Sidewinder trail gas range.

[jaydaniels]

I figured out my gas burning issues, I didn’t want to post my finding and cause a pissing match but it had to do with a secondary spring setting.

Ok. Feel free to pm me if you want. I’m curious.

 

[MBOKMAN]

My 18 Tcat with Turbo Dynamics bundle 265/285/305/315 with header tune is not that great on fuel. Running mostly the 285 tune I can"t get 100 miles to a tank. My Polaris 850 is good for 150 miles.

 

[Sevey]

Sadly the 998's should have gotten a larger gas tank. With that said, if you regularly go more than 100 miles between fuel stops, you might want to plumb up an extra few gallons. More horsepower and less fuel storage is not a comfortable combo.

Seems like all the oem’s are shrinking the tanks. The Matryx is smaller than the axys and the gen 4/5’s are also smaller. Was looking at the new cat chassis and its only 36litres.

Our tanks are as small as i would ever want. Personally 42-46litres are great tanks.

MS

 

[DennyTuna]

I ride with 2 other 998's, one a tcat the other a winder and they are both stock. I'm tuned with hurricane cluster flash SS CL SM and clutched. Neither one of those stock machines get anywhere close to my mpg's. The guy riding the tcat gets the worst (10 mpg) because he thinks the flipper is an on/off switch. I run mostly 240 for trail riding and constantly get 14 mpg....a little less when trails are soft and little better when set up hard.

 

[Upstater57]

Seems like all the oem’s are shrinking the tanks. The Matryx is smaller than the axys and the gen 4/5’s are also smaller. Was looking at the new cat chassis and its only 36litres.

Our tanks are as small as i would ever want. Personally 42-46litres are great tanks.

MS

My old 2001 Tcat had a 12 US gallon tank. It needed it since it only got 10MPG. LOL

 

[Upstater57]

I ride with 2 other 998's, one a tcat the other a winder and they are both stock. I'm tuned with hurricane cluster flash SS CL SM and clutched. Neither one of those stock machines get anywhere close to my mpg's. The guy riding the tcat gets the worst (10 mpg) because he thinks the flipper is an on/off switch. I run mostly 240 for trail riding and constantly get 14 mpg....a little less when trails are soft and little better when set up hard.

My old 240 tune on my 2014 ZR9 got about 14mpg. The 240 tune got better mileage than stock. When I changed it to run the mod stock turbo and a 300hp tune it now gets about 11mpg or about the same bone stock. I probably could trim the fuel a little more with the boondocker and squeeze a little more mpg. LOL

I will be looking for that 14 mpg on my new Tcat.

 

[jaydaniels]

I realize that there are a lot of variables when looking at fuel mileage but without a doubt mine is always harder on fuel than everyone I drive with. Doesn’t matter if I drive slow, fast, in deep snow, on hard pack and it didn’t matter whether I was stock or tuned. I’m always harder in gas by a significant amount. Looking at all these responses, it makes me think that for some reason, some sidewinders seem to get good mileage and some do not. A lot of people with tunes claim better mileage but I purchased a tune and no change. I have a SM tune so maybe the less restrictive tunes with the PM are better on gas? Or maybe I have a small boost leak? I show 17 psi on my gauge for boost but could it still be leaking somewhere? Maybe people with the roll over delete venting to atmosphere are seeing better mileage? Less heat put back into the intake? Or the inter cooler is more efficient because no oil is going to it? Anyway, my OCD will have me continuing to try and figure this out lol. Cheers.

 

[Turboflash]

I believe this also. They just seem to drag more.
I wish someone had the time to do a head to head or day to day comparison .

IMHO, no doubt they drag more. When I once had them on, when I'd let off the gas, it felt like I pulled the brakes on. About threw me over handlebars. I don't run them.

 

[sideshowBob]

I realize that there are a lot of variables when looking at fuel mileage but without a doubt mine is always harder on fuel than everyone I drive with. Doesn’t matter if I drive slow, fast, in deep snow, on hard pack and it didn’t matter whether I was stock or tuned. I’m always harder in gas by a significant amount. Looking at all these responses, it makes me think that for some reason, some sidewinders seem to get good mileage and some do not. A lot of people with tunes claim better mileage but I purchased a tune and no change. I have a SM tune so maybe the less restrictive tunes with the PM are better on gas? Or maybe I have a small boost leak? I show 17 psi on my gauge for boost but could it still be leaking somewhere? Maybe people with the roll over delete venting to atmosphere are seeing better mileage? Less heat put back into the intake? Or the inter cooler is more efficient because no oil is going to it? Anyway, my OCD will have me continuing to try and figure this out lol. Cheers

My 2019 X-TX LE was the first 998 in our riding group...LOL...we have now up to 5 at times!
All the 998s get pretty good fuel mileage, comparable to the 850 etecs, if operating in the same conditions and speed, some are tuned some stock.
If your mileage is abnormally poor there are a couple things I would look at.
- clean the charge tubes and intercooler as without the vent bypass they are probably pretty dirty
- check all vacuum lines for secure connection and moisture
- swap out the map sensor as they have a huge effect on fueling and some of the early 3 bar ones had issues.
- check for boost leaks
- check all driveline bearings, driveshaft and jackshaft
- install a closed loop system from your tune vendor

 

[jaydaniels]

My 2019 X-TX LE was the first 998 in our riding group...LOL...we have now up to 5 at times!
All the 998s get pretty good fuel mileage, comparable to the 850 etecs, if operating in the same conditions and speed, some are tuned some stock.
If your mileage is abnormally poor there are a couple things I would look at.
- clean the charge tubes and intercooler as without the vent bypass they are probably pretty dirty
- check all vacuum lines for secure connection and moisture
- swap out the map sensor as they have a huge effect on fueling and some of the early 3 bar ones had issues.
- check for boost leaks
- check all driveline bearings, driveshaft and jackshaft
- install a closed loop system from your tune vendor

Thanks for the ideas. I’ll check all you listed. There is definitely no way my sled is coming close to an 850 etec currently. Thing I’ll start with cleaning the charge tubes and intercooler. Then vent to atmosphere.

 

[Doc Harley]

15mpg during slow (35mph-45mph) easy trail cruising.
13.5mpg in the UP where trail cruising speeds are 65+/-mph
For me, on long fast trails, I'm in and out of the turbo more. ADHD gets the best of me.

 

[jaydaniels]

15mpg during slow (35mph-45mph) easy trail cruising.
13.5mpg in the UP where trail cruising speeds are 65+/-mph
For me, on long fast trails, I'm in and out of the turbo more. ADHD gets the best of me.

I’m getting around 10mpg. Would love to see what you are getting.

 

[Doc Harley]

I’m getting around 10mpg. Would love to see what you are getting.

I've got 6 seasons on sled, numbers are accurate. I only review fuel usage to verify performance of the machine.
I'd say you're either Into the turbo way more then I or something is wrong.
To get 15mpg it takes a steady right thumb lol. And near zero turbo usage. Not easy.

 

[Firedawg1998]

The servo controlled exhaust on 11-18 Apex.

My 2012 apex range was about 160km with or without the ex up working, the 300 tune in my winder gets the best mileage and my light goes on around 180. But can vary obviously depending on company. Def better range overall. Im no longer that guy who's light always comes on first.

 

[jaydaniels]

My 2012 apex range was about 160km with or without the ex up working, the 300 tune in my winder gets the best mileage and my light goes on around 180. But can vary obviously depending on company. Def better range overall. Im no longer that guy who's light always comes on first.

Gosh. There is no chance my winder gets better, or even equal, fuel mileage to an Apex. Even tried switching sleds to see if it was driver related. Wish it did.