have we seen the future of the zr
Amsnow
The chassis
It would appear that the bulkhead has been totally redefined on the new Sno Pro. Notice how you can see daylight through what we'll call AWS 6. That's not how things normally look on the ZR. Also, notice that there is only one actual A-arm on the lower part of the suspension. The upper appears to be a singular radius rod connecting the top of the spindle to the chassis. This is also where the reservoir is mounted. We can see that this is the case by looking at three of the five photos. Cat appears to have also revised its steering arm configuration to wrap more closely into the revamped spindle.
From what we can tell in the photos available, there seems to be some manner of support plate that spans the gap where the front suspension mounts. This could be a totally new kind of bulkhead, or it could simply be how the warm-weather testing radiator is mounted. Regardless, there must be some type of structural support for the front of the A-arm. Also, the torsion bar seems to have gone away. Or at least been modified significantly.
Out back, we can see that the tunnel extends past the end of the seat. We'd surmise that the seat itself got shortened for the race sled. Also, in the black and white photo of the sled on its side, we can see what looks like an integrated fuel tank/cab face piece made of translucent plastic. The recoil handle has been located in the same place as Polaris has for its race sled.
There are further rumors in some circles that Cat has been experimenting with a longer, narrower track. Dimensions vary from 14.5 inches in width down to 12.5 inches, with lengths ranging from 128 to 136 inches. Nothing has been confirmed, and it's hard to tell for sure from the photos we have. But, Polaris went to a 14-inch track on its Pro X, leaving the rails set to accept a 15-inch track. That left only a little bit of track outside the rails- a noticeably smaller swath. On the photo of the Sno Pro coming through the gate, we can see that there is a lot of track outside the rail. If the rumors are true that Cat went to a narrower track, then we'd suspect that the rail width got narrowed as well. We'd also suspect that the tunnel would have to follow, too, which is how Cat accomplished its narrower seat without a noticeable taper from tunnel to rider.