I know this is an atv site but I need help choosing a sled. I'm mostly going to trail ride and I want alot of power.I am leaning towards a Ski-doo MXZ 800 or that Yamaha SRX 700 or Viper.I want to order it by April 15 so I can have a limited sled. Please I need some help. If I can compare to a atv, I have a 440ex built to the max, and would like a sled in the same catigory and perspective of the honda. Thanks for any help.

 

yeah, either the srx or a mountian max would do. A friend has a old 4 cylinder mountian max 800 and it easly breaks 100MPH on the trail

 

Go with the Arctic Cat 800. Their front suspension can't be beat, the motor makes gobs of power, and for 2002 they have a new Smart-Ride rear suspension on the ZL model which should be just the ticket for trail riding.

 

That's one good topic!! Not perfectly atv related, but I'll go with my .02 about sleds.

Skidoo...mmmmh. Although I'm from Quebec and live 2 hours away from the skidoo home (Valcourt), I don't recomend them. Why you'll ask? I have a 440 MXZx. The engineering is quite poor (when time comes to take the engine out of the "frame", you'll understand what I mean...bolts that don't come out unless you take out what's in front...etc). This is what I have seen with my sled. Now from what I read in the mags (which BTW seem to be less biased than DW). The ZX chassis is weird, with a unprecise front and very stiff rear suspension...The 800cc engine is brand new and supposedly very good. The Rotax engine have the reputation of being very tough, and they are. All the repairs I had to do to my sled were because of a stupid jerk who ruined my sled against a tree (now the sled's repaired).
Arctic Cat: I won't get one. A friend has got a ZR 700, and he keeps breaking stuff...and other people I know are always in for top end rebuild (especially the earlier models).
Polaris: Can't find anything real wrong...except that it doesn't look that sporty...I almost changed my 440MXZx for a 600Edge ProX
Yamaha: japan biult. Not a wonder of technology, but very very very reliable. My dad has a VMax4 750 (4 cyl, 2 stroke, 750cc) -it does blast the 100mph mark- and this thing always runs without a doubt. The SRX...I wouldn't get it if the trails are a little bumpy. The rear suspension is now outdated, especially in travel (8" only...I think). The Viper would be one very good excellent choice. If you happen to get a VMax4, get into some shoulder muscle build up, and get a turbo (240hp...).

Don't get the Mountain models (Summit, Powder Special, RMK(?), Mountain Max). The ski stance is 5" narrower than std trail machines, and you feel it a lot. If you want to do some powder and trail, get a Skidoo Renegade 800 (mountain track, and trail ski stance).

My choice? I love cross country (I have actally been more off trail than on), and I would get a lightweight yet powerful machine (MXZ, Renegade, Polaris XCsp or Edge). If you go mainly on trails, The Viper is the way to go!

Have you thought about a SnowHawk or a Redline?

It's real hard to fit everything in one reply, so if you have questions, I'll be glad to help.

PS: for all the Arctic Cat owners, if your machine is green and runs great, that's very good...keep in mind this is my personal experience, not a supposedly reality.

 

If you want raw power, get a VMax4.
Have you looked at the so called power machines? Polaris 800XCR, Arctic Cat 1000 Thundercat (170hp out of the box) and 800ZRT, Skidoo MachZ). They are real speed monsters...some guys can do 600miles in 1 day with these!!
But none of these is as impressive as the VMax4. They probably handle better.

 

My friend just bought a Polari 440 Sno Pro XCF or XFC, something like that. Man that thing is sweet!! Rides great and has good power(around here, we dont have tons of wide open places so the lower cc's do just fine).
But I would definately look into the Polaris Sno Pro models, i believe you can get them up to 700-800cc's .

Also, one thing I forgot to mention is that his is an Edge series..

 

Ski-doo is alot better than yamaha.

 

I got a 1977 arctic cat 440 you can buy off me. Engine still runs really strong. Some drive bearings are all messed up at the moment, but it runs nice (when it does!)

 

My advice to you is to check out the mfg.'s websites, look at specs, then go to the people who ride. Best place to start would be something like www.snowmobilenews.com, just hop on the Message Board over there (NOT the trash board, the Snowmobile News Message Board) and ask them, I'm sure they'll give you a good answer. After you've done that, go try out the sleds that have been suggested to you. Its all personal preference, so you never know what you're really gonna want until you try them out.

 

MXZ800 Adrenaline! No offence to the guy who suggested the V-Max 4, but these are quite outdated, and by far from the fastest. If you go to a grass drag you would notice that nothing comes close to the well tuned Mach Z's, weather its stock , improved stock or pro stock. I actually like the new yamaha's, the Srx 700 is very fast. Yamaha also has the highest build quality in the industry, with Ski-Doo right behind them. Polaris sleds are getting much better, but it will take more than a few years to forget the junk(read Storm) they turned out a few years ago. Arctic Cat has some great features ie. the a-arm front suspension. But IMO they suffer from the worst build quality in the industry. Bottom line, both sleds you mentioned are different, but both are at the top of their class. If you want a twin get the MXZ800, if you want a light triple get the SRX700.One other note, a 700 triple is faster than an 800 twin, and burns less fuel and oil.