My underpowered Polaris 800

500efisks

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On paper it seems the Polaris 800 engine has been the lowest Hp engine for some time now. When comparing to Cat and Doo 800 SDI engines (same class) that is.

Today I went riding with some friends and of the 800 cc engines there were 2 Renegades, 1 MXZ, 1 Dragon switchback, and 1 Crossfire and me. All these sleds except mine are 121 and 136" tracks with trail lugs.

We had a little fun and ran a number of drag races in a field that was consistantly very firm so no one was subject to loose snow anywhere. The drags were about 1/4 mile long. The outcome was unexpected by me. All sleds had virtually the same top end speed except the Dragon SBA that fell a sled length or 2 behind at the finish line. Whoever got the best start seemed to win the race. I won the final race on my underpowered Polaris. How can this be????

My sled is a 2012 SBA with a 2" x 144" long track set up for deep snow and geared the lowest of the bunch. My track does not hook up well on these snow conditions and would take at least 200' before it hooked up. How on earth could this sled beat or even come close to the Crossfire or MXZ? How does a underpowerd Polaris 800 with a track disadvantage and lower geared not take a back seat in a 1/4 mile drag to these supposedly faster more hp sleds? I sure don't have the answer. Better drive train maybe, or maybe it was the new wrap that gave it reduced wind resistance.::rolleyes:
May be underpower but it sure is not an underperformer.

The intent of this thread is not to undermine what others ride so no need for negative responses. Enjoy what you ride and I will enjoy my supposably underpowered Poo. :d
 
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duck

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On paper it seems the Polaris 800 engine has been the lowest Hp engine for some time now. When comparing to Cat and Doo 800 SDI engines (same class) that is.

Today I went riding with some friends and of the 800 cc engines there were 2 Renegades, 1 MXZ, 1 Dragon switchback, and 1 Crossfire and me. All these sleds except mine are 121 and 136" tracks with trail lugs.

We had a little fun and ran a number of drag races in a field that was consistantly very firm so no one was subject to loose snow anywhere. The drags were about 1/4 mile long. The outcome was unexpected by me. All sleds had virtually the same top end speed except the Dragon SBA that fell a sled length or 2 behind at the finish line. Whoever got the best start seemed to win the race. I won the final race on my underpowered Polaris. How can this be????

My sled is a 2012 SBA with a 2" x 144" long track set up for deep snow and geared the lowest of the bunch. My track does not hook up well on these snow conditions and would take at least 200' before it hooked up. How on earth could this sled beat or even come close to the Crossfire or MXZ? How does a underpowerd Polaris 800 with a track disadvantage and lower geared not take a back seat in a 1/4 mile drag to these supposedly faster more hp sleds? I sure don't have the answer. Better drive train maybe, or maybe it was the new wrap that gave it reduced wind resistance.::rolleyes:
May be underpower but it sure is not an underperformer.

The intent of this thread is not to undermine what others ride so no need for negative responses. Enjoy what you ride and I will enjoy my supposably underpowered Poo. :d

As long as your happy, thats all that matters......LOL
 

LennyR

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Loving the new xm's, work great in the meadows and small humps, but man Doo's gonna have to do something with that skid to keep it from wheeling and trenching on anything steep. You can suck the front end down helps a bit but then the steering gets super heavy, seems impossible to find the balance point. Easy enough to adjust but Would suck to have to stop and adjust suspension after every hill. The whole skis around your ears thing is ok for the newbies and parking lot heroes but that gets pretty tired when you get to the fun hills with good snow. What an improvement tho in handling and fun factor over the XP, good on Doo for moving forward in the mountain sled segment.
 

MATTIAC

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in the drag racing world the most hp doesn't win all the races, suspension set up, timing, rider weight location all are key factors when running a drag race. that being said all those factors play a key roll in mountain climbing. if you want to compare drag racing, i have lined up against a modded 2011 pro 800 with my 2011 summit only with a clutch kit and my doo beat the pro in every run, even when we swapped sleds.
 

LennyR

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in the drag racing world the most hp doesn't win all the races, suspension set up, timing, rider weight location all are key factors when running a drag race. that being said all those factors play a key roll in mountain climbing. if you want to compare drag racing, i have lined up against a modded 2011 pro 800 with my 2011 summit only with a clutch kit and my doo beat the pro in every run, even when we swapped sleds.

That was 2011, we saw the same thing, But so far this year it ain't the same. Now I sure as hell didn't buy a mountain specific Doo or Poo to go drag racing but so far this year Poo is doin ok in the races we're seein.
 

LennyR

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in the drag racing world the most hp doesn't win all the races, suspension set up, timing, rider weight location all are key factors when running a drag race. that being said all those factors play a key roll in mountain climbing. if you want to compare drag racing, i have lined up against a modded 2011 pro 800 with my 2011 summit only with a clutch kit and my doo beat the pro in every run, even when we swapped sleds.


You know I read these , I beat the Cat and I beat the Doo whatever, and it never impresses me cause we've all seen 600 s beat up on 800 s . The problem I have with your post is yippee, your sled whipped a competitors same size sled, great but maybe the guy with that sled is inept or was trying a new setup, or maybe you're just an amazing tuner with super skills, but to make a post like yours and give the obvious suggestion that Doo will always beat cat or Poo cause your did, is just silly, and seems very self serving. JMO.
 

MATTIAC

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You know I read these , I beat the Cat and I beat the Doo whatever, and it never impresses me cause we've all seen 600 s beat up on 800 s . The problem I have with your post is yippee, your sled whipped a competitors same size sled, great but maybe the guy with that sled is inept or was trying a new setup, or maybe you're just an amazing tuner with super skills, but to make a post like yours and give the obvious suggestion that Doo will always beat cat or Poo cause your did, is just silly, and seems very self serving. JMO.


my point i was making was the first half of my post, my own story was just a "well i have a drag racing story too"
 

Summiteer

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Just imagine what it would do if it DID have the power of the other 800 class sleds. I've never heard a sledder say "Ya, I dont want another 8 or 10 horsepower, just don't need it."
 
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Walleyehunter

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I don't care about drag racing, I'm a mountain rider. My brother in law(who knows nothing about sledding)often asks "how fast does that thing go?". I tell him I really don't care how fast it goes, its not made for speed it's for climbing mountains. How fast does a '12 summit 163 go? 70? 80? 90mph?
 

Timber_Tramp

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in the drag racing world the most hp doesn't win all the races, suspension set up, timing, rider weight location all are key factors when running a drag race. that being said all those factors play a key roll in mountain climbing. if you want to compare drag racing, i have lined up against a modded 2011 pro 800 with my 2011 summit only with a clutch kit and my doo beat the pro in every run, even when we swapped sleds.

That will change this year :D
 

tantrumpipeline

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I don't care about drag racing, I'm a mountain rider. My brother in law(who knows nothing about sledding)often asks "how fast does that thing go?". I tell him I really don't care how fast it goes, its not made for speed it's for climbing mountains. How fast does a '12 summit 163 go? 70? 80? 90mph?
lol I love being asked that, my old triple would do 130mph what's the top speed of those m8's lol I don't know either 103kmh is the most I've seen and when I'm climbing its all about rpm to see if my clutching is good maybe I don't care or need a gauge lifter, when we drag the lake it's for a laugh on our way to the hills and the results are always good for some lip but never the same, other than the turbo whoops the rest of us every time :)
 
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