This year, my favourite pick of the Ski-Doo line up during Snow Shoot was the 2025 Summit X 850 E-TEC Turbo R in the 154″ track length. This sled package isn’t their most aggressive for technical backcountry terrain, that would be the Summit X with Expert Package. It also isn’t their best engineered sled for big jumps and drops, that would be the Freeride. Where this sled really shines is by being playful and fun with a smooth and lightweight feel. That’s what really got me hooked. It was the best combination of easy to ride, powerful, capable, and fun sled that I rode in Ski-Doo’s 2025 line up. Let’s take a look at how and why the 2025 Summit X was at the top of my list this year.
850 E-TEC Turbo R Engine
At the heart of the 2025 Summit X is the 850 E-TEC Turbo R engine. This engine is an amazing combination of silky-smooth power that’s extremely well balanced, and a fire-breathing dragon of 180 HP. The 850 E-TEC Turbo R engine is truly amazing at how well it delivers a massive amount of power in a very smooth and linear way. This allows the rider to bring the power on in a very controllable manner. And that is crucial for mountain riding in trees or technical terrain. The 850 E-TEC Turbo R engine is fantastic and really complements the Summit X chassis by being powerful and smooth at the same time.
Summit X Gen5 Chassis
The Summit X Gen 5 chassis is an extremely agile and nimble platform. It allows the rider to have a sled that’s very playful and doesn’t take a lot of rider input to get it up on edge. This is primarily due to the tMotion X rear suspension and the PowderMax Light track with the FlexEdge. The tMotion X and FlexEdge track have been around for a few years. Yet, they truly do make this sled very quick and nimble. They also allow the rider to get the sled up on edge with less effort than a sled with a locked out rear skid. By using less effort on every turn, you’ll have more energy at the end of the day and less fatigue.
Adjustable Limiter Strap
This also isn’t new, but the adjustable limiter strap is such an amazing feature that it’s near the top of my list for favourite features of this sled. If you haven’t tried one yet, you must give it a shot. By tightening the limiter strap, the sled doesn’t transfer the weight under power as far. This way, it keeps the front end down and doesn’t cause wheelies as much. This is great for sections with tight trees or steep technical terrain.
By loosening the limiter strap, the sled goes into “wheelie mode,” or “party mode” as my friends and I like to say. The sled gets way more playful and will ride wheelies with ease. The best part about the adjustable limiter strap is that it takes seconds to adjust. Thus, the rider has one sled, but with two performance characteristics. The first is meant for technical terrain and hitting your line. The second is for playing, having fun, doing hop overs and bowties. It’s truly the best of both worlds.
10.25″ Touchscreen with Built in GPS
Optional for the model year 2025 is the new 10.25″ full-colour touchscreen display with BRP Connect and built-in GPS. Since the touchscreen’s debut, this beautiful, sleek tablet design has been seamlessly integrated into the top dash of the sled and surrounded with the air intake system. Ski-Doo’s engineers have done a great job designing a high resolution, clean, modern, and appealing package. The display is Bluetooth and Wi-Fi capable and now has a built-in GPS feature. You can now navigate maps without needing to connect to a phone. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to try the GPS function due to time constraints during our field-testing. I’m hoping to spend some time playing with the GPS feature and report back on how well it works.
KYB 36 Lightweight design
Standard on the 2025 Summit X are the KYB 36 Plus shocks with lightweight springs. These shocks have a front suspension travel of 8.2″ and a rear suspension travel of 10.4″. The highlight of this shock package is their light weight. This allows the rider to transition the sled from edge to edge easily, and with very little effort. The other benefit to the KYB 36 Plus shocks is their capacity to adjust the valve in case a rider wants a softer or firmer ride.
34″ Ski Stance
Another contributing feature for the 2025 Summit X was the 34″ ski stance. First, this stance helps squeeze the sled through some tight spots in the trees. Second, it also significantly helps with transitioning the sled. That means quicker reactions and more manoeuvrability.
Compact and Lightweight Seat
A novelty for the 2025 Summit X is the Ultra-compact and lightweight deep snow seat. It is now even lighter, lower and narrower than before. In mountain riding, this is a great enhancement and something a rider notices when hopping over the seat or aggressively leaning from side to side. Let’s face it, mountain riders only use the seat when riding the trails out to the backcountry areas, or when taking a break and eating lunch. The rest of the time, we’re standing, shifting our weight, and hopping over the seat. The lower and more compact the seat is, the better it is for us.
Conclusion
Are you a rider looking for a fun, playful mountain sled that’s designed and engineered to be smooth, yet perform in the steepest terrain? Then you really need to take a hard look at the 2025 Summit X Turbo R. This snowmobile is designed for someone wanting to push the limits, but also have a sled that has a playful and smooth personality. This sled kept a smile on my face the whole time I rode it and kept taunting me when I wasn’t on it to fire it up and take it for another ride.
