When Arctic Cat launched the 2022 Thundercat last Spring, I saw initial comments asking if electronic power steering was really needed? The short answer is, NO, it’s not needed. Arctic Cat does in fact have light steering on all their snowmobiles, but once you experience a ride or two with EPS, the thought of going back to anything without, is a handlebar hard to hang on to.
Last season I got to spend time riding the Thundercat with EPS, and I was reminded of my initial first impressions last week, after a first ride of the season in Grand Rapids, MN.
In our riding group, Willie Ewing brought his 2022 Thundercat with EPS to start the initial break-in for his 1day4kids world record attempt of riding nearly 2000 miles in 24hrs. This Grand Rapids ride was the first time for Willie to experience EPS, and I enjoyed watching his smile throughout the day.
Upon initial fire-up, Willie took one hand and moved the bars back and forth with ease…something he repeated throughout the day with a newfound amazement.
At our lunch stop roughly 30 miles into our ride, the topic turned to EPS and Willie expressed how pleased he was with it, then offered the group to try it on the ride back, and thoughts would be discussed during the truck ride home.
In short, here are those thoughts:
- After coming off various two-stroke models (2022 ZR 8000 and 2022 ZR6000) and executing the same amount of handlebar input to the Tcat, Willie, Paul and Tom all over-steered their first corner.
- There was 10-inches of snow on the ground, but most of our day was spent trail breaking. When reaching low land areas filled with swamp grass, it was highly noticeable any feedback carried through the bars from the skis after hitting uneven swamp stubble and small dirt mounds were nearly eliminated with EPS and saving on dreaded forearm pump.
- The 2022 Thundercat with EPS and ATAC may be one of the single-best solo-touring trail snowmobiles on the market. It’s ridiculously powerful with a reliable engine, has a tune-able suspension via your handlebar controls, and with EPS, rider fatigue is greatly reduced. All key attributes for spending more comfortable miles in the saddle.
- Is it possible to put EPS on a two-stroke Procross ZR? None of us knew the answer, so I asked Ben Langaas whom I interviewed HERE this past spring. Ben said the quick answer is NO – the biggest reasons surround the ZR’s current packaging (bodywork), intake and exhaust placement.
I hope we see eps on more models next year. It’s a way to step up Blast riders and those who are turned off by the physical demands of snowmobiling that us old timers take for granted.
Hey kale, any thoughts on new adapt clutching in comparison to the previous setups used?
To be fair Jason, Ive ridden some 2022s with new ADAPT clutches, but haven’t ridden two of the same models back-to-back or side x side (ADAPT vs TEAM) to really feel/see any differences. Im hoping thats an opportunity Ill get this winter.
I know that there may be many innovations going on behind the scenes at Cat, but it’s time to start coming to market with more new designs and possibly some rear suspension tweaks. There’s no doubt the Procross front suspension is the real deal, the harder it’s pushed, the more it likes it. It takes more money invested in R&D to come to market with good solid designs and proper testing to know that it will be a winner. There’s no doubt that Cat has the best cross country racers out there, and I believe that increases sales of the performance sleds. But we will have to start innovating a little faster, so we don’t lose more market share than we’ve already lost.
Kale, is the factory closed now? If so when does production start back up? My thundercat got pushed back two weeks. Just trying to figure if I need a different sled to ride.
Got my new T-Cat. Start it up in the shop and on the stand, just to get things rolling. Wow is a track noisy with a 4 stroke. I’m just standing with a hand on the bars, what the heck, it’s turning, OH Power steering,,,cool. Should be nice, time will tell. Also got her Blast, I’m lucky. They both look Grayt.