@chevy_man @Supersubes have yall ever ridden a 2t turbo snowmobile? Is the powerband absolutely insane as one would think? Cant imagine a ~200+ hp 2t! Although at such a big displacement, it should tame down the hit a good bit. Torque must be out of this world..
Im sure technology has progressed leaps and bounds, but I know the old 4cyl 500cc 2t ~200hp MotoGP bikes were said to be a fckn handful and a half. A man's bike for sure.. better be pointed dead straight when that bitch comes up on the pipe!
Ridden a few now. The one with the boondocker kit was the most impressive.
All the sleds are running electric power valves. So they can control the "hit" and make it smooth and progressive.
There is some turbo lag, but if you drag the brake a bit and spool it up it will launch hard. They're really great for climbing stuff, as they never run out of power.
It does make the front end 20-30lbs heavier. Turbo, intercooler, oil tank and pump, etc.
Polaris factory one runs off the oil injection and has a bleed into the intake for increased engine oiling along with the electric variable injection pump.
All the sleds for awhile have had direct bearing oiling. My old 14 rmk has a mechanical pump still, but 4 oil lines to the main bearings. No longer do they need to mix gas and oil in the carb or throttle body.
Sleds ride way different than a bike. With the CVT you can tune the clutches to your feel. If I snap the throttle on my 800 it just snaps to 8400 rpm within 1-2 seconds and the clutches pull the track along. Peak hp is about 8100 on mine, so I clutched it to be "over the hump" so if it tries to bog it'll pull down onto the peak power and give the clutch a chance to downshift to compensate.
Of course, clutch weights and springs need to be changed at altitude with the NA motors, and you don't need to change them at all with the turbo if you have an altitude compensating setup. (Some of the cheaper kits don't do well varying boost levels).
I've kept mine NA because I like the responsiveness. For tree riding and technical stuff I'm not going that fast, just need to snap it to lift the skis and then set them where I want to go. Turbo makes everything happen faster, after the lag, so it wears you out quicker on the slower technical stuff.
If all I did was spring riding climbing chutes, I'd have a turbo. In Cooke last year I ran a highmark with my sled, and turned out when I was out of power and couldn't climb anymore. Hopped on my buddies m8000 turbo and passed my highmark by 300 yards, and only turned out when I was going to get into the rocks at the top of the peak where it was windswept. This was about 9500ft elevation, so I was probably down to 120-130hp, while his was still 225hp.
Both were 800's, both 162/163” tracks. Mines a lot lighter.
And yes, there's guys out there with ktm 450 and 300 turbos on their snowbikes. The packaging doesn't make sense for a regular dirtbike though, as they remote mount the turbo between the skid and the rear fender.
www.roadandtrack.com
powersportsbusiness.com
