project sled making a faster fan

AmSnow.com is now SnoWest.com

It was slightly ironic when the AmSnow crew found out that Ski-Doo would be dropping its stock 594cc liquid-cooled motor - standard in the 500SS for several years - into its slim new TNT which weighs in at a smile-inducing 399 lbs.

For the year prior to TNT's introduction, we had been discussing simple ways to drop pounds and add power to a Ski-Doo MXZ X 550 fan, already a fun sled. We started the project last fall and worked on it progressively as we became more excited by the early winter snow-count.

The goal
The goal was to cut 30+ lbs. off a 2006 MXZ X 550. The sled, owned by Matt Gliszczinski of Dousman, Wis., was just getting broken in when we began discussing the project. We tossed out the idea of making a sub-400 lb. sled with a target of 85-90 horsepower.

The first step was making a parts list and determining how much weight each part would save us.

Our original list included a pipe and silencer, new seat, lightweight side-panels and hood, machined brake rotor, new front-end, lightweight shocks and several aftermarket pieces. Once we started, we realized that funds and time crunches might hold us back from adding the new front-end, and some of the other "wish-list" items.

First steps
Gliszczinski started the project by exchanging the factory skis for black ones that would eventually match the sled. The yellow wind deflectors were changed to clear ones, a chrome windshield was added and black shock covers and hand guards were put on. Beginning to see the sled's color scheme?

After the cosmetic changes, we took the sled to our Tech Editor, Olav Aaen, at Aaen Performance, where we fitted it with Aaen's power-enhancing ceramic-coated pipe and silencer. This dropped 15 lbs. off the sled right out of the gate. We then decided to have Aaen do some intermediate level trail porting. This was not a race-level, aggressive, porting job, but worked well for our purposes. Aaen finished the porting and head machining, and then we installed a KOSO EGT gauge to monitor temps. This was all finished just in time for us to move onto the next phase.

From Aaen's shop in Racine, Wis., we headed down the road to the renowned clutch tuning shop of Greg Goodwin at Goodwin Performance in Zion, Ill. Here, clutch specs were dialed in superbly for the added power coming from the newly ported and piped 550. We needed to get all the new horses put to the snow, and that's what Goodwin does best.

More performance
Once we got the machine back from Goodwin, Gliszczinski went to work on the CAD machine, designing a custom cutting job for the brake rotor. You probably won't see another rotor exactly like this one, and it helped drop a little more weight. Like the new Ski-Doo TNT, we tried to lose weight in several areas, not just one big chunk.

The gears and chaincase were then farmed out to MicroBlue Racing. MicroBlue makes a coating for engine parts that increases lubrication between pieces, cutting friction and heat buildup, ultimately making your engine run smoother, cooler and faster. Before applying the coating, MicroBlue polished and REM superfinished all the parts we supplied them.

Weight loss and bling
Other important aspects of the sled's diet include the addition of a custom Boss Highrise seat and the installation of BR Tech Lexan panels and hood. The mostly black Boss seat with white emblem was a quick and easy installation, and it turned out to be our favorite addition. It was light, comfortable, stylish, durable and just an overall quality aftermarket piece.

The BR Tech panels were big weight savers too. There was some cutting and fashioning needed once we received the panels to make everything fit exactly, but once done, the sled was transformed into a custom-looking eye snagger.

Finally, we wanted to put some shiny bling on our MXZ X 550, so we added custom billeted wheels with Nasty Nuts thanks to the guys at Tricked Toys in Newmarket, Ont. The 7.5-inch rears and 5.5-inch front lower idlers were replaced and both got stylish Nasty Nuts.

Performance gains
After the engine and exhaust work, we were able, on the dyno, to coax 89 hp out of our 550 fanner. In the ¼ mile at our Real World Shoot-Out, we saw consistent 84 mph speeds with 15.66 for the best ¼-mile ET. That's about 5 mph faster and almost a full second quicker in the ¼ mile than stock. Most impressive was the gain from 0-60 mph, where we saw the stock sled hit 60 in (yawn!) 7.43 seconds, and the project sled hit 60 in just 6.19 seconds. Yeah, baby!

Out of the blocks and in the tight trails, this sled "works it." Test rider and owner Gliszczinski has been known to give 700s and 800s a run for their money in the twisties with this sled.

Goal attainment
We achieved our weight loss goal, dropping 37.5 lbs. from the stock machine, cutting the 430-lb. stock sled's dry weight to just under 400 lbs. We also hit our power goal, which we proved by dynoing the sled before any mods and then again after our engine work. We saw an increase of 14 hp.

In the end, with relatively few modifications, we succeeded in taking a low-cost, entry-level machine and making it faster, lighter and simply an incredible machine to ride on the trails. Total cost for all the upgrades came in just under $2,500, and the original sled's price tag - when new - was $6,099 US.

More aftermarket info: www.aaenperformance.com, www.goodwinperformance.com, www.bossseats.com, www.microblueracing.com, www.brtechracing.com, www.tricked-toys.com.

2006 Ski-Doo MXZ X 550F Diet Plan
Part, Weight loss
Aaen pipe and silencer, 15 lbs.
Boss Highrise seat, 6 lbs.
BR Tech Racing Lexan panels and hood, 15 lbs.
Custom cut brake rotor, 1.5 lbs.
Total: 37.5 lbs.