There are several things that Cat could spend money on that would barely move my meter, if at all. One is riders, brand ambassadors, whatever. They should bring on new talent regularly, and keep some money open if there's one or two guys who really sell the brand and care more about Cat than about making Burandt-level money. It's something easy to blow the budget on though; I think you have to accept that some are going to jump ship for Doo or Poo's money. The next "don't care" is a fancy display. Maybe I'll change my mind at some point, but all I need right now is RPM and coolant temp.
A new motor would be nice, but I don't need more power than the CTEC, and most honest riders would say the same thing. Pretty much anyone can have fun with more power, but even a 600 isn't limiting most riders until it gets deep (which I don't see nearly as much as I'd like). My current sled (Pro 800/163 with some upgrades) has all the power I need, it's been trouble-free through two seasons, goes pretty much anywhere, and it's easy to work on. Two things that drive people off the quickest are frequent break-downs (some Poos over the years), and being a pain in the butt any time you want to change something (Doo). So, reliable and easy to fix and mod are two things I hope Cat keeps in mind (and a new motor wouldn't help there). The biggest complaint about my Pro sounds the same as the Cat: feels front-heavy. I'm sure a new Cat would be less effort, but if it still feels heavier than an AXYS, it's hard to see jumping ship on my next sled. Mostly going off what people say on the Cat; of my time on newer sleds, I've spent by far the least on Cats.
The way I see it, Cat could be appealing for my next sled if they fix some of the fit and finish issues (a friend had his go down from snow ingestion), come out with a new front end that makes for less effort, and keep working to lighten and shrink the bodywork and all. For my kind of riding, more playful even at the expense of predictability would be better. It's a balancing act, but less focus on ragged edge handling and more on responsiveness and low effort seem to be where both Poo and Doo are going. Keep in mind, I'm talking out of the box. I think Cat can still do a lot, even with less resources. It's not going to happen without a sort of .5-gen update (which is what I consider the Matryx and Gen5) in the near future though. All they're going to do is bleed if Textron thinks BNG and a new shock package or display is going to keep things going the next five years. I'm still dreaming of a 400lb RTR sled, but if the world doesn't finish losing its mind in the next couple years, it'd be nice to at least have three real competitors when it comes time for a new sled.
