4. Rideability. The powerband of the 600 is much more user-friendly than the 800. How often have you seen riders get totally skittywampus out-of-control because they grabbed too much throttle (been there, done that, left a mark on the tree)? The 800 will respond faster than you can react. The 600 matches better with most riders’ reaction skills … so you stay more in control. You are controlling your sled rather than being controlled by your sled. And since you are more in control, you’re not jumping from side-to-side trying to stay in control—like riding a bull. And at the end of the day you will have been stuck less, pitched off less, and abused less by your snowmobile. You will have more energy and less muscle pain than those riders 20 years younger riding the bigger sleds.
5. Technology. Snowmobilers want the latest and best technology available. Although the best stuff is usually introduced on the biggest sleds, it often trickles down to the 600 after a short period of time. Take the Alpha One suspension on the Arctic Cat. Although it was introduced on the 800 last spring, Cat has escalated the migration process and placed it on a 600 this fall. (And as a side note, we think the Alpha One and the 600 are a perfect match. This may be the snowmobile to watch this winter.) You also have the latest engine technology on the 600s—the C-Tec2, the E-Tec, the Cleanfire H.O. These are limited displacement powerplants that produce a tremendous amount of horsepower for their size. You also have the cool feature like SHOT available on the Summit 600. The list just goes on and on.
6. Efficiency. We use to joke about a buddy who rode a 600 RMK because he always had a three-quarters tank of fuel when the rest of us were on fumes. We never worried about running out of gas as long as there was a 600 in the group to siphon from. Bottom line is the 600 manages to make great power with less gas … and burn less oil. That translates to significant savings each time you ride. Some of you may have cash to burn. But it feels much better putting five gallons in the tank rather than nine at the end of the ride. (And if my buddies would have been riding 600s, our ride would have gone for another 20 miles.)