I just installed 26" Titan 589 MT's on the beast (awesome bite in the goo!!). Problem is I noticed quite a bit of power loss due to the increased weight of the tires from stock. Anyone seen air filters or pipes out yet for Arctic Cats? I looked around and all I found was a jet kit from K&N. Will that get me some power back? Can't believe companies haven't tried to cash in on all us AC owners wanting to get more juice out of the motors! Only thing I can think to do is to open the wallet wide and get 4 aluminum billet wheels to reduce the weight. Any suggestions??

 

I think both white bros and supertrap both make a pipe AC. This along with the filter either K&N or UNI ought to give you a good boost in power. You may also need to rejet. You can also go for the aluminum rims. It is worth the extra money for the reinforced rims, unless you get the new rims with the rolled edges. otherwise get the reinforcing rings on both sides.

 

A Rubicon has the power to turn them.

 

Too bad it will only turn one at a time.

 

Go to High Lifter.com and check out their online catalog. They have a performance package that they sell for your Cat. They claim up to a 20% gain in power. If that's not enough for you take it to bore your motor out and have the heads ported and polished by a professional.

 

braveheart98,

Thanks for the link. I checked it out. Everything looks exactly like what I need, except the pipe is a racing pipe and not a quiet series pipe. I think I'll wait until I find a pipe that is quiet. The next thing I buy from them has to be a lift kit. It did answer my question of whether I can find a K&N filter. They must make one separate if it comes in a kit. Did you notice a difference in power when you switched to aluminum rims? I think for now, I'll go with the aluminum rims and a K&N filter.

Anyone know for sure whether I'd have to re-jet after adding a K&N filter?

 

You can buy the racing pipe and change out the core to the quiet series. Internally they are all the same. I looked into it for my 500 manual cat.

Dakota R/T

 

I'm running ITP chrome & black steel wheels even if I was running aluminum I don't have anything to compare them to. I order my wheeler set up they way I wanted it. Right away I ordered all the goodies on it.

You might have to re-jet your carb after installing the K&N filter but the best way to tell is install it and keep a eye on your spark plug. Put a new one in or just clean off the one your running now. go for a ride and check the color. If it's black it's to rich. If it's white it's to lean. If it's tan it's running pretty good. Also remember to run a pre filter with that K&N. The filter will let more air in, but it will also let in more dirt partials. The pre filter will help lesson the chance of getting foreign matter into your motor but yet still giving you the air flow that you want.

High Lifter also has a real informative ATV forum that might be able to answer some of your tech questions. Or come up with some alternatives in boosting your HP.

 

I had the K&N on my 00. I did not rejet(riding 0-3000 ft)with no problems and did not notice a difference in power.. Bill

 

Do you happen to know how much your new 589 M/T's weigh each? How wide are they? I'm running 27" Bi/Tri Claws on my 'Cat, you can notice a slight power loss going up hills in high range, but in low range, no difference at all. I'm still towing and hauling/working just the same as I used to before the tire change, only I'm able to get into and out of more places easier now. Just curious how heavy those things really are.

As for the wheel swap, unless you really want to spend that much money, I'd probably not even bother with the wheel swap. You might ask Boner about that, but I really doubt you'll notice that much increase in performance by simply changing rims. Oh, I think Andy may have gone with the aluminum rims as well, he could probably tell you. To date, I don't think he has any performance mods either, such as the pipe or jet kit you're thinking about.

I can't remember for sure exactly, but I was pretty worried about the extra weight myself, and seriously considered switching to aluminum rims when I bought the 'Claws. My dealer and I looked into the actual weights of the stock AC wheels, they weren't that much more than the aluminums-hard to believe, but they were pretty close.

And, in all honesty, I don't think it's the weight that's making the difference. I'd be willing to bet the power loss you're noticing is due to the heigth instead. The 'Cat is geared in the differentials for the stock 25" tires. When you increase to a 26", or the 27" in my case, you're asking the smaller gears to do the job that ordinarily a taller gear would do, thus giving the effect of the power loss. Just like in pickups, when you lift the truck, run 35" or 38" tires underneath instead of the stock 31", you'll have to change the gearing from the 3.07's, to something more around a 3.73 or even 4.10's-maybe lower, depending on your specfic application.

I think you'll notice the best gains from the pipe, jetkit and filter. I believe MikeSlaby had this exact setup, which seemed to work pretty well if I remember right. Another trick you might do is talk to Niteowl or BadCat about their "muffler mod". I think it was those guys who did the trick, but it's been so long I can't remember. Anyway, if you remove the last 3" or so from your stock muffler, then weld the end cap back on, and stick about a 1"-1 1/4" exhaust port in it, you will get substantial gains in your low to mid range, with I think they said about a 5 mph top speed increase. Boner might remember for sure, I haven't seen those guys in a while, hopefully he'll know. From what they were saying, it wasn't that much louder either.

Anyway, hope that gives you a couple cheaper alternatives if you really didn't want to spend the cash on new wheels. Best of luck with whatever you come up with, let me know what you try and what works, I'm still considering a muffler mod/swap myself.

Mike