3 inch sucks the track speed down horribly. They also need to be geared low so there's very little overrev with short gears, There is not enough HP to spin a 3 inch with authority , Even Pros on Turbo sleds prefer and lug shorter than 3 inch. Those who have one will tell you how bad ass it is, even the 2.6 tracks start to kill track speeds , The 2.5 square edge is the sweet spot IMO and it needs to have enough flex to maintain track speeds. stiff tracks suck power down as well and excavate the snow under skid causing trenching. I have also run a prototype 3 inch 4 years ago with same results. I have many tracks in shop and for powder the 2020/21 Yeti 2.5 was the best balance however i prefer a square edge. The CMX track is stiff and heavier by 4 lbs and also pulls down track speed , old Yeti 2.5 tracks were so soft they just spin , track length also plays a factor in maintaining track speed.. The 3 inch is the best track for poking around in the deep where bike speed is slower. so there is no smoking gun as conditions change . For slower riders the 3 inch can have an advantage where a fast rider will make a 2.5 fast track speeds float and be far more fun and fast . on same kit we tested maxtrac 1 and 2, CMX, T sled ,new yeti 2.5 and two new yeti 2.6 tracks which one was soft and one stiffer. the best overall was the 2021 2.5, the 3 inch works best on a 500 which has far less RPM than a 450 so its more of a traction type setup not high track speeds.
