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Yamaha's Vector GT is the Lexus of 120-horse snowmobiles.
The 4-stroke powered Vector is smooth, polished, luxurious, but with enough thunder under the hood to impress your friends. This past season we tested a blue Yamaha Vector GT, which migrated to the more rider friendly Delta Box II chassis in 2008, the same chassis as its higher horse cousin, the Apex.
That alone makes the Vector a more comfortable sled, putting the rider much further forward than the former Vector, and the rider and machine's weight is more centralized as well. Plus, you ride in a more upright position with your knees at roughly a 90-degree angle and your arms straight out instead of reaching up slightly. That gives you better leverage on the bars and allows you to transition to a standing position much more readily too.
Not that I stand up a lot on a sled, but when you want to move around for better control in the twisties, the Delta Box II is a better setup than in the previous Vector.
Weigh the issuesThere's no denying that weight remains an issue with the Vector. Our blue basher checked in at 646 lbs. wet. This was still 3 lbs. less than our Arctic Cat F6 LXR but other 120-horse 2-stroke 600cc sleds weigh much less. The Polaris Shift in our long-term fleet tipped the scales at 561, while our Ski-Doo TNT was the lightest at 499 lbs.
Do you notice the weight? Yes and no. Because of the chassis' balance, it's not a hindrance on groomed trail rides and the GT is aimed directly at the groomed (G) trail (T) rider.
First, the 1.25-in. lugged RipSaw track really digs in on the trails to give the sled more bite as you accelerate out of turns. There's simply no tail wag with Vector, even on icy trails. I noticed some of our lighter sleds seemed to skate a bit more on glassy trails.
Ride comfort in the bumps also is good. The Mono Shock RA rear suspension absorbs the stutters really well although it wasn't quite as impressive in the big mogul fields. Still, we found many of our test riders were happy to swap out for either this or our Apex LTX as we neared the end of our test rides, when the tushie was starting to tire a bit. The seat is extremely comfortable.
Handling is fine too. I found that I had to lean a little more into the corners if I was riding aggressively though. I had to get up on the tank and over the bars a little more than on other machines in this class. That tends to tire you if you're riding hard all day, but if you push it for a few minutes and then settle in for normal trail riding, it's really no big deal.
Power? Heck, all the 120-horse beauties are within a whisker of each other when you line them up on the snow and straight-line test. Proving it's quick out of the gate, the Vector GT was second quickest at 60 mph and to both 660- and 1,000-feet in our Real World testing last January. Vector closely trailed the featherweight TNT in ¼-mile time at 13.52 seconds, vs. 13.43 for the TNT. The Shift and Cat F6 were third and fourth, respectively.
Top speed for the Vector GT was 90.35 mph in our tests, with the Shift at 92.04 and the TNT at 91.89. But it's the quick hole-shot power of Vector that makes it a hoot on the trails as you clamp the throttle between turns. The lightweight sleds might slice the corners a little easier, but Vector bursts out of the turns with its track grabbing fistfuls of snow.
Ride comfort is good too as Yamaha provides a decent mid-height windshield to protect you from wind. Warm airflow is decent. In fact, this does a good job of keeping the air off your hands too, something you miss big time on the TNT.
Many also like the exhaust note from the Vector, which is more throaty than the buzzier 2-strokes. Gas mileage also can be a selling point with 4-strokes. Yamaha claims up to 20 mpg. Our testing averaged out to 16.0 mpg last season, the best of any sled in our test fleet. Without having to add oil either, this one is easier on the budget, long-term. Yamaha also recommends 87-octane gas for its sleds, so you save some cash on the fill-ups too.
2008 Yamaha RS Vector GTEngine: 973cc, 3-cylinder, 4-stroke
HP: 122.6 (
AmSnow tested)
Exhaust: Rear
Ski Stance: 42.7 in.
Front Susp.: Independent double wishbone w/40mm GYTR dual-clicker HPG shocks
Rear Susp.: Mono Shock RA w/46mm KYB shocks w/remote adjust
Track: 15x121x1.25 in.
Fuel Tank: 10 gal.
Dry Weight: 557 lbs. (mfg.)
Wet Weight: 646 lbs. (
AmSnow tested)
Price: $9,599 US
REAL WORLD STATSTop Speed: 90.35 mph
¼-mile Time: 13.52 sec.
Avg. mpg: 16 mpg
Other's comments:"This has a smooth ride, high quality and a great look, and I got 18.3 mpg. I liked it with the exception of the handling, which I'd rank as average."
- Chuck Croft,
KPC honcho and Test Rider