2013 will not be remembered by manufacturers as their best year in terms of sales. Numbers are not confirmed yet, but our sources talk about less than 100 000 for all 4 of them, compared to 129 000 units for 2012.
One thing is sure, it is not due to poor investments from the 4 enterprises into their snowmobile segment during the last few years… We still depend on one crucial factor, snow falls. Despite this fact, and instead of proceeding to rationalization as most of the industries have been doing since the beginning of the economic crisis, the snowmobile industry continues to impress us and to innovate.
Again this year, we have been surprised at the Snow Shoot 2014 and innovation has taken a new trend. Effectively, the partnership between 2 manufacturers, once totally inconceivable, is today an actual fact.
Yamaha needed to increase the sales by innovating and Arctic Cat was ending the business collaboration with Suzuki Motor; everything was in place to create a very promising business partnership between the 2 enterprises. Combine a proven performance 4-stroke motorization with an innovative platform at the cutting edge of the market new tendancies and you will get the formula chosen by the 2 manufacturers to produce a line of new snowmobiles.
Even if similar, both sleds have their own characteristics showed in many small differences. This new strategy, already known in the automobile industry, generates important savings in regards of development and allows the manufacturers to still offer products at competitive prices.
New 2014 Arctic Cat ZR 6000 ES
Ski-Doo continues to present more and more innovations again this season ! Ski-Doo’s cycle of innovations differs from the other manufacturers’ plan. People from Valcourt are full of new ideas. The recipe seems fruitful because even if the overall sales of the market have slowed down last year, BRP’s piece of the pie did not. Again this season, the name BRP means several innovations on all aspects of the snowmobile.
2014 Ski-Doo MXZ TNT 900 ACE
However, even if the Quebecer manufacturer is in the lead, this balance is fragile because the 3 other manufacturers work very hard to increase their share of the market. Polaris keeps on spreading its strategy in order to regain some segments put aside since a few years. Since the beginning of year 2000, the mountain snowmobiles have been Polaris’ priority and today, Polaris is still the number 1 seller of mountain sleds.
But since the last 3 years, the american manufacturer increases his efforts in the market segments that are very strong in the Province of Québec and in Canada. After the very successful Switchback series, lightweight utility models are now the target at Polaris’; this segment of the market is currently occupied mostly by Ski-Doo Tundra and Expedition models. The strategy of the best quality/price/power ratio also continues with the expansion of the Indy models up to 800 cc.
So, here I am at the same point than where I was last year at the same time. Our chief editor puts us through this crual process : choose only one best pick for each manufacturer for 2014. When you just adore snowmobiling, the volunteers who maintain outstanding trails, the industry and the people who design the snowmobiles, you kind of feel simplistic to have to choose only one snowmobile. But this is our annual torment and we must live with it ! So, here are my best picks for the 4 manufacturers; many thanks to them for their investments in all these innovations, year after year.
Arctic Cat
While Arctic Cat seems to have chosen a business collaboration for its supply of 4-stroke engines that are very expensive to develop, the 2-stroke engine development will now take place in the Minnesota facility.The first Arctic Cat 2-stroke clean engine is offered this year on one model only, the ZR 6000.
The ZR 6000 is the only model with the new 6000 C-TEC2 engine this year
Also called the legendary El Tigre remembered by the oldest of us, this snowmobile is equipped with the new 6000 C-TEC2 engine. With a 2-stage injection technology, this engine meets the new environmental standards regarding polluting emissions. Moreover, fuel consumption should be very satisfying according to Arctic Cat’s people.
As said earlier, the ZR 6000 is the only model with this engine this year. Equipped with a 129 X 15 X 1,25 Ripsaw track, the ZR is mounted on the ProCross chassis and takes advantage of a lightweight engine that develops 123 hp, which provides great handling. Even if the ZR may be unstable some times in sharp bends, its lightweight helps you come back on your track, which is very comforting.
ZR 6000 El Tigre my Arctic Cat best pick for 2014
Thanks to the riding position of this chassis, the ZR 6000 quickly makes us feel confident and gives us great pleasure in all situations. Away from the 2-stroke 600 cc engines since a few years, this long-awaited return makes the ZR 6000 El Tigre my Arctic Cat best pick for 2014.
Polaris
Even if Polaris offers only a few new technologies for 2014, this manufacturer proposes many very interesting new packages. We must remember that in the snowmobile industry, the 3rd, 4th and 5th years of a technology are often the best years to buy a machine. In fact, those are the years of refinement that give us the best proven packages.
We have nothing bad to say about the calibrations on most of the Polaris snowmobiles we tried out at the Snow Shoot 2014. This is the sign that the product has reached its maturity. So, it was harder to choose only one model. My heart was torn apart between the 800 Pro-RMK 155, the new 600 Switchback Assault 144 and the Indy Voyager series.
The 600 Indy Voyager 2014 with 144 X 15 X 2 track and with an adjustable ski stance of 39-41 inches
All these vehicles are in very different categories and this made the competition even harder. However, I must choose the 600 Indy Voyager. This lightweight utility snowmobile is equipped with the proven 600 Cleanfire engine, with a 144 X 15 X 2 track and with an adjustable ski stance of 39-41 inches. Very impressive and easy to handle in deep snow, the 600 Indy Voyager is stable and efficient on trails. Once again, Polaris will use a very dynamic prices strategy, which will represent a very attractive offer for buyers of this category of snowmobile. Some will say it is not the most showy sled but it will impress many snowmobilers next winter…
We must not forget that it is a very close cousin of the proven RMK series; this is why the 600 Indy Voyager is my Polaris best pick for 2014.
Ski-Doo
Since a few years, each Snow Shoot brings plenty of novelties with Ski-Doo. This year, not only does BRP extend the XS and XM chassis and rMotion and tMotion suspensions to many models, but BRP and its branch Rotax offer a new 4-stroke engine, the ACE 900. Very close to the ACE 600, number 1 in fuel economy, the ACE 900 benefits from lots of new technologies with a much more consistent performance than the 60 hp of the ACE 600.
MX Z TNT ACE 900
Even if I have been attracted for a while by the Freeride E-TEC 800R 146, now on the XM chassis, I have been very impressed by the performance and handling of the MX Z TNT ACE 900. In fact, it is a 90 hp engine, with many state-of-the-art technologies such as the 3-mode ITC (Intelligent Throttle Control) technology that offers 3 driving modes, Eco, Standard and Sport; and the pilot does not even have to stop the vehicle to shift.
Also, all the snowmobiles equipped with this engine take advantage of a new wireless electronic throttle, so no more fatigue to your thumb. When I was riding with many snowmobilers who had more powerful machines, I have been very surprised to see that on sinuous trails, I did not have any problem to follow them, on the contrary ! Of course, I am not talking about long stretches or about pure accelerations.
MX Z TNT ACE 900 my Ski-Doo best pick for 2014
Mounted on the XM chassis and combined to the rMotion suspension, this MX Z shows many qualities in real trail conditions.
Great handling, comfort, fuel economy, durability and fun to ride make the MX Z TNT ACE 900 my Ski-Doo best pick for 2014.
Yamaha
At Yamaha’s, it is hard not to talk about the new Viper mounted on the SR chassis. Japanese version of the Arctic Cat ProCross chassis, the SR chassis finally offers me what I expected from a Yamaha trail snowmobile : an actual dynamic riding position.
As I am 6 feet tall, I often had trouble to appreciate the capability of the DeltaBox chassis because my knees were often too close to the handlebar. The Yamaha snowmobile on which I was the most comfortable until now was definitely the FX Nytro. I still like the Genesis 130FI engine of the Nytro, but still the Nytro was not meant for long rides, as agreed by Yamaha’s people themselves.
2014 SR Viper R-TX edition
With the new Viper series, I feel again the pleasure I had with the Nytro engine, but in a chassis that offers an efficient riding position. Even if the blue/white SR Viper R-TX edition is the best looking model, I prefered the riding experience on the standard edition of the SR Viper. Mainly due to the suspensions calibration, the black SR Viper seemed more comfortable than the R-TX and X-TX models. The sound produced by the Genesis engine with side exit exhaust is just incredible. On each touch of the throttle, we just vibrate to the sound of the 130 hp delivered by the Genesis engine.
The models tested at the Snow Shoot were very responsive but did not offer the expected performance at high speed.
The new SR Viper is my Yamaha best pick for 2014
Yamaha’s people reassured us; they still had some adjustment to make between the production models of next fall and the prototypes tested this spring.
In short, this snowmobile could really help Yamaha regain its large share of the trail snowmobile market next year. This is why the new SR Viper is my Yamaha best pick for 2014.
