There have been some questions raised about why the new Arctic Cat 6000 C-TEC2 600 engine requires a dedicated oil. Here’s some background to help answer the question.
As I wrote in a comment on another story here today, I personally would follow an OEM’s warning/recommendation regarding oil use in their DSI/DI/SDI 2-stroke engine. I’ve been to the oil supplier for these brands and seen firsthand the blown ETEC engines that had run an aftermarket oil in the long term dyno durability tests. Not pretty.
Arctic Cat C-TEC2 600 and C-TEC2 Synthetic Oil
With the arrival of the new Arctic Cat C-TEC2 600 engine with Dual-Stage Injection comes new oil formulated specifically for it: C-TEC2 Synthetic. Both the C-TEC2 engine and oil represent the next progression of design and performance, with one dependent upon the other.
There are three critical facts to consider about the oil requirements of this engine: The first is that the new C-TEC2 600 uses less oil than any previous Arctic Cat snowmobile engine – as much as 50-percent less in certain conditions – thus placing even greater demands on the formulation.
The second is that the unique design features of the new engine (such as Dual-Stage Injection, electronic oil pump; slotted piston window; fuel/oil premixing in the fuel rail and new APV exhaust valve design) demanded a new unique blend of additives and base stocks that didn’t previously exist in any other oil.
And the third: With less oil lubricating vital engine components coupled with unique requirements of the new technologies, the C-TEC2 600 engine required an entirely-new oil to meet the performance and durability requirements demanded by Arctic Cat and its customers.
“As the engineers who developed this engine, our performance and durability requirements of the oil are extremely high,” said Kim Chervestad, 2-Stroke Engineer at Arctic Cat. “It has to deliver outstanding protection against wear; provide optimum detergency to keep the engine components and power valves clean; emit the lowest amount of exhaust smoke and odor; and provide the easiest cold-starting in the industry.
As a result of the greater demands of the oil for the new engine, Arctic Cat and its oil engineers co-developed the C-TEC2 engine and synthetic oil in partnership with one another.
Over a four-year period of development, engineers identified the unique oil requirements of the engine; developed a series of bench and dyno tests to evaluate engine/oil performance; and commenced an unprecedented on-snow testing program across an entire range of temperatures and elevations.
All totaled, a team of engineers produced and evaluated 15 different formulations, during which they accumulated over 8,500 hours of dyno-testing and over a quarter million miles of field-testing to perfect and validate the new C-TEC2 Synthetic Oil.
“This is why we say with great confidence that C-TEC2 Synthetic Oil is the only oil approved for the new C-TEC2 engine,” said Chervestad.
Lighter Viscosity = Ideal Cold-Temperature Performance
One key feature of the new Arctic Cat C-TEC2 Synthetic Oil is its superior cold-temperature performance.
Thanks to a significantly lighter viscosity compared to Arctic Cat APV oil and the leading aftermarket synthetic oil, C-TEC2 Synthetic delivers 50-percent easier starting in cold temperatures.
C-TEC2 Synthetic Oil is the only 2-cycle engine formulation specifically for the C-TEC2 600 and is approved for all other Arctic Cat 2-cycle snowmobile engines. It comes packaged in an industry first flexible pouch for easy pouring, convenient storage and reduced waste. The MSRP for the 48-oz. container is $20 U.S./$23 Canada. It will be available in August.
The addition of the 7000-Series C-TEC4 Yamaha 1049cc 4-stroke engine to the 2014 Arctic Cat model line brings with a revised formula for its 4-cycle synthetic snowmobile oil.
C-TEC 4 Synthetic Oil is engineered from synthetic base stocks for high lubricity and protection against wear. It features a premium additive package that helps prevent oxidation, deposits, piston ring sticking and sparkplug fouling.
It is formulated for and proven for use in all Arctic Cat 4-cycle snowmobiles, including turbo-charged engines. And it’s the only oil recommended for the 7000-Series 1049cc three-cylinder engine.