New Pro against Etec

[jbb]

hello bobby..........

 

[Assaultdude09]

everyone knows deep down inside that the pro can out climb the e-tech.......woooo loves it

 

[Teth-Air]

Had much riding time now to compare both sleds. Firstly the E-Tec is more powerful and hooks up better in harder or wetter snow. That said the Pro's jump up onto the snow better when its bottomless dry and light powder (it's the track and weight). As far as side hilling the Pro does it better but the E-Tec is much smoother (motor), easier throttle, better on fuel and oil and rides the bumps like a cadillac compared to the Pro. The Pro has a better clutch too but the side panel closures suck along with the rear bumper and snow flap.

The Pro's skis are slightly better, both run too hot compared to older models, the Pro's running boards are better for side hilling but worse for anything else.

Now you know, what features are more important to you? This will be the better sled.

The only thing that is surprising is that the H.P. is so less important than first thought. (or at least till spring riding when the long pulls are done)

 

[maxwell]

im suprised you like the series 4 track.....little more lug height but still narrower and a poor design compared to the camo.

 

[rmk800]

i just read in snowtech magazine that they dynoed the 800 at 152 hp and 100+ ft/lbs of torque.

 

[Teth-Air]

im suprised you like the series 4 track.....little more lug height but still narrower and a poor design compared to the camo.

I never thought much of this track until I watched how it works ion soft powder. It flexes and packs the snow down rather than throwing it out the back. It also robs very little hp because it is soft and bends around the drivers and wheel easily. Now for the bad, it does not hook up in hardpack and downhill is like a crazy carpet compared to the challanger.

 

[jaredszakacs]

only way to test is a side by side comparison I love my etec and really like that new poo I'm curious as well to wich would win and curious to see if poo's motor is gonna hold in there. anyone had the chance to compare yet I'm gonna try this weekend and compare in fernie at there club ride few guys got some new pro's may get some seat time on the new pro see how it feels

 

[H2O]

The PROs track is a 5.1 series 2.4" lug single ply.

This is a better track than a lot of people think....... However I do think the Camo Ext.
is a all round better track in most snow conditions.

I believe the e-tech is a great machine..... the thing that holds them back is the clutching and their track.

 

[rmr1964]

the boys from fernie would be happy to ride with you this weekend. thanks guys for your new comments but just a few things. ive found that our pros are hardly going through any oil at all (scary) . ive got 4 rides in and it only took about 2 / 3rds of a litre with approx 225 miles. i cant see the etec being much better.as far as fuel i get about 85 miles per tank. with a little clutching ive made about 50-55 mph track speed uphill with soft snow.

 

[shiftycliffy]

I agree, the oil consumption is next to none! I only have around 300 miles on mine but compared to my 09, It would have been on my secound motor for sure especially on the flat land. Im very happy with my pro.

 

[recguy]

10 days in the hills 550 miles on my pro and works very good especially in deep powder. Rode with a new 154 e-tec and a 2010 m8 162 and a 2011 m8 162. In the deep powder i could outclimb all of them in a straight pull up the hill. If the snow is set up pretty good they are all very close in climbing. The friggin e-tecs are amazing on fuel i must say. My pro and the two m8 cats were very close in fuel. Honestly i would be happy with all these sleds. Polaris you finally have redeemed yourself. enjoy the riding all.

 

[Rob1334]

OK, after finally putting on close to 600 miles on both sleds, both being broke in, and both riders comfortable on the chassis', here is my assessment.


Stock 800 etec with a frogskinz vent kit and quick clickers, ice scratchers, added estart, cut the tail flap down due to it packing up and holding snow, and pulled the sway bar. Skis are set to middle setting and using factory setup as far as rear skid setup for rider weight.

-Sled has great power especially after break in. Feels a lot like the ptek with just a bit more snort as far as power band and feel. Most impressed with fuel usage and oil consumption, consistantly gets 1-2 gallons better than other sleds in the group. Not rode as hard consistantly but can tell its much better. Cluutching is still yet to be desired on these sleds out of the box, you can tell a lot left on the table.

-Still had a lot of issues getting it to turn over. Pulled the sway on the sled and have messed with the suspension a little but best was back to factory setup for driver weight. Gonna try the narrower setting on the skis next, and also gonna see if an inner wheel kit will help the sled lay over on the 16" easier. Remind you this is the plan coming from someone who has riden XP chassis since they were new.

-Track is better than previous, it seems to float much better than the '10 model we rode with.




Other sled is a 2011 RMK. Bought the RMK baseline to save the extra coin to upgrade to a better suspension in the end for the price. Sled has WE piggyback shocks with dual rate springs and fox float evol rear with the fox zero pro front shock. A couple gear bags and handguards, low pro windshield, and thats all.

-power is very impressive on this sled, the torque band from low to mid is very good and top end falling flat. Possible fix with some clutching/helix change?? Overall does not feel like 147 especially if same dyno thinks the etec was 165, they are a lot closer in power. Also clutching is really good on the sled, runs HOT but is pretty accurate, gonna try some new stuff to get temps down before vents....

-suspension/handling goes where you think it should go. You barely lean and it just does it, it recovers a lot better than dragon models, and is much more nimble. Does feel a lot like the dragon but does it all better. LOVE the upgraded suspension on it, TONS of adjustability and once figuring the setup out, runs great!!! (front shocks at middle setting for spring/clicker at 9, rear zero pro set a little stiffer than half, and rear running 8 clicks rebound, 165/and 140 for shock pressure)









OK, so both sleds have almost identical amounts of money put into them, so would be a good comparison for what ya get for the price.

Racing uphill, the pro pulls the skidoo from early on but the skidoo stays consistantly right behind the pro, same climbing speeds but the pro holds the track speed longer climbing. These were not real long pulls but steeper pulls at maybe 100-200 yds. Riding both it felt like the XP was working harder on the snow, like the track wasn't performing quite right, the pro got up on top faster and hooked up faster, over and over, and that was biggest deciding factor.

Next race was a couple weeks back finding an open lake. I will throw this one out as there was never a consistant winner, out of 4 attempts they were split wins but neither could hook up well enough, have not raced anywhere else flat to see.


Overall both great sleds out of the box, if you are an xp rider you will be happy with the new BRP changes, and as a polaris rider you will be EXTREMELY happy with the polaris changes. Both sleds make the rider feel more comfortable performing throughout the day, and are noticebale changes enough that we are happy with new sled purchases.


Is one light years beyond the other? No, but I do think if the Polaris holds together performing like it has so far they really made the biggest leap in design from last year moving forward.

 

[rmr1964]

thanks for that informative thread. just one thing you commented on is the falling flat on topend.ive noticed that on mine so i imediatley went in to the primary and added weight.i ride at about 5000-7500 ft and the sled came with 62g weights.it was constantly hitting 83-8500 rpm so i took a stab at trying 66grams.my result was bang on.i gained 15 mph track speed at 8100 rpm and it pulls way harder than it did before.top speed is about 86 mph.tks rmr1964

 

[Rob1334]

thanks for that informative thread. just one thing you commented on is the falling flat on topend.ive noticed that on mine so i imediatley went in to the primary and added weight.i ride at about 5000-7500 ft and the sled came with 62g weights.it was constantly hitting 83-8500 rpm so i took a stab at trying 66grams.my result was bang on.i gained 15 mph track speed at 8100 rpm and it pulls way harder than it did before.top speed is about 86 mph.tks rmr1964

I don't think that is the problem on mine. I can hold 8250 on mine all day with the current clutch setup, it just seems the snappy portion of the throttle is not there on the top end compared to the etec, although not by much just a small feeling by seat of the pants. My next plan is to try the MTX weights in the sled, going with the 68's and then messing with the rivets. Gonna try 3 grams in the bottom hole and 1 on the top. They have a heavier heel on them which i hope would help.

I am going to hold off on the helix plan to see how this works first. Clutches are hot enough the way they are, so gonna see after a 2-cool air vent and different primary settings how they work heat wise. I don't think the gains I would see going to a steeper initial helix angle would be worth the added heat it might see. Try this first.

 

[H2O]

thanks for that informative thread. just one thing you commented on is the falling flat on topend.ive noticed that on mine so i imediatley went in to the primary and added weight.i ride at about 5000-7500 ft and the sled came with 62g weights.it was constantly hitting 83-8500 rpm so i took a stab at trying 66grams.my result was bang on.i gained 15 mph track speed at 8100 rpm and it pulls way harder than it did before.top speed is about 86 mph.tks rmr1964

I am surprised that your sled pulls those RPMs ...... with that big of a jump to 66 gram weights from 62 grams.

I ride same elevation with 163" track and it consistently pulls 8300 RPM, I am sometimes hitting the rev limiter when the track unloads.

I want to try the 10-64 polaris weights but I am thinking..... they may need to be ground down to 63 grams.

 

[vkropodra]

Great stuff. Been a few years since my last sled was sold off but looking for a 2012 model and so far the Pro 163 is top of my list. Still looking at Cat but need to see what will be offered for 2012.

 

[WesG]

I am running mtx's at 4-6000 ft. Pulls better out of the hole compared to the 10 series weights. Backshift seems much quicker as well. 2 grams in the bottom hole with the tip empty is the most consistant so far. Bpb primary spring and a 64-42.46 helix. Secondary seems to get abit too hot so some tuning still. Very consistant setup though, seems to work regardless of conditions. Not the fastest sled on the hill but gets up there with all of the 800's. Pulled 7800-8000 in some very wet heavy deep snow on the hill.

 

[rmr1964]

when i went to the 66 gr weights i thought i would have to shave a little bit off of them but to my surprise it pulls 8000-8100 rpm all day long at 7000 ft.as far as clutch heat they got cooler with the heavy weights.the clutches must be working efficiently now.iwasthinking of installing mtxs but dont like the fact that they are narrow and put too much pressure on the rollers.i installed an a/f guage last week just for a base line reading before i do any engine mods.its an aem wideband. seems a little lean at low and midrange.approx 14.4-14.9 but at w/o throttle its at 12.3-12.9.