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Pull your sled up to any trailside establishment and the lot is littered with 600s of this, that and the other. For years the 600cc 2-stroke has been a the trail rider’s meat and potatoes. Why would any OEM leave this fruitful ‘bounty of sales segment’?
We can only guess Cat did it to come back stronger than ever! Luckily for us riders Arctic Cat’s absence from this category for a couple years was just a short sabbatical while they devoted more resources to developing the C-TEC2 600cc dual stage injection 2-stroke engine.
And are we glad they did!
Welcome back!
After attempting to fill the 120 horsepower class with their F1100 4-stroke models for 2012 and 2013, Cat was back for MY2014 in the 600cc 2-stroke category. With much ado regarding their relationship status with Suzuki, and bold claims by Team Green around fuel efficiency and weight, we were more than ready for a rip on our 2014 El Tigre demo sled.
But first things first, we took care of all our housekeeping items before the snow began to fall including AmSnow’s exclusive wet weight testing. Cat engineers claimed to have shaved 10 lbs. off the previously used Suzuki engine. That doesn’t seem too farfetched considering the El Tigre was the lightest in our demo corral last season weighing in wet at 509 lbs. That’s a full 20 lbs. lighter than even the Polaris 550 fan!
When winter finally came calling, this sled was one of the first out of our garage to touch snow! We immediately felt the effects of the reduced weight and new front arm geometry. All of our riders commented on how light the sled felt up front and with the ProCross chassis set-up, the El Tigre sticks to corners like barnacles to a boat!
Arctic Cat put their race suspension package on the 6000 with FOX Float 3 shocks on the frontend and Cat’s 2-inch IFP shocks on the FastTrack Slide-Action skid. It’s essentially built for the track, so it handles the bumps on the trail extremely well, when set properly for the rider.
Oh, and the 129-inch track with a 1.25-inch lug height works superb on this machine! The hook up is there in any condition you’ll find on the trails and the engine pulls the whole way through 0-80+ mph. But where the C-TEC2 really impressed us was where it matters most on the trail, corner to corner. That sweet spot between 30-50 mph is where you just might leave your buds wiping snow dust off their goggles!
Higher expectations
Other manufacturers have undeniably set a high bar for 600cc 2-stroke sleds. Arctic Cat’s weight reduction and MPG claims prior to the El Tigre’s production said one thing clearly, “We came to win!”
I don’t think I would believe the wet weight if I didn’t weigh it myself. In fact, we weighed this sled twice, recalibrating our scales in between, just to make sure it wasn’t a faulty reading. Arctic Cat definitely delivered!
Early words from Cat had this engine burning fuel at a 16-22 mpg clip. Again, another claim seeming a bit much for a 2-stroke engine in our eyes. We didn’t quite get the 16 mpg predicted, but at more than 14 mpg it was far better than your average 2-stroke economy. It was the best fuel economy we saw out of any of our 2-stroke demo sleds this year, and even topping our 135-hp 4-strokers!
Oil usage is none too shabby either. It took more than 1,400 miles to burn up a gallon of oil!
Don’t knock it
Well, we’ve tried it, so we can knock it… but not much! Like most race-oriented sleds, the El Tigre comes stock with a tiny windshield. I like the sporty look, but on a cold day it does little for wind protection. And last season certainly gave us ample cold weather testing! My first add-on would be a mid-height shield.
We also had a small mechanical issue with a faulty knock sensor in our demo sled putting the machine in ‘limp’ mode after running at high speeds. Cat sent us a replacement and it was a quick fix.
It’s a good thing the sled is easy on oil. The positioning of the oil tank makes adding oil unnecessarily difficult. You have to pop off two pieces of side panel just to get at it, and even then it sits awkwardly to add oil with a gallon jug. In addition, the clip for the metal screw-tabs on the second panel broke often. It’s a bad set-up Cat tried to resolve with a new flexible oil packaging, but we hope that is temporary.
The key is also in an awkward spot on the dash, wedged between the shield and display so tightly you have to take your glove off to start the thing.
Belt-life always seems to have been a knock against the ProCross chassis. Not so with the El Tigre. I can happily report we put more than 1,200 miles on the first/original belt!
At $11,199 US / $12,799 CA the El Tigre is at the higher end of the 600cc trail sleds, but you get a lot of performance for your dough. It’s light with supreme handling and a saucy race suspension. I could definitely make space for this one in my garage!