Making Sense of the 2016 Arctic Cat Snowmobile Packages

Thanks John! I find the cat site a bit unwieldy, so these crib notes are a great find.

John,
Any idea why there isn’t a ZR 6000 R-XC for us to pre-season if this is supposed to be a production-based sled ?? Serious interest in one, but want the advantages of the pre-season package with it……….
Tom

I think the guys that buy the turbo want it to be easily identified as a turbo and stick out from the crowd. They want the notoriety if running the baddest sled to ever lay down a track on the snow. Maybe not all but most. I think cat decal dept. / marketing , has missed the boat on this point . Guys ride fast sleds to get noticed, I want the trail/bar/ anybody that sees it to know beyond the shadow of any doubt that I have the alpha male of sled. I want it to be obnoxious and object of desire. It is my identity.

In the past they mastered this with huge names like thundercat, wildcat, el Tigre. If you heard the name or were lucky enough to spot one of these monsters you knew you were looking at man and machine.

Some where along the way in recent years it seems to me we have lost the magic. In 12 I thought we got it back with the anniversary edition but then cat let the 800’s get the stripes too and being a company that listens to their customers never looked back but I dis agree.

When I buy the baddest thing on earth like the turbo cat I really want the rest of the pack to know my commitment to the love of the sport. I don’t want to blend in with the lesser sleds.

I want the world to know I’m crazy !!

taperk600: Yes there will be ZR-R models for both cross-country and snocross, but they will be late-release and available primarily through the Race Dept. like this last year. The cross-country is definitely a production-based sled (C-TEC2 motor, ProCross chassis and plastic, most other stuff from RR models), but with some additional race-focused components.

Flintstone: That’s a really interesting point. I totally understand. The rationale behind making the various models (ZR 6, ZR 7, ZR 8, etc…) look identical except for the numerical decal is because there are just so, so many models now, that the company chooses to streamline as many of the components as possible. Such streamlining/redundancy reduces costs and complexities of manufacturing. And decals are simply another “component.”

But your point is well taken and interesting.

Thanks for clarifying this, it was kinda confusing with all the models. I feel bad for the dealers that have to decide which models to stock, too many in my opinion! Thanks for the info!!

Yes John, I understand there will be race sleds same as always. Released either at Hay Days or race school. But since the release of the R-XC at Hay Days last season, we all know one will be coming again. And since it’s a dealer/consumer available sled, I feel we should be able to pre-season one to guarantee we get one (the bigger reason) and also to get the extra warranty, etc that comes with putting down the cash in the spring. I may be the only one who doesn’t care if I don’t know exactly what it will look like since the race sleds are generally kept pretty secret right up until they are announced. That would be no different than applying for the sled via the race program. But knowing I have one coming vs trying to locate one would be nice. Off topic, I know. Just the ramblings of someone who doesn’t see either sled they wanted to order…….. a RR 137 or the R-XC…….

Now that is awesome

taperk600,
Those are the two sleds I keep looking for and no matter how many times I check the AC website they are not there.
If they did offer a 137 RR I would want an 800 and I have no problem with the old tech Suzuki motor

I am with taperk600, you should be able to pre-season order the ZR 6000 R-XC. It is supposed to be a production based snowmobile available to the public, so why not? Secondly, I think Cat would be shocked at how many they would probably sell!

Agreed with taperk600. Polaris and Ski-Doo both offer the XRS 600 and Rush Pro S 600 as both spring order for the xrs and pro s. They are the race sleds the cross country guys race with and are easy for non racers to get with their spring promotions. Why not Cat?? It would be a successful move for them. More access=more sled sales. I’d buy one!!!!

Flintstone agree 100% with you Arctic Cat bring back the “Thundercat” you brought back ZR, Pantera, El Tigre it’s time to bring it back.

John
You forgot to mention the which new sleds get the new mountain ski, definately confusion on cats site!

James: All M Series and XF High Country models get the new ProClimb-6 ski.

Once the Zuk turbo is retired and a new turbo takes it’s place, is it still a 9000?

I agree, having the baddest sled on snow with its own unique name, makes damn good sense. Even if it was called the ZR9000 ThunderCat.

taperk600 – I understand your point my question would be how can you order something you don’t know what it is? I would imagine the engineering in the race sleds continues into the summer after the race season is complete. If you look at the RR it looks a lot like the 2015 race sled, the skid is different than the others, the shocks are upgraded the engine is the same (600), the only thing would be if the reinforcement is in the chassis?

John, You say the green limited is spring only. How about the black limited, is that the same deal ?
Ride next week ?

Why can’t I get a 141 sled with a 1.6 inch cobra track ? Why can’t I get a green crosstek ? I have purchased 30 plus new arctic cats and they are all green or black ! Not orange !

Paul: Black Limited models will be available all year. Yes, ride during the week next week if we don’t lose the snow with the warm temps that are predicted.

Todd: A 141-in. swaybar-equipped crossover sled is the missing machine in Cat’s ’16 lineup. But you gotta ask yourself if that 4-in. difference in total track length is going to make a real difference. That’s 1.5 to 2 inches of track on the ground. If you ride trails, the 137-in. SLIDE-ACTION rear suspension is better than the 141-in. FLOAT suspension.

And the 1.5 Cobra is the same as the 1.6 Cobra. Same track.

As for the orange-accent-only on the CrossTrek, yep, that’s the only choice for ’16. Your option would be to get a ZR 137 and do a track swap for the Cobra. Or get a graphics kit.

John wasn’t it the ProClimb-7 ski?

Correction for Todd and John: There is a 141-in. sled in the ’16 lineup as the High Country does have a swaybar.

Do a track swap and you got a great 141-in with a 1.6 cobra for the trail. I do this on my ’13 HC and anyone that rides my sled is amazed at how well it handles on the trail. Some like it better than their ZR! I added Powder Pros which is a better ski than the ’13 stock ski. I think the changes they made to the skid in ’16 will only help on the trail as well.

Tyler—- I have zero issues ordering a sled based off the information of the previous edition and knowing there could be some changes. Been there, done that. I will say not everyone would be ok with it however.

As far as differences, the R-XC has a lot more upgrades over the RR than just the skid rails and bracing. It has the wider front end, Team TSS-04 secondary, etc. I have had every year RR and want the next advancement of that….the R-XC.

Oops, I sometimes write in haste. Correct, ProClimb-7 ski.

And likewise, what Cat is maybe missing is a 141-in. swaybar-equipped, wide-stance & trail geometry front suspension sled. With a 1.6 lug.

The new AMS front suspension on the Mountain and High Country sleds works ok on the trail, but castor/camber geometry is definitely made for off-trail.

(BTW, they had such a machine in 2015, called the CrossCountry model.)

Here’s the deal: You can split hairs indefinitely to identify some niche that “needs to be filled.” But a company can’t build every single combination, plus each niche has it’s compromises. One guy wants a 141 with the FLOAT skidframe like the CrossCountry, but another guy wants a 141 with a SLIDE-ACTION. One guy thinks the new 137 CrossTrek is the perfect sled, but someone else wants it with a mountain handlebar or with a rear rack. Or in green.

It is impossible for companies to make every single configuration of snowmobile that all of ask for. When you factor colors, packages and such, Arctic Cat has nearly 120 different models for 2016! I’ll take an educated guess and say that most dealers think this is way too many models. I would agree with them.

Thanks for all the great discussion here the past few days guys. This is fun.

Well put John. I think you’re right on with your observations.
The assembly line at Cat must be a nightmare with all the different variations of the same model.

The sleds are looking better this year than some previous years. Yet I can’t help but think they are missing one key thing: How about a butt kicking low end price sport sled? The Lynx is a good deal, but it is slower than I would like. We need an updated PUMA! The prices keep creeping up throughout the line and it seems that 10 grand is the norm for a good sled these days. Why can’t that price ceiling come down? The 500 Sno-Pro was a good deal for a few years, just I felt the bodywork and seat needed to be more trail friendly for what I had in mind. I think the Kymco motor is going to be a bit of a yawn fest and the queen of rental fleets, like the old 660 NA triple of a few years ago. Why not take a proven chassis, go for light weight and simplicity, all proven parts with a good price point picked off the line, and then install the 500cc 85hp Yamaha Phazer engine in it? You get your 4 stroke EPA friendly motor, yet with a decent exhaust note and some good power. Keep the price @ the Lynx two up levels to no more than 500 over, say 7500 dollars tops. I think this sled would sell to Eastern woods rides like me. I do not need 180hp nor 600lbs of machine. My favorite sleds growing up were always the smaller sports sleds that pulled hard from 25mph to 70mph. The little sleds with a bad attitude, like the 340cc and up modified 1971-72 Pumas. They were point and shoot sleds for woods riding, ripping across fields, yet one man could load it in a truck alone. One man could do most of the maintenance with a small tool set and a tech manual. Whatever happened to that? Good cheap zippy fun? I will always have purple underwear and green blood, but can they look after the low end of the market just a bit more?

Glen: I hear ya. However, keep in mind that MSRP for the 2016 ZR 5000 LXR is $9k, while the 2016 ZR 4000 LXR is $8.3k. Not saying those are inexpensive (they’re not), but they aren’t the 10k you reference and they offer two variations on your same/similar power request.

Plus, I’ll be the street price is even lower on these machines.

And a quick check on one of this site’s advertiser’s web page shows a 2015 ZR 4000 LXR for $6.5k.

I too want to see a 3/4-size sled, around 375 lbs., that is zippy and spirited in performance, priced at 7k. Maybe it will happen. It’s a big ask. And a bold move by an OEM, because in the past decade the machines that have hinted at all these qualities have not sold well.

Man taper this r-xc thing really has you fired up lol.

I understand cats position on this though. For one the sleds need to be a later release because plain and simple the goal of the machines are to win races. Your not gonna win races on yesterday’s technology. They need to take everything they learn from the races (that run up until the end of march) and put those refinements into the machine. It is just impossible to have it done by this March. Sure you can offer it for sale early but if you don’t have pictures it’s gonna create an assache for all the dealers with whiny customers. Then the whiners who do buy it then when specs are finalized whine they don’t want it cuz it’s not what they were hoping for. Or the graphics aren’t attractive enough. God knows what legal issues it might create too. Plus then it’s not as special when it’s released at haydays if images were released. You have to remember racing is in cats blood. Also racing rules can change at a moments notice so they need the flexibility right up until near the next production run. These sleds tend to run technology that is atleast a year ahead of a regular model and it needs to be this way to advance the platform as a whole. Also it is a race specific sled. Offering extending warranties on machines who’s sole intention for being is to be raced is a bad business decision.
Just my two cents.

John,
Few questions about the new TEAM clutches, do you think the new Primary is substantially better than the oem cats as far as performance wise and will they be able to use the fixed pin weights that we all have collections of? The secondary BOSS jackshaft does it look to be a more rigid/robust design over the 15 models jackshaft.

John,
Your post above is absolutely correct. To fill ever single person’s desires would be impossible. Or at the very least….VERY EXPENSIVE for each “custom” sled.

Gerard…. did you forget that I know exactly what the race program consists of and the constant technology development done throughout the off season….right up until Hay Days and even sometimes right up until race school if Cat isn’t happy with things before then ? I completely understand what is going on with that. However, I am sure that I am not alone in having ZERO issue ordering one right now and getting the latest and greatest tech come the fall. No different than having to have our race app’s in and sleds paid for by mid-summer. Like when we were ordering 600 race sleds or even going back to the early/mid 90s with the ZR based 440 racers, we never knew WHAT we were getting….just that we WERE getting ONE. That’s my point. I’m not fired up about it. Just disappointed that we all know this model will be out again this fall, just like the 15 was, but we can’t pre-season one and get the advantages that come with the pre-season programs. That’s all. If I WANT one bad enough, I will have one. Trust me on that.

However, an easy way to appease “CONSUMERS” who want the wider front end, the TEAM TSS-04, the extra bracing / reinforcements, and the many other upgrades on the 6 R-XC would be to offer THIS season’s R-XC, which is already out and being used both on the track, as the following year’s “RR” instead of the “regular” RR… make the 6000 something special like the 4000 is…. that one has most of the “goodies” the R-XC has. And then release the “new” 2016 R-XC to racers and limited dealers in the fall just like this year.

And, as far as offering any WARRANTY on these …. what exactly do you think any buyer who gets one from a dealer is getting ??? 1 year minimal and an option for 2,3,4 or even 5 year extended warranties. When I looked at the 2015 model,it was pennies on the dollar to add the extended……

I know u know. I was just stating how I think cats looking at it. I feel it is diff then having your race apps in and not knowing. Racers market and consumers market have different expectations. That scenario might not play out well with the mass market. They would open a can of worms and like I said maybe even create a legal hassle. Someone drops a deposit down. Sight unseen. Spec unseen. Then sled is released and now billy bob doesn’t like it. He tries to sue cat or the dealer whining about this or that. Dealer gets stuck with inventory. And so on. A year ago a race sled wasn’t available on a dealer floor. Had Brian Nelson not changed everything around that wouldn’t even be the case. So that opened the door for anyone to get one. That alone is historic and should make people happy. I don’t feel that getting one would be an issue of someone wants one come fall. If the add on warranty is pennies on that dollar then what are you not losing out on much. The preseason promo email I just got blows. 300 off. 4.9 financing which is awful and a 4 year warranty. Whoop dee doo. People still keep sleds four years ? Lol. Unfortunately you damn sure need the warranties still nowadays cuz everything is junk lol. Idk what kind of warranty do you get come fall? Is it generally just a one year? That’s a bummer if so but like u said if the extended is cheap then maybe it’s not so bad. I wonder how happy and behind this cat even was on this change in the program who knows. It would be cool to have it all. I hear Ya. Thoughts of dishing out free 4 year warranties on a “race sled” has to make the number crunchers have nightmares at night.

I liked the 141 mountain based skid for off trail riding in the U.P. We routinely step off the sleds in snow near waist deep. The 137 coupled design is a step back. The 146 Crosstour uses a trail track. Also puzzling is why every single crossover sled (except limiteds) is only available in orange. Orange was great in 2006 but how about some color choice? AC gave three color choices with the Firecat 13 years ago – why is it so hard for spring buyers to have some more options? Polaris allows spring buyers to choose from several colors; windshield; riser height; tracks; and even storage options. You get exactly what you want. With AC you get exactly what everyone else gets.

Gerard, yes after pre-season, the warranty drops to 1 yr and (usually) 1 year motor only. Plus pre-season sales prices are always better than fall pricing. And the difficulty of finding one.

As I was writing my last reply, I honestly think Cat should make the consumer RR the previous season’s R-XC. I think that should get the latest tech out to market, fill the demand for this particular sled, and still let them release the R-XC along with the R-Sno-X

I have to ask, sorry. What about the XF9000 Cross Country and it’s packages? I had an 09 Z1 Turbo and loved it. I sold it with the plans of buying the XF9000 Cross Country this year, and I’ve been trying to find out what my options are. Thank you for your time.

James: New-for-new, I don’t know that the TEAM clutches are going to show a performance advantage over Cat clutches. But I believe the TEAM drive clutch will for sure maintain optimal performance longer than Cat clutches.

I’ll check into the weight question because I don’t know for certain, but I believe it will take different weights than Cat.

The BOSS design design looks robust. The beauty is that eliminates a whole component of the clutch: the spindle (that the movable sheave moved on).

Brian: There are no Cross-Country models for 2016.

I’ll agree John that the task of making a 3/4 sized sled that would sell is daunting. EPA certification has to be hard and expensive for companies to consider a new model. When I talk to local ATV owners about sleds the one thing some insist on is finding a 4 stroke small bore with sporty intentions. They just don’t want a 2 stroke. I’m on the fence on that argument. I’m sure the ZR4000 is a good piece. I’m sure when I do decide to truly get back into real riding, it’ll be on something babied and used, or a carryover bargain family hauler. ( Been kicking around finding a used Tz1 Touring no turbo, for example.) But that updated PUMA idea is in the back of my head and has been for years. I can dream………lol.

As to what taperk600 mentioned and I don’t know if it is that common but I could get same sled around here( Manitoba)for about $200 bucks cheaper in November than what I snowchecked it for in April. Not much incentive to snowcheck a sled. 🙁

So help me understand. Can I spring order a limited zr8000 in black and get the spring deal or does it have to be the lime green sled?

Also am I seeing correctly that the all black zr8000 limited is only offered in the 137 track? you cant get the all black limited in the 129?

The 129 LTD is only available in green, or eltigre graphics (really wish they would kill off the eltigre, its just confusing)

I don’t understand why the 137″ sleds are now called ZR.. People where just starting to understand ZR, XF, M.
There is just so much inconsistency to the sled naming from year to year. For as long as I can remember doo has been mxz, renegade, summit, and everyone recognizes that and knows what each one is.

If you look what poo is doing for their spring order program, you can choose between 3 different tracks, 9 different body work colors, 3 different tunnel colors, 4 different rail colors, 3 different windshields, 2 different gauges.

There is no reason cat couldn’t do that, and reduce the number of regular season sled varieties to a more manageable number.

Krom, I completely agree ….naming has gone off the deep end with Cat. And agree that there is no reason Cat couldn’t reduce the total number of similar sleds for “stock” ordering and allow spring order only colors, options, etc like POO is doing. Doo even limits some of their models to spring order only too.

Just give them another year, and it will all change again anyway…….

Also, now that some real pics of the green limiteds are showing up as dealers are getting delivery of them, BOY I did not realize how much yellow there was in the graphics on them….. I have to see one in person to honestly tell if I like it or not. Previously, I was a fan… now not so sure….

John- I bought a ’15 9000 ltd. Great sled but rides too harsh in rear. What do you suggest for softening up rear ride that won’t cost all outdoors?

Have a question looking at 2016 I ride up in the u.p. Michigan I will looking at the xf8000 with 2.25 track or the m 8000 sno pro I ride alittle of trail and a lot of off trail is the 2.6 to much how will the ride be different will the m sled be a softer ride for the back