Rode the 800 Dragon and XP 800 yesterday!!!

[chazzer]

Finally got to see one of these things out and about yesterday. Had about 30 minutes in the saddle of the 800 dragon, and I have an XP so I got to really compare the two sleds. Both sleds are stock 163's.

My thoughts on the dragon....

Proes

Very smooth engine
Broad power band
Great powder track

Cons

Still has that heavy front feeling
Don't like the slight upturn on the bars
Seat felt occward
Dives when turned in deep powder - low speeds
Suspension not at par with XP


When comparing the two sleds I found the dragon to be heavier feeling then the XP. The front end seemed to dive at low speeds in the deep snow. When riding it down the trail the suspension seemed to have less travel then the XP and bottom out on the bigger mogouls, but this could be in the set up.

Climbing the dragon was nice. Smooth engine and good power band. The XP's mill is not as smooth as the dragon. The XP challenger track hooks up better in the harder packed track which gives it the feeling of having the edge on power. But the dragon track plugs away nicer in fluffy stuff.

For some reason I dont like the bars on the Polaris. They have that little upturn on the grip ends of the handle bars but this could take some getting used too. Coming off a Yammie, then Cat, now a Doo, I find the bars Different, not in a good way.

Cruising through 3-4 feet of light powder, the dragon and xp pulled trough the powder like nothing. But when letting off the throttle on the dragon it seemed to want to dive in the front end, like an Apex, but not so bad. The Doo did not seem to dive in the deep.

Alot of people rode both sleds and the decisions were in a way, funny. The riders coming off bigger heavier sleds like the 900 cat or 900rmk perfered the Dragon for it's not such a dramatic rider forward change to riding the xp. But riders coming off a smaller sled like a rev, they prefered the XP's lighter feel compared to the rev and the dragon. One rider commented after riding the XP to go back to the Dragon "Do I have too? "

My opinion of the dragon is, it's a HUGE improvment over the 900 RMK but it still feels like the the 900 rmk slightly. With that said I will be sticking with my XP, for now.

Just what I thought of the two sleds

Chaz

 

[Zoomie]

Thanks for the report, I own a Rev and an XP and just out of curiousity I always wanted to ride a Dragon, either a 700 or 800. Maybe someday?

 

[Scott]

I have ridden an 07 600 155, an 05 900 159, and an 06 600 144. I've also ridden an 04 REV 151.

When I rode this REV yesterday, I felt like I was so far forward that I was standing on the skis. BUT the bars are TALL cause the owner is 6'4" or something, and I'm 5'8". Plus, he had the bars rolled forward a bit...they were very different for me to ride. I didn't like it, but that's probably because of the bars.

The new RAW chassis feels WAY different than the 05-06 chassis. TOTALLY different.
The 900 being the worst.

I can see why you'd think the Dragon feels like the 900, when you're coming from a REV, but they handle and ride nowhere NEAR each other.

 

[5STAR]

Well here is a little input from what I have found after riding these various sleds.

Dragon 800 163: I own this one and the biggest disappointment is the factory suspension calibration, no front susp adjustment, rear springs in the rear susp are to light. After saying that this sled is still the best handling sled in the snow that I have ridden, on the trail is where this sled needs help. Goes up in the steep and deep pretty well for being totally stock, side hills like no other, track seems to perform good.I think once the susp gets the propper calibration, and its not sitting half way colapsed, then the sled will sit up out of the snow and not be as restricted,


07 800 XRS DOO 159: I also own one of these, susp calibration and adjustability from factory was great, power is good, harder to side hill than the D-8, vibration wasn't noticed last year but this year compared to the D-8 the xrs is terrible, I don't know what it is about the rev stearing but I always struggled with them, every rev I have ridden seems the same in that the skis or stearing aren't balanced, they feel springy like the machine always wants to go straight ,sort of giving it a mind of its own. If you don't get what Im trying to say here take your rev out on a flat field or meadow and try turn that sled with one hand, going across the field at about 40mph, she will start to rock and bite and dive. Noticed this as well with my 04 renegade. Now if you get the chance to ride a dragon or even a older edge they won't do this they are a much better balanced sled. Not bashing here , also we did swap and try different skis as most of my rev buddys are using simmons now they don't dart as bad as some.

08 800 Xp: Dont own one but my buddy has three, belts are a bad topic at his place, two of the xps are for his kids, they don't weigh 100 lbs and after 300km, their on new belts,also they havn't been in more than a foot of snow yet this year! Over all I think after riding the xp its going to be a good sled, still can't stand the springy stearing, other than that the weight of these sled is a welcome improvement, hope next year doo has better colours. Oh almost forgot the xps are 146's

 

[pinnedunderdoo#3]

I rode a 700 dragon and wasn't all that impressed the seat felt soft and like the foam wants to roll over or something front end dived really bad it was way harder to steer then any rev i have ridden it makes clunking noises pretty bad cause the drivers got slack or something. it felt like riding a 95 summit kind of because the hood and windshield are so big. Running boards seemed quite narrow compared to competition. things that i liked was it felt like a rev in the bumps good hand warmers and not as much snow build up then most sleds. part that i dont understand is that it side hills better then a rev to me they seemed both easy but i foud that the one ski on the dragn dove into the snow more then the rev when side hilling...

 

[Benchwarmer]

Nice to see some open minded compairisons.

Thanks Guys

 

[chazzer]

Great reviews guys!!! No gum flappin' or that $hit.

5star I feel the same as you about the dragon too, but my xp has yet to have a belt failure. Mind you, i only have 250 miles but i'm 250+, with gear on and the miles aren't nice ones.

Thanks for the replies!

Chaz

 

[bigbad1000]

a friend of mine just came back from stewart, he has the 800 dragon 163. he had a chance to take the xp for a ride and felt exactly the opposite. he fount the xp very hard to carve with and side hill. he said the power was good, but it was also blowing belts left right and center. (average of 60 miles per belt)the guy who had the xp also took the dragon for a ride and was overly impressed with the handling of the dragon as opposed to his xp.

just relaying an opinion thats all.

doesnt really apply to me as im a cat fan, but all the same its nice to see some unbiased opinions.

 

[cbc24]

Its all personal preference. I think the new poli's are a a godess. them new skiddoos are incredible to. I got a 96 zr 580 and you cant even compair the new sleds to the old.

 

[Vertical Edge]

a friend of mine just came back from stewart, he has the 800 dragon 163. he had a chance to take the xp for a ride and felt exactly the opposite. he fount the xp very hard to carve with and side hill. he said the power was good, but it was also blowing belts left right and center. (average of 60 miles per belt)the guy who had the xp also took the dragon for a ride and was overly impressed with the handling of the dragon as opposed to his xp.

just relaying an opinion thats all.

doesnt really apply to me as im a cat fan, but all the same its nice to see some unbiased opinions.

Not dissing the Dragon but my 15yr old kid that weighs 105lbs can carve and sidehill my XP,maybe he needed a little more seat time on it......

 

[Slick]

Atta boy VE, someone made a comment that may be construed to be negative about the XP. Get them, tell em they're retarded, its the best sled ever, regardless of the shortcomings.. cause you have one and hate the local Poo dealer. You sir, are hilarious. I hope you have good luck with it, cause you're gonna have a stack of crow to choke down otherwise.

 

[Slick]

Oh you're gettin bit alright there cupcake, but it ain't by me.

 

[Vertical Edge]

Oh you're gettin bit alright there cupcake, but it ain't by me.

Your right,and it's frikken awesome

 

[Nate]

you know whats freakin awesome? Redskins made the playoffs

 

[Vertical Edge]

you know whats freakin awesome? Redskins made the playoffs

Hope the Boys get a shot at them with all their guns!

 

[Vern]

i ride with 2 guys that have new poos, ones an 07 dragon and ones an 08 700 rmk both 155s and both have ez-ryde rear susp and zbros front susp. which i know will be different than comparing stock for stock like most of you are saying, but hey it should be better right? anywho i took the 08 for a ride and i dont think i liked it, on the trail it felt ok when i was sitting down but personally i think the seat is way to tall for my liking when i tried to through it around while i was standing up it felt like it was in the way. it wasnt to hard to get pulled over on its side in the deep but it was hard for me to keep it on its side, it felt like it was trying to pull itself upright and i had to fight it pretty hard to keep it pulled over when cutting and such. they also didnt seem to climb as good as the couple m's we have in our group in the bottomless fluff we had. i think they are good sleds overall, and ive been a poo man all my life, but i dont think i'll give up my M just yet. thats just my opinon.

oh and on the xp, i havent rode one yet, and i havent seen to many of them, but i can honestly say the only ones ive seen were either runnin up and down the hard pack or being towed back to the parking lot. so nothing to really compare to with them other than they're pretty quick on the hard pack

 

[Vertical Edge]

Atta boy VE, someone made a comment that may be construed to be negative about the XP. Get them, tell em they're retarded, its the best sled ever, regardless of the shortcomings.. cause you have one and hate the local Poo dealer. You sir, are hilarious. I hope you have good luck with it, cause you're gonna have a stack of crow to choke down otherwise.

Slick,I'm sorry..................with your vast knowledge I leave this topick to you as I'm not worthy to discuss snowmobiling with an expert like you.It is refreshing that with 20,000 people on here you have selected me to follow around and rip on my posts.Even with a Dragon and 4 Xp's in the trailer I understand how this would not meet your standards of having an opinion along with the other 20,000 folks on here.Thank you for setting me straight buddy,you bring so much to the forum and we would all be lost without your expertise to enlighten us!

 

[Slick]

Don't flatter yourself there superstar, I ain't following you around. All 20,000of us get to read your rah rah rah , best sled no matter how bad out of the box, whats a few popped motors, can do no wrong ,ranting.
PS....... I think its a decent sled.

 

[trinitypowder]

This ones for SLICK...................My XP is the greatest sled in the world. It will kill a Dragon. Not even close. I won't even mention Yamaha and Arctic Cat; it's not fair to compare them to the mighty XP. Ski Doo's rule. Plain and simple. I even have Ski Doo underwear and one of my daughters fishes is called DOO. How's that SLICK? BTW, my XP has 154 miles on the same belt. It is however, in the shop getting the S-module replaced! I got your back VE

 

[Chubbydog]

This ones for SLICK...................My XP is the greatest sled in the world. It will kill a Dragon. Not even close. I won't even mention Yamaha and Arctic Cat; it's not fair to compare them to the mighty XP. Ski Doo's rule. Plain and simple. I even have Ski Doo underwear and one of my daughters fishes is called DOO. How's that SLICK? BTW, my XP has 154 miles on the same belt. It is however, in the shop getting the S-module replaced! I got your back VE

LMFAO! You really have a fish named doo?