Only been on the snow like 10 days this year, but have not seen a single 2019 twin rail Cat. Probably a good reason they are only doing monorails.
2020 ctec 900
- Thread starter slyrydr
- Start date
With AC adding 5-10 hp to the 800, I don't see a 880 in the near future. New pistons, cylinders, combustion chamber, mapping, flywheel and fuel damper. Their claim 165 hp class, quicker revving, cleaner running, less fuel, why would they? The current 800 is competitive now, the new should be better.
Because numbers sell. An Alpha with an 880 and 170+ hp, belt drive, new running boards, snowflap, seat, intake, elevated chassis and couple other refinements to drop around 15 lbs would make cat a serious contender. I already have seen more Alphas on the snow than Polaris 850s this year. Imagine if they could build on the Alpha platform with an 880 and the chassis refinements that everyone wants to see?
Refinements to the entire top end, including new fuel rail. More power and better fuel consumption.
U
Uncle Bob
Well-known member
This is just a wild shot in the dark but the disappearance of the king cat and rumoured sidewinder departure combined with the constant talk of an 880 had me thinking what if the 880 was a four stroke all along A twin YZ450f turning 10000 rpm with a turbo almost Same weight as a two stroke.
Waakkee waakkee. Dreaming again
I feel like these things aren't that complicated to fix/add, and cat riders have been asking for it for a long time. The intake especially, I bet excessive snow induction is the culprit for some of the top end failures and the intake design is just heavy and crappy.. Has been since '12. The same could be said about the boards and flap too I guess, long overdue
Sure numbers sell but if you just upgraded a two year old engine would you build a new one with 10 more hp and introduce it the same year? All the things you mention are definite improvements and most likely will be on the next chassis. I just believe the 800 with 165 hp will be more than enough engine to compete with the 850's out there now. The current C-tec is fairly crisp maybe not quite as the doo but close. The new version is said to be better than the previous, it will have similar power compared the the 850's.I believe the Alpha mono rail will sell more than the engine will but that's just me.
I got the info off Cat's website, so i would think it's accurate.
Last year in Cooke(14 800 162 3in camo belt drive) I dropped into an area that was not real steep but really deep with small trees Farley tight, I had to be so hard into the throttle to keep moving up which made it real difficult to maneuver the trees, ended up either smacking a tree or turning left to end up in a tree well, took the tree well and wrapped a ski with a small tree pinning sled. took 1 to 1 1/2 hours to cut tree down and get sled back out. I can only think if I had an alpha in same conditions that I would have been able to slow speed down enough to pick my way out. I think cat is on the right track to market the hell out of the alpha. If you ride the mountains you want the most capable sled you can buy.
^^^^totally agree, i have more confidence in my alpha than any other sled i've ever ridden, and i've owned poo and doo also....i've posted in several threads about the fun and confidence factor with the alpha, haven't changed my mind nor mitigated my opinion in the least...
Totally agree. They could have done just a few more improvements, particularly new lightweight hood with quality intake and ice age type configuration and actually gained some market share. Makes you wonder what strategy Textron has in mind. Cat certainly wasn't aggressive with innovation to strongly compete in the market. I kind of hoped Textron would be. If not, what was the point of the acquisition?
I’ve got an Alpha and love it but it doesn’t have the power of an 850 Doo and I have one of those too. I rode my buddies 19(mine is an 18) and it puts the power down even better than mine and I thought mine ripped. Doo has the clutching figured out on the 19s.
I rode the 19 850 and Alpha and agree the 850 feels to have more power. It was a bit crisper too. No belt issues to date. I still want to try the new C-tec with the added hp and crispness.I believe it will be as good or better than the 850.
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