Technology: Inside the 2017 998 Turbo on the 9000-Series Arctic Cats

Now that they can fit a three cylinder with a turbo under the hood, maybe a three banger 2 stroke should also work, and bring back the ZRT! How cool would that be.

Yes!! Bring back the 2-stroke triple for the Thundercat and ZRT. I also think the graphics from the 1996 through 1998 on these sleds would look awesome on the procross chassis too.

I have a 1996 600 ZRT, that would be something to have 2 sleds 20 years apart with the same graphics.

The unfortunate part is that Cat left this motor out of the 2017 mountain sled segment, and really lack the insight to build a big horsepower mountain sled. The 2012-2013 M1100 turbos sold well, but most ended up for sale just as quickly, and the sled got a reputation for being far too heavy for the mountains that damaged future sales, and ended with the 1100 Suzuki being dropped from the line up. Anyone knows that the 1100T was stone reliable even with 250+ hp without upgrading engine internals other then head studs, but A/C failed miserably with suspension and clutching calibrations, soft motor mounts (that were welded to the heat exchanger) and poor build quality off the assembly line. All of these items were fixable, but TRF continued to offer minimum changes until 2016 – by then it was simply too late to recover client base. Same thing happened with the M1000 2 stroke twin. Obviously these sleds had very minimal ride / tuning time, as I personally was able to tune most of the nose heavy feel out of them by suspension adjustment / spring rate changes at my expense (not complaining, I will be looking for a 16 holdover for a new build this fall, as it truly is a great chassis once figured out). My suggestion? Quit using the same springs across the board, as what works for an 800 cc sled isn’t going to work for a heavier or lighter sled, and actually market changes from year to year, the “average joe” isn’t going to upgrade to a newer chassis when all they see for improvements is essentially new graphics and colors. Listen to your dealers and consumers input, and hire / listen to test riders that actually have an open mind – setup makes or breaks a sled, which in turn makes or loses money… think about it.

RE @ 2 stroke Trips: Sadly I’m sure the days of the two stroke triple are dead thanks to EPA requirements. Always great to here one fire up at the local drags. Thanks for the memories.