AmSnow.com is now SnoWest.com
The PRS rear skid ended up with three shocks, two in the rear and one in the front, all coilover and progressive-rate. This was state-of-the-art for the time and received quite a bit of press when the Formula lineup was released to the consumers.
One interesting note was the track length on the Pro Stock and eventually the 1985 PRS sleds was pretty short. Ski-Doo selected 114-inch length for these sleds, but it was an inch and a half wider than the norm with a 16.5-inch width. Even the leaf spring El Tigres, Liquifires and Interceptors of the early ‘80s ran 116-inch tracks. The Invaders, Indys, ’83-and-up Vmaxs, SRVs and ‘85 AFS Cats ran 121-inch tracks, which ended up an industry standard for trail sleds. Ski-Doo stuck with the short 114-inch length even with a stout 521cc Rotax pulling it around in the Blizzard 9700 and then the Formula Plus. I understand the idea of reduced rotational mass and a shorter machine and wheelbase for crisp handling, but the offset was smaller contact patch and floatation, especially as suspension travel was increasing.
¦ Steps in the right direction
As intended for 56 hp stock class oval and the early days of “snowcross” racing, the 1984 Ski-Doo Pro Stock racer was a big improvement over leaf spring sleds of the era, but even with the more precise front ends, and progressively damped rear skids, the Indys of the day maintained a slight competitive edge on the race tracks. At the consumer level, the Formula MX and Plus were considered winners with sharp handling, solid good looks and a definite step in the right direction for Ski-Doo.
If any of this tale seems familiar, perhaps it reminds you of the 16 early release 2002 REV Mod 800cc SnoCross race sleds introduced before the regular production 2003 model year. But that’s another story.