I heard from someone at the dealer that my Cat has a Suzuki motor in it. Is this true? Does Artic Cat not build their own engines? I was just curious about this, I know some other brands use a name brand motor when they first start out, such as some of the cheap Pep Boys Quads. I love my 250 though, it's a strong damn motor to be just a 250.

 

The only engine Arctic Cat builds for their ATV is the 650 H1. The rest are Suzuki motors except for the 650 V2 which was a Kawasaki engine. Now that Arctic Cat has their own engine plant, this situation should start changing. But the reason for the Suzuki motors is that Suzuki owns 40% of AC.

 

Well that's neat, should lower reliabilty issues for a newer brand then. Are the Artic Cat's American made machines or are they Japanese like the rest? I always thought Artic Cat was an American company.

 

arctic cats are built in minnesota. a new st. cloud, Mn. facility just opened this month. they just have suzuki/kawasaki motors. its been said they will have more of there own engines within the next few years. possibly this year. arctic cat is beginning to be a top seller around here.

 

Good, I love my little 250 so here in another year or so I plan on buying a 500 or 650cc machine to have a little more power and 4 wheel drive. These AC's are built tough, this frame and suspension amazes me on my 01 with the IRS.

 

Unfortunately AC choose to drop the 250 and 300 model with the IRS and went with a Kymco built solid rear axle setup a couple of years ago. The newer 250s and 300s are just not near the machine the older 250 and 300s were.

 

I wonder why they did that? I saw a 07 model at the dealer yesterday, the 250, and it looked like a 125cc 4 wheeler. It was tiny, I can't figure out why they would go from a IRS, large frame set-up to that small one. If you stuck my 01 up next to a Honda Recon 350 they would look the same size. I love my AC though, the way it rides and how good the suspension flexes across ditches and rocks is unreal. The only thing I don't like about my 01 is the way the motor sits back in the frame, it just looks funny, but it's balanced out good because the front end stays down going up steep hills.