Post 18 ride reports here!!

d1100t · Feb 23, 2017

2018 sleds

I'm thinking I'll also order a 2018.
Maybe a mountain cat.
I have to think they are keeping something secret to be released this weekend.
The mountain cat will be lighter than the M sno pro.
Maybe it'll have a different track? Bigger pitch. 3.25. 3.5.??? Deeper lug?
Belt drive?
LED head light?
What about lighter exhaust? Ceramic coated?

Arctic cat said they were shipping some 2018 mountain cats to dealers in February or March.
Somebody must know something?

Marble · Feb 23, 2017

I order a 18' MC for next week and i dont see it.... the passion!

Only thing that i know are that the sled will are black with some green accent.

I suppose that the rear shock will are the EVOL QSL with 1-2-Lock mode and skis shock will are EVOL QS3, and LED headlight.

And like previous years, stronger front bumper.

CO 2.0 · Feb 23, 2017

Poor guy Andy on Sledderz 2.0 on FB wrote a nice write-up of his impressions on the 18 Cat. I thought it was good. Just to have a bunch of arrogant know it all pussies tear it apart. This is why I post mostly on snowest. We can have conversations here that actually help people and give others useful information without bashing.

tdbaugha · Feb 26, 2017

My buddy let me ride his '18 153 yesterday. My personal sled is a 163 Axys turbo. Also rode a stock 163 Axys with a conquer track.

The 18 had simmons skis, CFR bars, Ice age rails. Other than that I think it was stock.

The 18 is noticeably stronger than the Axys. Excellent engine/clutching for box stock. Very impressive climbing, builds lots of ground speed. The mid range is where it is most noticeable. The bottom end was nothing spectacular, my turbo is just as strong on the bottom end. But the mid range was excellent for a stocker. Top end was maybe a little better than stock Axys.

I took it too some steep rollers to see how it would panel out. Much better than before. No panelling. Now the limiting factor is ski swing. Needs a wyoboy steering mod or something to get more counter steering.

Also, it is easy to tip up but it felt like it required more effort to balance once up on edge compared to the Axys. My personal sled probably weighs more (w/a intercooled mtntk turbo, Kmod skid, Kmod arms, Raptor shocks) but felt easier and quicker to handle. And the stock Axys was even lighter/easier to ride than mine.

All in all, cat has an excellent sled here. With a few modifications I bet it would handle just as well as an Axys but with a stronger powertrain.

summ8rmk · Mar 4, 2017

I rode the 18 today.
153 and 162.
Engine is very smooth, clutching is ok. Plastics are awesome.

My sled pulls harder, climbs faster and i like the way it sidehills better than the 18. Maybe ski shocks at 90psi killed it? I run 60 in the main and 110 in the evol on my sled.

The 18's had less than 2hrs on them. I need to try one that has 7+hrs on it and and see if it pulls harder.

Very nice sleds but not the wow factor i was expecting after watching all the videos posted.

snowmow

Chewy22 · Mar 4, 2017

summ8rmk said:
I rode the 18 today.
153 and 162.
Engine is very smooth, clutching is ok. Plastics are awesome.

My sled pulls harder, climbs faster and i like the way it sidehills better than the 18. Maybe ski shocks at 90psi killed it? I run 60 in the main and 110 in the evol on my sled.

The 18's had less than 2hrs on them. I need to try one that has 7+hrs on it and and see if it pulls harder.

Very nice sleds but not the wow factor i was expecting after watching all the videos posted.

snowmow

Pretty tough comparing a band new sled not even broke in to a sled completely setup how you like it with full jaws pipe set and the hardest hitting weights you can put on a proclimb. Now go ride a 100% stock older sled and let us know what you think....

!

TRUEBLUEMAX · Mar 4, 2017

Chewy22 said:
Pretty tough comparing a band new sled not even broke in to a sled completely setup how you like it with full jaws pipe set and the hardest hitting weights you can put on a proclimb. Now go ride a 100% stock older sled and let us know what you think.... !

Yeah I was thinking the same thing yesterday. Got to ride a 17 mountain cat and my 16 limited is better but it's set up how I like it and I'm running a stage two kit on it so it's hard to compare the two.

I guess that's just one of the hard things about switching sleds if you are happy with the one you're riding. The new one is going to be better once all set up but you have to take the journey to get it there.

I still would like to ride a new 18.

summ8rmk · Mar 4, 2017

The sidehilling was the biggest letdown.
I even had my friend(polaris rider) ride the 2018 back to back with mine to give me his opinion. He agreed, my sled is better at sidehilling. I hope it was just bad suspension setup?

I expected mine to have a little more power, as it should.
The bottom end and midrange everyone has been talking about is what i expected to be close to or better than mine.
Like i said earlier, Hopefully i can ride one again that has 7+hrs on it.

My clutching is far from dialed, i need help from someone with more clutching knowledge than me.

snowmow

Chewy22 · Mar 4, 2017

If front shocks where set at 90; that's a lot. I like mine at 60/110 like yours.

GlennRMK · Mar 4, 2017

summ8rmk said:
I rode the 18 today.
153 and 162.
Engine is very smooth, clutching is ok. Plastics are awesome.

My sled pulls harder, climbs faster and i like the way it sidehills better than the 18. Maybe ski shocks at 90psi killed it? I run 60 in the main and 110 in the evol on my sled.

The 18's had less than 2hrs on them. I need to try one that has 7+hrs on it and and see if it pulls harder.

Very nice sleds but not the wow factor i was expecting after watching all the videos posted.

snowmow

When I rode the 18 I checked the front shocks. 85 psi. I dropped them down to 65 and it felt great

We had a 14 Pro 155, 15 Sno Pro 162, 16 LE 162, 17 MC 153 and the 18 impressed everyone. The 18 seemed to sidehill better and be more predictable then the others.

I thought the bottom and mid range blew the doors off the other sleds. It's fantastic in the tight trees. I thought the 18 had a slight advantage on top, but not much. The motor is just torquier and pulls hard.

Really impressed with the 18.

As mentioned, setup is critical. I'm picky with setup too, but really didn't see any downsides to the new sled.

ecyr123 · Mar 5, 2017

Got some seat time on an 18 this weekend coming off my 16 le. I gotta say I was very impressed and so was everyone else that rode it. The motor feels smooth and has a lot of grunt in the bottom and mid. The best part for my was not paneling out on the steep side hills. Cat definitely delivered for 2018!!

carlc · Mar 5, 2017

I have over 400 miles on mine. At least ten people have ridden it, and every one comes back instantly saying how easy it is to ride, and hold an edge on a sidehilling. Literally not one person has said they don't like it.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

summ8rmk · Mar 5, 2017

carlc said:
I have over 400 miles on mine. At least ten people have ridden it, and every one comes back instantly saying how easy it is to ride, and hold an edge on a sidehilling. Literally not one person has said they don't like it.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

Air pressure in shocks?

snowmow

carlc · Mar 5, 2017

summ8rmk said:
Air pressure in shocks?

snowmow

Lol I'm not sure. I literally have not even checked, I like the sled too much the way it is. I was always adjusting and playing with my 14. And to me, the front end rides like there is 75 lbs or so on the front end. It is by far the most predictable and forgiving sled I have ever been on. You can't get me off of my friends axys's quick enough now. I will check pressures tomorrow.

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tinkerjohnson · Mar 5, 2017

18 cat

I finally got the new 18 demo out for a ride. First off it's a early release snopro bone stock except we threw in a set of 68g weights (we ride 9-11000 ft) I set the shocks like I did on the 17 mtn cat front shocks at 60 front track shock at 60 and the rear track shock at 130, it didn't have the evols on it so no high setting. 0 miles on the sled when we left the truck, also had a brand new 0 mile 17 mc on the ride my cousin bought this week, stock with high elevation clutch kit (from cat) which was a set of 66g weights and a different primary spring and a Slp can. We put 75 miles on these sleds on our ride and nothing but smiles out of both of our faces, both sleds ran amazing handled great with zero problems (other than the 17 would flood out and had hard starting problems a few times during the day) the 18 engine is all they claimed imo it was really snappy on the throttle bottom end mid range and top end were all on point and pulled hard. I rode the 17 aswell and it runs great too there is nothing bad about that engine it run great but the 18 was a bit snappier and more powerful in the low and mid range. Climbing both sleds were pretty even I would say. the snow was pretty good, lots of traction, we were probably trenching down about 12" of good snow down to the base below. By the end of the day the power was noticeably getting stronger as we got some time and miles on them. handling was pretty similar on both sleds ( no surprise there they are the same chassis) snow wasn't really deep enough to really test the side pannels out but obviously they will perform better in the really deep powder ( the narrower the better). All in all I was sold on the 17 before I herd about the 18 changes and my name is on a 18 mountain cat for next season. But the 17 is not a bad sled by any means but the engine and body pannel changes are enough for me to pull the trigger on the 18vs the 17. Anyone that gets the chance to ride an 18 ( setup properly) won't be disappointed it delivers like it says on paper. Now a long summer till I get to ride mine.

carlc · Mar 6, 2017

tinkerjohnson said:
I finally got the new 18 demo out for a ride. First off it's a early release snopro bone stock except we threw in a set of 68g weights (we ride 9-11000 ft) I set the shocks like I did on the 17 mtn cat front shocks at 60 front track shock at 60 and the rear track shock at 130, it didn't have the evols on it so no high setting. 0 miles on the sled when we left the truck, also had a brand new 0 mile 17 mc on the ride my cousin bought this week, stock with high elevation clutch kit (from cat) which was a set of 66g weights and a different primary spring and a Slp can. We put 75 miles on these sleds on our ride and nothing but smiles out of both of our faces, both sleds ran amazing handled great with zero problems (other than the 17 would flood out and had hard starting problems a few times during the day) the 18 engine is all they claimed imo it was really snappy on the throttle bottom end mid range and top end were all on point and pulled hard. I rode the 17 aswell and it runs great too there is nothing bad about that engine it run great but the 18 was a bit snappier and more powerful in the low and mid range. Climbing both sleds were pretty even I would say. the snow was pretty good, lots of traction, we were probably trenching down about 12" of good snow down to the base below. By the end of the day the power was noticeably getting stronger as we got some time and miles on them. handling was pretty similar on both sleds ( no surprise there they are the same chassis) snow wasn't really deep enough to really test the side pannels out but obviously they will perform better in the really deep powder ( the narrower the better). All in all I was sold on the 17 before I herd about the 18 changes and my name is on a 18 mountain cat for next season. But the 17 is not a bad sled by any means but the engine and body pannel changes are enough for me to pull the trigger on the 18vs the 17. Anyone that gets the chance to ride an 18 ( setup properly) won't be disappointed it delivers like it says on paper. Now a long summer till I get to ride mine.

My ER 18 doesn't have an air shock in the center, it's a coil. The sled you rode did for sure?

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tinkerjohnson · Mar 6, 2017

carlc said:
My ER 18 doesn't have an air shock in the center, it's a coil. The sled you rode did for sure?

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

That's right it did have a coil over front track shock I didn't change anything on that one. We set the pressure on the 17 on all shocks at the same time

sno*jet · Mar 6, 2017

i rode a 162" 18ER yesterday and had same reaction as tinkerjohnson basically.
and considering it was still an hour away from being out of break in mode (6 hours) i think it pulls slightly better than my 17MC on the top end too. not much difference in high marks if you line them up. not like going from a 2" to a 3" as someone above heresaid. not at all.
the biggest diff. is in the bodywork imo. makes it feel more nimble. I might have to look into the BDX plastics kit and smaller oil tank/trimmed belt guard to suck it in. I want that tighter feel. I can live with my ol zuke.

BlueDevil · Mar 6, 2017

Yeah I was just told that 2" to 3" thing by a friend that ride an 18. I personally have no experience on the 18

sno*jet · Mar 6, 2017

^ya, he was prolly comparing to an older sled. A 17MC would highmark an 18 running a 2.6 pretty easy.

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