700 or 800

[petermk]

Hi I am curious what you guys think about the 08 through 10 sleds. I have been doing a lot of research and looking at used sleds. I would like to buy a sled now but i might wait until the summer at this point. I have ridden both the 7 and 8 but I cant decide what to do for sure. The 8 seemed to make superior torque over the 7. what do you guys think?

 

[theletup]

I agree that the 8 has better torque. With a little clutch work and lower gearing you can achieve excellent torque out of the 7 also. I recently got a Carl's custom helix for my sled along with 19/42 gearing and it made a HUGE difference. The thing climbs like crazy.

The 7's are far more dependable from what I've read online. I honestly haven't ridden the 800 enough to know them well but I know that I love my 08 Dragon 700 and haven't had a single problem with it at 2200 miles.

 

[petermk]

Yeah I have always ridden 700s because i hated the edge 800s. mine always ran great. I am headed west in march and I am supposed to be taking a friends 2010 d8 163 but its going on a couple trips prior and to be honest im a little worried i might end up buying something first. I sold mine last spring and regretting it every day

 

[07dragon]

i have not got to ride an 8 yet, but i want to feel its power. BUT considering all the threads about 800 trouble i would, and did, go with a 700. not all 800s are plagued, but i wanted to take the safe route so i went with the 700.

 

[snowmobile6]

a couple of clutching changes and some re gearing will help your 7 keep with most stock 8's. my 08 D7 has been flawless in its 2300 mile life. The sled is gas/oil and go. I have never had engine problems or had to be pulled out. the sled is more than enough to take my 6'1" 175lbs. frame any where i want to go and more. I would say get a 700 and if you need more get a turbo, nitrous or a big bore, but it will be more reliable than the 08-10 800s, we will have to see how the new 8s in the pros do. Good luck!

 

[mudeyes]

I had an 02 700 vertical edge I just sold and I always thought I would step up to an 800 But after reading all the posts on the site about all the problems and hearing guys say their 800's run great but they wonder if they're going to make it back home made me stick with a 700 I just picked up an 07' D7 155" and I rode it for the first time last Saturday and loved it.But It's up to you end.

 

[2XM3]

We have a 700 slp pipe and can and clutching..GREAT sled, zero engine issues pull and go as opposed to the super pain in the a$$ 800's i've worked on. My advise is a 700 or a new pro. I would NOT buy a 800, especially one that has the "UPDATE" my 700 runs equal/better than a 800 with the crappy low compression head/10 flash. Just read through all the threads and see how many 700 and 600's have any issues at all, there are pages and pages of 800's totally messed up. IMHO

 

[Hardass]

Buy a different brand. There are a bunch of sleds for sale and are going to be for sale because of so many problems (800's) Polaris should not even be in that market.

 

[petermk]

I appreciate all of the input. I have looked at other brands and after riding a Cat i would never own one. I really like the Doo but everyone i know that has owned one has broken cranks in the 800s. just my 2 cents on other brands

 

[Hardass]

Yep it's a tough choice out there. there are so many problems that the manufacturers can not fix It's like there guessing at what there doing and they expect you to fix it your self.

 

[MORSNO]

700's Rock. The only thing you are giving up is the torque of an 800 for big climbs, but for everything else they hold their own. Very few problems with the 700 engines, as always with a 2 stroke there are a few, but look how many guys who moved up to an 800 wish they would have kept their 700. One of Polaris' biggest mistakes was dropping it in my opinion.

 

[AKboondocker]

Here is a vid from a couple weeks ago where I switch between my 2010 700 RMK with SLP pipe and can(Black hood), and my buddies 2010 800 RMK with only a can (Blue Hood). You can tell the 8 makes more torque but the 700 does everything the 8 does, with more peace of mind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4OAplpoS_Q

 

[MORSNO]

Excellent comparison video AKboondocker, same rider, same day, same terrain. You can see the 800's torque advantage. Were they both 155's or was the 800 a 163? I wish you a 2010 600 with you and made a full across the board RMK comparison.

 

[AKboondocker]

Excellent comparison video AKboondocker, same rider, same day, same terrain. You can see the 800's torque advantage. Were they both 155's or was the 800 a 163? I wish you a 2010 600 with you and made a full across the board RMK comparison.

They are both 155's

Feel free to check out my other vids in there as well. Ive been riding that 700 all year and been loving it!!

 

[R44guy]

Hi I am curious what you guys think about the 08 through 10 sleds. I have been doing a lot of research and looking at used sleds. I would like to buy a sled now but i might wait until the summer at this point. I have ridden both the 7 and 8 but I cant decide what to do for sure. The 8 seemed to make superior torque over the 7. what do you guys think?[/

Peter, Your getting some rock solid info here about the comparisons but the 800 definely has more power but the 700 is certainly much more reliable engine wise that is!

I love my D8 and it now seems reliable but in the long term the jury is still out. Unless you find a D8 with some after market engine upgrades I would run to the 700. In the past if you found a D8 with a long extended warranty I would of told you to buy it if it was a decent buy but the down time kills you and the warranties don't cover rental sleds.

If would suggest you look for a 07 RMK 600 with a carls cycle big bore kit since they run real strong and are very reliable even more so then some 700's.

 

[09rmk600]

This year I wanted to step up from my rmk 600 - 144, but a 155 track is too long for the area that live in, so I was stuck with the 800. I absolutely love the power of my 800, it scares me atleast a couple of times on every ride. But if they made a 700 assault, I would have been willing to pay more for it just to have the reliability.

 

[Spankey99]

This year I wanted to step up from my rmk 600 - 144, but a 155 track is too long for the area that live in, so I was stuck with the 800. I absolutely love the power of my 800, it scares me atleast a couple of times on every ride. But if they made a 700 assault, I would have been willing to pay more for it just to have the reliability.

I agree, the thing that is funny is the recent 800's (2008-present) aren't really making "that much more power" over the 700's. The 700 does have less torque but (as alot of people above mentioned) is WWWAAAYYY more reliable compared to polaris problematic 8.

My 2c

 

[savagecanuck]

I snow checked a 09 D800 and it has been updated and only hits 8050 RPM now but otherwise runs real good.I do get a slight mid elevation bog on the way up to my usual 5500-7500' riding area.I bought my wife a demo 09 700 RMK and added a SLP pipe can combo and WRP running boards.Both sleds have easystart and are 155's.I took her 700 out for a good 65mile romp and had a great time on that sled.It did eveything my 800 could do as well as suck gas.I had a riot on it .Yes it has less torque out of the whole and I much prefer my taller Pro Taper bars but I would highly recommend the 700 before they get too hard too find .Remember 2010 was the last year of the 700 so getting a good low mileage one is going to get harder.BTW the 700 pulls 8400RPM very smoothly