AmSnow.com is now SnoWest.com
There is an old saying in racing, “If you’re out front don’t look back, somebody may be gaining on you.”
Although other manufacturers are working hard to catch up with Ski-Doo’s market share and often leading technology, the engineers in Valcourt are not looking back or sitting still, but rather pushing forward with new and improved technologies. On the menu for 2011 are an 800 E-TEC 2-stroke, a brand new 600cc ACE 4-stroke twin, and a new lighter six tower primary clutch.
E-TEC 800 With the success and experience of the 600 E-TEC direct injected 2-stroke engine firmly in the databank, it was a poorly kept secret that we would see an 800 E-TEC, it was just a question of when. Customers can now order the 800 E-TEC, but a production pilot run was available to selected dealers and magazines during the second half of last season. Limited pilot run releases are a preferred procedure for the manufacturing engineers to catch as many production bugs as possible before large-scale manufacturing cranks up.
The new 800 E-TEC injectors are larger than the 600’s by 25% in order to properly supply the larger engine. The ECM also is different. It has two additional power amplifiers to give better injector control at the 800’s higher rpm. A new cylinder head was required to accommodate the injectors, but the cylinders and crankcase are the same basic design as in its P-TEK engine.
There are some other changes that enhance power and reliability. The engine now breathes through two 52mm throttle bodies, up considerably from the 40mm carbs. A new air-box with dual intakes increases the inlet area by 63%, resulting in a 4 horsepower increase on top end. The single ring piston now has a thicker 2mm ring for longer ring life too.
Ski-Doo engineers are still adamant on keeping the single ring design, as they claim that the two ring design costs them 2-3 hp in friction and produces more heat in the cylinder. The 800 E-TEC also gets an electronic oil pump, which in addition to delivering increased oil economy, also can deliver more oil during the break-in period, and can be made to deliver the auto-summerization fogging function to inject more oil in the engine for summer storage.
I was curious about how the new 800 E-TEC would work, and spent quite a bit of time on it during our new model intro session in the West Yellowstone area this spring. On regular trails the injection worked flawlessly, with crisp response at partial throttle and with good top-end power. The Ski-Doo crew also was curious to learn how we felt about its performance at altitude. Although West Yellowstone does not present the same altitude challenges as places like Grand Lake, Colo., do at over 12,500 ft, there are places in Yellowstone where you can get over 10,000 ft.
The chance presented itself when the crew decided to climb up some steep mountain ridges near Lions Head. These ridges climbed steeply in three sections, were sometimes only 50 ft. wide, and dropped sharply on each side. This gave us a great test, because you had to balance the power between wide open and on and off part throttle as you threaded the machine up the narrow one track trail, fraught with both moguls and very loose snow. Again, the 800 E-TEC preformed well, with great response and no hazardous flat spots, balancing us safely up to the 10,400 ft. peak.
All the 800 E-TEC’s we tried seemed well calibrated for all the conditions we encountered out west, and gives Ski-Doo a well earned leap forward in making the 2-strokes both fuel efficient, powerful and lightweight, just what we all like in our snowmobiles, whether on the trail or in the mountains.