Turbo For Dummies (Proclimb 800)

[canadian madman]

Hey guys,

Been looking at the different turbo kits for the 800 and hoping some of the people with the experience can help me out...i’ve never ran a turbo on a sled before so i don’t know what to pay attention to for what’s good and what’s bad...but what i do know is that i don’t want to be doing more fixing / tuning than riding...i wrench a bit but i’m not a mechanic...i don’t know what to look for in the fuel map numbers...and i’m not looking to spend an hour on the side of a hill tweeking everything just to get that last ¼ horse out for the one big run of the day...i’m just a guy who wants more power than stock. I have heard issues from a couple of people about intake moisture issues in deep snow...not sure if this is a concern or not... I know the boondocker website “advertises” they don’t have this issue...true? (we ride mostly in the trees and wherever else it’s deep)

What is the simplest and most reliable turbo/supercharger system available for the 800 proclimb? I know they’ve come a long ways in the last few years...i just want to pull and go as if it were stock otherwise i won’t bother.

Here are the websites of the ones i’ve been looking at....let me know if i’ve missed any others worth checking in to. Thanks. (leaning towards the boondocker system right now)

Boondocker -

Push Turbo - PRO-800

Speedwerx - # Speedwerx 2012 800cc PROCROSS/PROCLIMB Procharger Kit

Aerocharger -

CPC -

 

[scrfce]

Dont forget cpc too, have heard nothing but good things about their product and customer service. Another good one would be twisted turbos. Id stay away from the speedwerx supercharger tho, totally unproven, u dont wanna be a guinea pig. Another less expensive option that requires less tuning and is pretty reliable with no turbo lag would be a big bore kit. Rkt has one for $2000 and putting out 194+ hp on pump gas

 

[Shredder]

If you want a trouble free turbo sled I'd recommend calling one of the shops that has lots of expieriece building and tuning them like Mountain Magic. I think it's worth the extra $$$$ to have it installed and tuned by a pro, that will send you to the hills on a turbo sled that is ready to ride. You could save some cash by installing it and trying to tune it yourself; but it may never actually work to near it's potential.

 

[SledMamma]

I rode an 800 Cat with a Cutler Turbo a few days back- crazy good!! Very smooth power, no sensation of turbo lag and then your arms being ripped off when it spools, and perfectly tuned. I was confidently riding up lines that I was turning out on on my own machine. Where I definitely was unsure that I could handle a turbo after having ridden my husband's turboed Yammie, I felt right at home with this one. We ride with a guy who has a Push Turbo that came with no instructions and can't seem to get the fuel mapping right- it eats fuel like crazy, airlocks and won't start and seems to spit and pop at altitude. Then there is the buddy with a Boondocker Turbo kit- its spraying fuel everywhere and Boondocker can't seem to pick up the phone 90% of the time, and when they did they don't know how to help him. He has now purchased a SECOND sled to ride until he gets his brand new Pro turboed and dialed...

I think the suggestion of having some professional install help is a great idea...

 

[canadian madman]

sledmamma - do you know who did the install of the Culter?

as for the pro install...that's pretty much a given with my limited time...would like to put it in myself just so i know more about it if something goes wrong on the mountain...but while i'm working out of town the wife and kids limit my garage time...but i want to make sure i go to the right place...just because you pay someone to do the work doesn't make it a "professional" install...

 

[Kyle91rs]

There are a lot of options for you to explore. In my opinion, there's no such thing as a pull and go turbo for a two stroke. Sure it might be dialed in perfectly for a season then you have to go into you jugs and replace the pistons every year, this and that. If I were you, I'd look into the 925 kit from speedwerx. Set up with power commander and autotune, full pipes, you're crankin out about 200hp, and then you're almost as pull and go as you can get. Bb in my mind are the safest route if you don't want any tuning. But, if you're set on turbo kits, call bikeman performance. I'm usually dead against being a guinea pig for something that isn't tried and true, like the push turbo and speedwerx supercharger, but bikeman has been developing a turbo kit which uses pcv/autotune, one of the best turbos on the market, oilless, 230-240hp on pump. Do yourself a favor, call jimmy at bikeman and he will tell you all about it. There isn't any set prices yet but as far as I know, it's very reasonable. That's my two cents worth.... Good luck!

 

[SledMamma]

sledmamma - do you know who did the install of the Culter?

as for the pro install...that's pretty much a given with my limited time...would like to put it in myself just so i know more about it if something goes wrong on the mountain...but while i'm working out of town the wife and kids limit my garage time...but i want to make sure i go to the right place...just because you pay someone to do the work doesn't make it a "professional" install...

Howie's Marine in Prince George deals the Cutler turbos and does install as well. I hear you about putting it in yourself so you will know where to start looking if something goes wrong on the mountain. My ideal plan is to have my husband help me put the turbo in, and then have the guys from Howie's come for a ride with me to tune and test. They are really nice peeps and have said that they can make this happen: I'm just not quite ready to "jump" yet, AAAAAND I think my husband needs a turbo on his PRO before I need one

We've also run into quite a few guys who have worked with Neil McLaren and his Boost-It system. Many many good reviews about the Aerocharger turbo coupled with Boost-It. Neil and his son do a good job on install and are VERY available when it comes to after-install help and tuning.

It's hard to recommend people and turbos: after a few years of seeing almost every brand out there and watching them in action, I have come to learn that there is usually one guy with negative comments for every guy with positive comments. I think a lot of it comes down to experience and your ability to listen and tune... The best running turboed sleds that I have seen belong to Randy Swenson and Brett Coupal. That said, they are both very familiar with the build and mechanics of their sleds and Brett is a helicopter mechanic so what he doesn't know how to fix he makes up!! That's the part that makes me nervous about a turbo: some days you don't want to have to listen for every little sound to see if you need to adjust something, and I don't always ride with my husband alongside and I don't want to be "that girl" that always needs help... I guess I could always bring the stocker on non-husband days???

 

[catsass]

I have a CPC stage 2 on my 2011 M8 and it has been the best sled I have owned. It has not burped once since i got it at the beginning of last year. Tons of power and i have not touched the tuning from where cutler suggested. All I do is add gas and oil and go. Very good on fuel. I use less fuel than my stock M1000 riding buddies. I t will keep you smiling all winter long.

 

[SledMamma]

I have a CPC stage 2 on my 2011 M8 and it has been the best sled I have owned. It has not burped once since i got it at the beginning of last year. Tons of power and i have not touched the tuning from where cutler suggested. All I do is add gas and oil and go. Very good on fuel. I use less fuel than my stock M1000 riding buddies. I t will keep you smiling all winter long.

The fuel thing is definitely something I noticed about the Cutler- it did not swallow fuel AT ALL. We had a pretty long trail ride in (about 25kms) before we entered the actual climb up the ravine and the avy chutes to get in. We broke trail in about 2-3 feet of heavy untouched snow, going pretty much straight up from the minute we left the trail until we got back behind the ridge. We played all day and covered another 50miles on the mountain before we came home. My stock ProClimb used a full tank plus 10L to make it back to the truck on less than 1/4 of a tank. The turboed M8 didn't look at his fuel all day, dumped a 5L in on the way back and made it back to the truck nooooo problem. It's pretty nice to not worry about fuel and especially race fuel.

 

[catsass]

I run mine on straight av gas which is easy to get and not that much more money per litre than premium.

 

[Chunk]

Call Brent Linderman at arctic edge motorsports in hillcrest (crowsnest pass) and get him to set you up. He will suggest a kit that works for what you want to do. He is one of the most stand up guys in the industry and his stuff works

 

[catsass]

Brents work go hand in hand with the cutler set up .

 

[Shredder]

...just because you pay someone to do the work doesn't make it a "professional" install...

That's is sooooo true. We shared a guys pain and disgust with his turbo M8 in Renshaw; that he had "a pro tuner" install for him. He said it wasn't an actual buisness, just a guy that did work out of his garage. Needless to say when he was getting out climbed by SLP single piped M8's, and M1000's with nothing but a can, he was more than a little disappointed; and spent most of the day with his hood up. That was at Mountain Mania II in that insanely deep powder, in case anybody else ran into him that day. Most of us don't get out enough to spend a weekend tuning while everyone else is riding. That is why if I were doing a turbo I would gladly pay extra to have it "READY TO RIDE" when I write the check for the turbo package.

 

[bgraff1]

i was in the same boat this year. both the push kit and the supercharger kit are new kits and i for one dont want to be the test dummy. i went with the cutler stage 2. VERY nice kit, fit and finish is awesome. 20 pages of installation instructions that are very detailed (i did the install myself). pulls very hard and im very happy with the kit, highly recommended. also comes with a very nice cold air intake system that uses the stock intake area but cuts out a bunch of the un-needed parts so you lose weight.

 

[snoqueen]

" We ride with a guy who has a Push Turbo that came with no instructions and can't seem to get the fuel mapping right- it eats fuel like crazy, airlocks and won't start and seems to spit and pop at altitude.

I think the suggestion of having some professional install help is a great idea...."

Hahaha....Sledmamma....the guy that she is talking about here with the Push Turbo is actually my hubby. He bought the Push G pump gas kit back in November and did the install himself because he really wanted to KNOW the workings of all the components, and because he is very mechanically inclined decided he was up for the challenge. He went with the Push kit primarily because of the price (about 1/2 the cost of what a Cutler kit was!) and it looked like a nice, clean kit.

When we brought the kit home it came in a huge box with a parts list....and that's it. No instructions or a guide, just 6 pictures that were emailed to him for reference. So, basically he laid all the pieces out on the garage floor and went to work installing piece by piece. He had the kit installed over the course of a weekend. There was a few things that he had to get done elsewhere; he had to get an air/fuel sensor welded into the muffler, and also get the pipe welded. Luckily he didn't have to pay extra for this as he knew a tig welder that did the job for free. The kit also didn't come with an Air/fuel gauge, so that was an extra cost he didn't consider also. First ride out it ran awesome on the top end, but bottom end had serious bog issues, and to top that off it would somehow run out of fuel and wouldn't start. It also went through about twice as much fuel as it was when it was stock!! YIKES!!

To say the least he was not impressed! He did finally get some limited support from Ken, owner of Push, but didn't really solve the problem. Scott from Howie's Marine (sells Cutler) was VERY helpful, and tried to help him get it going and even offered to give him another programmer to try to see if that would make a difference, even though he didn't sell him the kit! He also suggested that he should have a boost controller installed to turn boost down....so he bought one of those as well at an extra cost.

The next two rides he fiddled with the mapping to try to get the bog out of the bottom end, and after installing the boost controller it seemed to help. He narrowed the bottom end problems to having a faulty control box so Push did send another box. The last ride out it ran pretty decent and didn't use any more fuel than it would have stock....the only problem is that he keeps getting a code coming up and then it starts running chitty. He's heard that he might have to get his ECU reflashed....but at an extra cost that again he wasn't counting on.

When all is said and done he wishes now that he would have just gone with the Cutler kit. The Cutler kits are installed and serviced right here in town and I know the support that Howie's gives is second to none. They will go out with you to the mountains to test and tune and get it running right. With all the extra $ he has had to put into this Push kit, and zero to no support by Push in hindsight it was definitely not the best route to go. He still doesn't have it running the way he wants and has to tweak it every ride out.

My suggestion is if you're not very mechanically inclined and like a pull the cord and go turbo.....go with a proven turbo with support. You will be thankful in the end, especially after dumping $5000 + you don't want a big headache. The new Push kits coming out apparently have a stand-alone kit and don't use fuel programmers, so that "might" be the way to go. As soon as that's available my hubby will have one installed on his kit for sure.

Good luck with what ever turbo you go with! Boost is ADDICTIVE!

 

[canadian madman]

i was in the same boat this year. both the push kit and the supercharger kit are new kits and i for one dont want to be the test dummy. i went with the cutler stage 2. VERY nice kit, fit and finish is awesome. 20 pages of installation instructions that are very detailed (i did the install myself). pulls very hard and im very happy with the kit, highly recommended. also comes with a very nice cold air intake system that uses the stock intake area but cuts out a bunch of the un-needed parts so you lose weight.

hey bgraff1,

when i read through the installation instructions for the stage 2 kit there were a few things that caught my eye about the cutler....changing out the drive chain and changing out the head....they say these are "must do's"......so did you do this? not included in their kit...

 

[canadian madman]

" My suggestion is if you're not very mechanically inclined and like a pull the cord and go turbo....

snoqueen, it's not that i'm not mechanically inclined...it's more the fact that when i drive 8 hrs to the mountains i want to spend the time riding not wrenching.....dialing it in would be better done by someone with experience though...

 

[chriscat1000]

The thing about big bores as you climb elevation you lose hp. Not like a turbo if you put out 200 hp at 1000 feet. 10000 feet it's still pushing 200hp. a big bore will never do that

 

[snoqueen]

snoqueen, it's not that i'm not mechanically inclined...it's more the fact that when i drive 8 hrs to the mountains i want to spend the time riding not wrenching.....dialing it in would be better done by someone with experience though...

hahaha....sorry if it came across like I suggested you weren't mechanically inclined....not at all! I think it's very wise that you are asking for suggestions on which turbo to go with BEFORE you shell out the coin. More riding than wrenching is always good....and finding a good turbo dealer with support is worth his weight in gold! Just my 2 cents!

Good luck!

 

[bgraff1]

hey bgraff1,

when i read through the installation instructions for the stage 2 kit there were a few things that couaght my eye about the cutler....changing out the drive chain and changing out the head....they say these are "must do's"......so did you do this? not included in their kit...

both are not "must haves". if you ONLY ride at high elevation, and you can afford the race fuel needed you can run the HO head, if not buy an '09 head or send your '12 head to linderman to get pump gas cut (what i have done). as far as the chain, i know a lot of people using the same kit and didnt change the chain, no problems yet. one buddy is doing the R&D on the C3 syncrodrive but not going so good...whatever kit you buy make sure to take your time with the install (if you do it). i did my install and was very rushed (had about 15ish hours before i left for a trip). i missed tying down my boost reference line that goes to the fuel controller and it melted, thus causing a lean condition and making me buy a cylinder, piston and head. now dont take that as anything towards cutler, they have dont nothing but the best to get us going. he rushed us early production kits to be ready for our ride, even if in the end it caused more work. i went with the bigger 2871 vs the 2860, a bit laggy (granted im not sure if my boost line was melted very early...so yeah lol) but once that thing spools its awesome! if you have any other questions have at it