Most of us have heard the axiom, “You can’t ride a dyno,” referring to the very real disconnect that can exist between high horsepower number produced on a dyno compared to how an engine feels in the real world. The axiom was borne from the fact that there have been a lot of engines (and high perf parts) built over the years that produce a nice big number on the dyno, but that don’t show the same supremacy in the field.
Something along those same lines seems to exist for snowmobile weight in the field versus in the shop.
Here’s an interesting and informative video comparing the weights of 2013 Arctic Cat, Polaris and Ski-Doo mountain sleds both in the snow and out of it.
The sleds:
2013 Arctic Cat M8 Limited 153
2013 Ski-Doo Summit SP 154
2013 Polaris Pro-RMK 155
The Test: Weigh each machine in the shop when it’s full of fuel and containing a spare belt and tool kit. Those numbers above.
After riding the backcountry for a while, the group weighed the sleds again via the same scale (but this time hung from a tree branch in their riding area). Here’s how much weight each sled gained.
The 2013 Arctic Cat M8 LTD 153 started out heavier than the competition. Thanks to its short heat exchanger and powder-coated tunnel (which don’t hold snow the way the other brands’ sleds do), it gained the least amount of snow weight during regular mountain riding.
The Ski-Doo 800 Summit SP 154 heads out on a ride (full of fuel) weighing 13 lbs. less than the Cat, then gains 83 lbs. in snow weight to end up at 641 lbs. wet.
The Polaris Pro RMK is the lightest mountain sled to begin with, which is commendable. They also gained the most snow-weight, 94 lbs. to be exact, which left it and the Cat M8 at virtually identical weights of 610/611 lbs.
The colored bars indicate the dry weight, the white bars indicate snow packed weight. Pretty interesting!
Freerider/racer Rob Kincaid sums it up nicely: “Who cares what it weighs when it leaves the shop?!”