Heavily modded nytro vs viper

[YamahaTim]

Wondering if it's worth trading in my nytro with numerous upgrades on a viper. Is the handling that much better than a fully set up nytro? I understand the high c.o.g. Is not ideal on nytro , and the viper is considerably better than a stock nytro in the handling dept. Is it worth trading in or selling a sled with a lot invested? Would like to hear from people who have experience with both. When I say handling I mean as it pertains to carving, side hilling etc. Not to concerned with trail riding.

I pretty much agree with what people are saying, I had a pretty modded Nytro XTX and I loved it! Ya it was a little heavy, but I'm a fat #*$&@ at 250 dressed and I could side hill with it. And I had the stock ski stance. The Viper would probably sidehill better and be more fun boondocking. But the Nytro has it's place as well! It was solid and never had any issues! If you already have the money in the Nytro I would say keep it until all the issues with the Viper are ironed out!!
I could throw my Nytro around pretty good, with a wide set of skis it will float better. Either sled you would need to buy wider skis anyway. If you were to Buy a Viper the question is to you, what mods would you do and is it worth it to do all over again? I have a turboed Viper and put some money in other places and would still need a good set of shocks for sure. And I'm just not willing to put anymore money in the a Viper. I wish I had kept my Nytro and just put a different front end on it. No the Nytro won't handle as good, but there are many places that the Nytro shines where the Viper don't. So it's a hard choice that you are going to have to make!!
But if I had it all over again I would wait until Yamaha or Cat figure out these problems and fix them. Once that happens than the Viper will be an awesome sled that you would want to sink money into to have the sled your after! Like people had said you have to make that decision yourself. All we can do is give you our input on what we have noticed.
Some have had issues with the Viper and some not. Same with the Nytro. So now what.....right...my Nytro was a solid sled and was never in the shop, except for mods. Never went through a belt, never left me stranded! If you like what you have and are comfortable than remember one thing, if it fits you than that's all that matters!

Good luck with your decision!

 

[TD Max]

Is there any word of anyone that can reprogram these viper ecus? That in my opinion is a big key to making these turbo vipers reliable. I've heard just a bit of talk that it may be possible for a reprogram of the ecu and good chance I'll be able to use my ecu as a "test project" when turbo goes on. Retard the timing and advance rev limiter..that's all that a Cat 1100 turbo reflash is..retard the timing=less chance of detonation, increase rev limiter means more boost. Ultimately more safe hp.

That would be right up D&D's alley. I would think that the NA vipers would benefit from simple optimization of timing

 

[Studroes144]

Is there any word of anyone that can reprogram these viper ecus? That in my opinion is a big key to making these turbo vipers reliable. I've heard just a bit of talk that it may be possible for a reprogram of the ecu and good chance I'll be able to use my ecu as a "test project" when turbo goes on. Retard the timing and advance rev limiter..that's all that a Cat 1100 turbo reflash is..retard the timing=less chance of detonation, increase rev limiter means more boost. Ultimately more safe hp.

That would be right up D&D's alley. I would think that the NA vipers would benefit from simple optimization of timing

I talked with D&D last week about that and to my knowledge they have no ecu flash for the viper and since nobody else has one out yet I'm thinking there is a reason. There is a lot of money that can be made to a company that comes out with a good ecu flash but it almost seems like either cat or yammi has some type of hold on it to keep that from happening just yet otherwise I gotta think it would've already happened

 

[TD Max]

D&D had a "chip" for the Suzuki 580's back in 1997 era so I figured if anybody would...

Then again it could have been a relabel.

 

[Studroes144]

To knowledge they don't have anything like that for the viper..I haven't heard of anyone that does..I'm more curious why that is because there are thousands of guys out there that would pay $250 to have their starting issues eliminated and potentially get a few added hp with a simple flash.

 

[beleafer]

Thanks for the replies guys. I'm tire kicking at this point but when given the opportunity ,I will test drive a viper next year. Outside of boost, I prefer not to invest a lot of mods due to the fact you become married to your sled in the pursuit of perfection. It's a sickness though. If aftermarket stuff wasn't so damn nice. My first post after a long time reading. Thanks to all who have helped with mod decisions and factory fixes. The 2014 release countdown was some good comedy.

 

[ViperTurboPete]

Thanks for the replies guys. I'm tire kicking at this point but when given the opportunity ,I will test drive a viper next year. Outside of boost, I prefer not to invest a lot of mods due to the fact you become married to your sled in the pursuit of perfection. It's a sickness though. If aftermarket stuff wasn't so damn nice. My first post after a long time reading. Thanks to all who have helped with mod decisions and factory fixes. The 2014 release countdown was some good comedy.

You are correct...it is a sickness.

 

[FAMILYMAN]

Coming from a modded nytro like yours to a viper. It won't stay stock. It won't compare until you build it to your standards. But that's what we do right?

The viper has a lot of potential. September there will be flashes out to fix ecu issues, mpi putting a "factory" turbo on a mtx, that's a big jump into the modification that...let's be honest you will end up doing anyway!

Definitely a hard decision if you love your nytro. I personally do not regret my decision.

 

[Mountaintech]

It is no great secret that the chassis problems experienced by a stock Nytro can be solved by the putting a proper front end on it. Do that and you have a totally different sled........

 

[stingray719]

It is no great secret that the chassis problems experienced by a stock Nytro can be solved by the putting a proper front end on it. Do that and you have a totally different sled........

Timbersled front end = better

Timbersled front end narrowed to 36 inches and 2 inches forward = MUCH better

Nytro built top heavy though means it will never be made to handle like a Viper.

 

[LuckydawgAK]

I had the concept front end on my Nytro. It was a world of difference over stock HOWEVER the Viper is a world of difference over the still front end, pig heavy Nytro. No offense to Nytro drivers, I have three years, lots of money and 2000 miles of a mixed bag of riding a blinged out Nytro but the Viper handles better.

I have to agree with Stingray on this one. I also did something similar to he as well. I purchased a 2013 M800 153 Sno Pro and rode it this season. I also demoed two Vipers at the end of the year. The 2015 Demo was a MTX 162 and handled very close to the M800. This chassis is much improved. The other, a 2014 conversion was a 162 XTX with a ski width (42 I think). I did not care for the handling (that's carving, not trail riding). The difference was very noticeable with the wider stance, so much so, I thought that I was making a mistake SnowChecking a new Viper, then I realized the ski stance. (I demoed 2014, then jumped on the 2015, I was greatly relieved!)

The MTX with it's narrow stance was definitely easy to throw around compared to a Nytro. This chassis is a big improvement for mountain riders.

I'm checking one next year but already sold my Nytro last year. The decision will be harder for you as the Nytro prices went down somewhat but if you can find a buyer at a price that is acceptable, I say go for it, you should be happy.

 

[vsmpowered]

Dont compare trail to mountain riding there's huge difference

 

[LuckydawgAK]

Dont compare trail to mountain riding there's huge difference

Well, I The OP wants to know about carving and side hilling. Do you all do that on the trails?

 

[NOS-PRO]

Dont compare trail to mountain riding there's huge difference

Well, I The OP wants to know about carving and side hilling. Do you all do that on the trails?

I do..... You wouldn't believe the stuff I do on the trail

Basically it comes down to how he/she is going to ride the sled.

 

[09nytro]

I am out west and understand what you are talking aout when you say sidehilling and carving. I had two Nytros I was determined to make work, one ultralight for the girlfriend and a 280 horsepower supercharged one for me. Ultralight was all timbersled front and back with narrowed front weighing 540 ready to ride (you know how expensive that was). Even that light it was topheavy and much better but still a turd sidehilling...and carving forget it. Super Nytro was 600 pounds ready to ride all timbersled and more than I want to list here. Would wear you out in the powder. OH, and with the Nytro being front heavy don't even try to follow real mountain sleds into the steep and deep.

Now, we have a Viper XTX that I long tracked and put narrowed front on for the girlfriend and I have a 2014 M8 so they are essentially both same chassis now. WOW what a difference, if I had to go back and ride a Nytro in the mountains I would stay home....really. We ride 5 or 6 hours now and back in the Nytro days 2 hours wrestling those was enough. With the Viper you don't even need to stand up to sidehill most of the time. Mountain Viper you slide butt left on seat and steer about 20 degrees right hit the gas and carry the front ski in the air as far as you want. The Viper XTX with the original shortrack would still go anywhere the 162 Nytro would. Now we long tracked the Viper NO WAY a Nytro can follow us, and as I HATE being stuck that is a biggy for me. How is this? The Proclimb chassis puts the weight on the track not the skis. Long track Viper will smoke a Polaris Pro across a deep powder snow field because of superior traction in the testing we did.

Read alot of guys with LTX saying it rode bad but our XTX even before the long track was a pleasure to ride, maybe its the air shocks on the XTX? For the riding you do go with the Mountain Viper and you will never look back on the Nytro.

If you don't have a Viper to test ride a 2014 (NOT a 2012 or 2013) Arctic Cat M8, they ride so much like a Viper you will get an accurate test. In fact moving the lower skid shock forward a bit in our converted XTX made it JUST LIKE the M8.

If they would have give me more for my M8 on trade I would have bought a 2015 Mountain Viper with boost. I rode the demo Mountain Viper with boost and the superior traction to the Nytro made the 190hp Viper feel faster than my old 280hp Nytro was because the Nytro would spin the track where the Viper digs in and gives you a "oh my god" kind of monment.

SIDE NOTE: seems the 2014 Viper came with a less than optimal belt and clutch, see the "found our lost power" thread for the fix that should be in the 2015 Vipers...at least it seemed to be in the 2015 demos. Viper with clutch set right pulls same equiped Nytro by around 4 lengths in 0 to 50 drag race.



Do your research, do a test ride and take alot of what you read with a grain of salt knowing those happy with thier sleds don't post alot and those unhappy are a very vocal few.

We need to run this through the BS filter........you sir have one magical sled on your hands.