well as a new exhaust package and digital ignition. Cat says the mods will bump the sled up to 66.5 horsepower. It also carries the new Cross Link system found on the ZR units. Wrapping the skidframe is the 1.375-inch track.