My Thoughts on the New Polaris

[JSun]

I just had the pleasure of spending a week in Island Park with some good buddies from Minnesota. The snow wasn't great but it wasn't bad either. About a foot of fresh snow on top of a good base. About 20 minutes into the ride on the first day my 2007 Summit finally blew, so I was forced to rent a sled for the remainder of the trip. I wanted to either rent a 800 Etec or the new Polaris, as everyone I ride with rides an M Series. The Ski-Doo dealership in West Yellowstone was out of Etecs so a new RMK 800 155 it was.

Before I go into any details let me say this, I have been anti-Polaris since the day I was born, but I was excited to see if all the hype this sled has been getting was deserved.

The first thing I noticed was how much this sled felt like my REV, except way lighter. It was very easy to carve and sidehill with, and I noticed how I was able to turn it sharper without it washing out on me when compared to the M Series. The power was great, this sled pulled hard all the way through. The motor felt more like the Cat 800 than the Ski-Doo as it revved very quickly. It seemed to carry more speed up the hill than the M8 though. The suspension was very good on the trails and I really liked the running boards when compared to the M8 as they carried less snow and ice for me while riding. The track also worked very well, although if it were me I'd put a Powerclaw on this sled. After 4 days on this sled I was sold, I would buy this sled in a heartbeat. Polaris did a great job on this sled. However.....

I spent the last day of the trip on my dad's 2010 M8 162 SP. The M chassis is still easier to lay over in the snow and although the M8 carried less speed up the hill, it just kept going. The trail ride isn't even close, as the Polaris is far-superior in that category, but the M series is still very competitive, if not the leader, when it comes to off-trail performance.

In the end, the Polaris deserves every bit of credit it gets because it is an incredible machine. It absolutely has pushed the envelope for all-around mountain sled performance. It is almost as good as the M off trail and far superior in every other category. Congratulations to Polaris on a great machine.

Problem for them is 2012 will see Cat back on top.....

Oh, and just happened to have this guy pull up next to me on the hill on Wednesday.....

 

[Trashy]

Great post!

Did you show Bret a thing or two while you had the chance?

 

[FJTORT2]

haha good story! How many miles on the 800r when it blew?

 

[mnescape]

Good review....thanks!

Wondering if you rented the PRO 800 or just the standard 800 RMK?

 

[SSWIM]

Nice post. Even though I find it the opposite regarding the ease of laying the sleds over. I have a 2010 M8 Snopro 162", OVS RG TM8 and an OVS TM1200. My Pro, in my 02 anyway, is easier to ride in every area.

Again, nice post. Objective and well put.

Sam

 

[Tree Boss]

They don't come any better then ole Rasmussen!! Great post

 

[JSun]

It was the standard RMK, couldn't find any PROs. I could be wrong but the only difference is the shocks, handlebars and about 5 lbs??

Almost 2400 miles on the 800R when it finally blew.

Didn't have the opportunity to show Bret any of my "skills" Did he ever look smooth when he rode away though, did a nice little downhill U-turn and disappeared into the trees....

 

[m8sandman]

i bought one and held on to my highly modded M just in case. bled green for 15 years and absolutely loved my M. rode the pro once and had no problems selling the cat. the only thing the cat did better was start on the first pull, the pro is a class above everywhere else...


2400 miles on a 07??? heck we do that in one season!!!

 

[Leaf27]

2400 miles on a 07??? heck we do that in one season!!!

With no ski's too......

 

[JSun]

I don't really ride at all around MN where I live so most of those miles were put on in IP.

m8sandman, as impressive as the Polaris is, you are going to wish you were on a 2012 Cat after you see what they are going to do out on the snow.....

 

[high time]

Didn't you also say,,,

The Polaris was on it's second engine? That counts for a lot to me.

Your Doo beat that.

Thanks for the review. Ya did good. I'm sure glad everyone made it out of the mountains without much injury. I'll be there next year on a '12 Cat.

Owen

 

[snowmobiler]

all 3 brand 2012s are 15k

 

[ndC7M8]

I was always anti polaris til the last couple years and now this year Im on a new RMK. great decision. yet another great sounding honest ride report on this new machine. I love mine, but I havent ridden a cat newer than '09, so they may tempt me back some day

 

[Deleted Account]

Let's think of that comparison a little more though: there are FIVE model years between that '07 DOO and the '11 POO.

To compare the new '11 sleds with that '07 is quite the stretch, both in ride quality and technology/design/engineering. Compare with an '11 Summit because just like sportbikes, cars, trucks, electronics and other things, a lot has changed over those 5 model years.

 

[Snappy Sledder]

Let's think of that comparison a little more though: there are FIVE model years between that '07 DOO and the '11 POO.

To compare the new '11 sleds with that '07 is quite the stretch, both in ride quality and technology/design/engineering. Compare with an '11 Summit because just like sportbikes, cars, trucks, electronics and other things, a lot has changed over those 5 model years.

But he also compared it to M8's (not a specific year) and a 2010 M8 SP

 

[Slick]

Let's think of that comparison a little more though: there are FIVE model years between that '07 DOO and the '11 POO.

To compare the new '11 sleds with that '07 is quite the stretch, both in ride quality and technology/design/engineering. Compare with an '11 Summit because just like sportbikes, cars, trucks, electronics and other things, a lot has changed over those 5 model years.

got a dog in this fight do ya brian ? Seem pretty touchy about him liking the Poo. What gives.

 

[JSun]

Let's think of that comparison a little more though: there are FIVE model years between that '07 DOO and the '11 POO.

To compare the new '11 sleds with that '07 is quite the stretch, both in ride quality and technology/design/engineering. Compare with an '11 Summit because just like sportbikes, cars, trucks, electronics and other things, a lot has changed over those 5 model years.

I didn't have an '11 in our group and I only saw 1 '11 ETEC on the mountain.
IMO the 2010 M8 was the best mountain sled available anyway, so I based my comparison off that. Never been a fan of saying that something was better than the 3rd best in anything.... What would that prove??

I would have loved to spend some time on an '11 XP with the ETEC, because to be quite honest, the reason I still have my REV is because I haven't been impressed with the XP and I have heard better things about the '11's as far as handling and power. I will also throw this out there - if I remember correctly, last year the XP was 9 lbs lighter than the M8 based on actual production sleds, and the RMK was something like 15 - 20 lbs heavier than the XP. So with those numbers and the new ETEC motor, the RMK is now the lightest and the XP is now the heaviest snowmobile in the class.

Again, back to the point of this thread, IMO the Polaris is the BEST overall mountain sled available this year. If the new Cats fall short of my expectations for 2012, I will be on a Polaris next year. Plus, it will keep a little diversity in our group... We don't want everyone on Cats....

Joe

 

[2XM3]

Yeah right now the pro is the mountain sled to have. Its bigest factor tho is that it will really push the other makes into really updating there product chassis wise if they want to sell any sleds at all. Cat 800 in a pro chassis....damn that would be a sled !! lol

 

[high time]

Good grief, by reading this thred you'd think that Poo has been building good sleds..

for years. They will milk a good design so long they need to make a huge effort to catch up every ten years or so. Yeah, they are making a good sled now. It's about time. They will get caught up to shortly and then left behind just like always. Thank gad they finally got A-arms.

Owen

 

[supersprocket]

ya know alot of people out there still dont know how good the 11 e-tec is.I put 422 miles on one this year and cant believe the things i was doing on it(for a doo).It seemed like the deeper it got the better it did,I got to a deep hillclimb with a bunch of dudes riding different machines,including the 11 pro rmk 800 155 and i was on the 11 800 e-tec 154 and i out did the pro.This hill was not hard at all just the last 100 feet got steep and deep and it seperated the machines,not riders.I have to say that pro out did the cat but it did not out do the doo.I feel the hype on the pro rmk is right about agility flickability and tree riding,but the new doo has been over looked.The 11 800 e-tec has been completely changed too.So you get the flickability,agility,sidehilling and the climbing with the e-tec its the bomb.The only downfall is the reliability,that is y i dont have one they like to blow up.So i think i am going to try the cat for now.If i could afford a new polaris that would be the machine i would get,just to compare back to back to the doo to see if they reallypicked the right mountian machine of the year.