The 2010-2011 season will be remembered by the snowmobilers for the UPA (Union des producteurs agricoles) conflict and for the lack of snowfalls at its beginning. Indeed, after the heavy snowfalls in December in western Québec and the total absence of white gold in eastern Québec, the situation was upside down at dawn of 2011. Thus this is the context we were in when I started the tests of the Yamaha Apex SE and now, after over 2 000 kilometers on the odometer, I am ready to share with you my first impressions.
Even if I usually have riden much more kilometers at this time of the season, I realize that I have been in a large variety of snow conditions; among others, this enabled me to test the Apex SE in numerous trail conditions. So, here are my first impressions on this snowmobile.
The new sound of the Apex seduces us right from the startup. Indeed, Yamaha engineers brought many improvements to the Genesis engine that provided not only more power and a better torque output, but also a very stylish tone without being stressful. When we push the accelerator, the engine answers promptly and shows us all the power possible. The drive system works very softly all while transfering the horse power to the track. Accelerations are clean and steady at all engine speeds. In trails, when the pilot comes out of a turn and pushes on the accelerator, the pickups are instant.
