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Where the competition gets snug between the high-powered Crosstour/S-TX DX and the Enduro is in the extras you get when buying this sled. The Enduro offers similar creature comforts to the other sleds here like a taller windshield and heated seat. Both those features are great upgrades from Ski-Doo’s other standard offerings, but they don’t perform in the field quite as well as the versions on the YamaCats. We found the flared windshield on the Enduro didn’t offer quite the wind protection to our hands we would have liked, and the heated seat was not quite as consistent (although we find the 4-stroke powered Enduros better in that regard).
The seat is quite comfortable and a bit narrower than a Sidewinder or Crosstour seat, which makes for easy long distance days. The bar riser is lower on the Enduro, which taller riders may find hindering when standing up.
But the tech spec that really steals the show for us is the Air Ride rear shocks in the rMotion suspension. The shock setup offers five distinct preload settings easily selected with a rocker switch on the left handlebar. You can adjust on the fly, no stopping to adjust the suspension to changing conditions. We were wary of this feature. It seemed too gimmicky to us. But after significant seat time in varying terrain, we’re believers. It’s not a Ski-Doo ‘X’ package, but for the vast majority of trail riders it’s pretty slick.
Up front you can easily adjust to conditions as well with the Pilot TS adjustable carbide ski. You do actually have to dismount the sled to change the settings here, but a simple half-turn of the adjustment knob at the base of each ski spindle incrementally raises or lowers the carbide from the ski keel. Notches easily show you which setting each ski is at. We strongly encourage you to keep them the same!
While this type of adjustment feature is cool, it does provide ample opportunity for some tomfoolery from your riding companions if you’re not on your game!
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So which do we prefer? Usually a high horse rocket sled like the 9000 Crosstour/Sidewinder S-TX DX tickles our fancy. Then again, the adjustability options and overall lighter feel of the Enduro hit the spot as well.
For the majority of our test staff, the Enduro won out by a narrow margin, but we would welcome any of these into the AmSnow test fleet.