The 2008 Polaris 800 Dragon® RMK® is Named Snowmobile of the Year by Off-Road.com
This winter will be a treat for deep snow riders on the new Polaris 800 Dragon® RMK®, which Off-Road.com recently named the 2008 Snowmobile of the Year for its “incredible” power and smooth-handling RAW RMK chassis.
“Our test riders came to unanimous agreement that the Dragon 800 was the best all-around mountain package,” wrote Stephen Clark of Off-Road.com. “The power from the new 800 twin was incredible – very responsive with good top-end… Polaris’s IQ chassis is renowned for being one of the best-handling chassis on the snow and our test crew would definitely agree.”
The 2008 800 Dragon RMK is a limited-edition model that was only available through Snow Check orders. It was available with track lengths of 155” and 163”. Riders who ordered one of these sleds will enjoy an impressive new level of Liberty™ power combined with a lightweight, balanced, easy-handling RAW RMK chassis that is equipped with premium Walker Evans Air Shocks.
“We were looking for a machine that handles a variety of terrain and snow conditions and is user-friendly for a wide variety of rider sizes and skill levels,” wrote Clark. “It needs lots of power, must be reasonably lightweight, a good value for the price, deliver some great visual design and ergonomics, give a buyer lots of options and above all, it has to be fun and exciting to ride… Our test riders came to unanimous agreement that the Dragon 800 was the best all-around mountain package at Snowshoot 2008.”
New RAW RMK Chassis
The new 800 Dragon RMK rides on the most streamlined, stripped-down chassis on the snow – the Polaris RAW RMK chassis. There are no frills, no unnecessary components or cosmetics that would add performance-robbing extra weight.
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The new RAW Freestyle seat is shaped to accommodate easy transitions between sitting and standing, and is 2.3 lb. lighter.
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New idler wheels and rear axle wheels produce a weight savings of 1.25 lb.
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The new IQ IFS ski spindle reduces steering effort by 15% and eliminates 1 lb. of unsprung weight.
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The 800 Dragon RMK 163” features even greater weight reduction as the front heat exchanger and rear suspension wheels have been eliminated; and for the first time ever in a production snowmobile, ice scratchers are standard equipment.
The industry-leading IQ® RMK front suspension features premium, Polaris-exclusive, patent-pending Walker Evans Air Shocks. The RMK rear suspension has a premium Walker Evans Air front track shock and a Walker Evans HPG IFP rear track shock.
“On our test ride all our riders agreed that the suspension performed well and did a good job of soaking up large impacts without sacrificing ride quality,” reported Off-Road.com.
Powerful New Liberty Engine
The new 800 RMK Dragon will set the pace in the steep and deep with its powerful new 154-hp Liberty 800 HO Cleanfire™ mono-block twin. This new engine delivers exceptional torque and outstanding top-end power. It provides the power needed for climbing, sidehilling and traversing the deepest snow. With its Cleanfire Injection system, the engine self-calibrates in response to changes in factors such as elevation, air temperature and barometric pressure.
This new model also featured Dragon-exclusive features such as its chrome windshield, Indy Red hood with Dragon graphics.
New Series 5.1 Tracks
The new Series 5.1 track has an optimized lug pattern that produces 19% more forward lug contact with the snow compared to the Series 5.0 track. The Off-Road.com staff was impressed by the new tracks’ performance and reported:
“This new track design has aggressive 2.4" lugs and is 15" wide. We were very impressed with the 155" track on our 800 Dragon test sled. The track did an excellent job climbing in the deep snow and still had good handling on the trail. Some tracks on other machines we tested would work fantastic in the deep snow but the trail handling suffered a lot. Obviously there are sacrifices to be made when picking a track for either deep snow or trail performance but the Series 5.1 155" was the best all-round track we tested on a mountain machine.”
