Viper and arctic cat demo rides with curves skis

[Studroes144]

Had a chance to demo a few sleds today. All sleds were 2015s and all stock. Rode a viper ltx se, cat zr 600 and cat zr 800, both sno pros. Also took a ride on excell's viper which is now owned by nick at curve skis. First ride was on the cat 600, that sled is a blast to ride! I would to think for a second it was a stock 600, power wise it felt very similar to the viper in the way that it pulled very strong to around 70 or so. It was light weight, the suspension worked flawless and it was just easy to ride. Next sled was the cat 800. It was about 10-15 degrees out and the sled had been sitting for awhile and it took 3 very hard pulls on the rope to get it started. Let it idle for a few mins and when I started out it took a few miles before the engine cleaned out and was running good. So as far as the ride, it rode like a brick! Didn't take any of the bumps and ultimately rode very bad for the 10 mins I was on it. Seemed strange since it was the exact same model as the 600 I just rode. On the plus side it was very quick, throttle response was spot on and it pulled strong until you let off the gas. On to the viper..startup was spot on, didn't sputter a bit. Engagement I would say was in the 3500 rpm range, possible a bit more. It was very smooth, didn't jerk a bit and u could roll around the parking lot at 2 mph no problem. The ride I felt was very impressive! It rode much better than my 14 ltx se did last year for sure. Longest stretch on the trail was only about 400 feet that u could actually hold it. I did a few launches and it hooked awesome and was seeing 70-75 and still pulling very strong, it was def not one of these 85 mph vipers we've been hearing about. Rpm on hard packed and in the loose snow were 8900-9000 rpm and no rev limiter on the start. I was very impressed with the sled as a complete package. If we were to have lined up all 3 sleds in a shorter distance race my money would've been on the viper, it felt that good! Drove excell's viper for about 5 miles. It was very torquey! I immediately felt like a racer when riding it, elka shocks on the front felt awesome, rear worked exceptionally well and it really hooked up. This was the rtx se viper, you could loft the skis over bumps and in corners it was planted awesome and you could really fly, the mid range pull I would say was as good or better than the 800, awesome sound, not to loud by no means. This sled had curve skis on as did the stock viper and the difference between the curves and the stock skis is very noticeable! Curves didn't dart, didn't push and flat out handled awesome in loose snow and hard packed. All in all it was a very fun day trying out different sleds. Out of the ones I drove my first choice is still viper all the way, cat 600 in 2nd and cat 800 in a distant 3rd. Also rode a 141" xf cat turbo with slingshot flash and exhaust, 240+ hp, what and animal that was. Turbo lag was minimal at best. Switching off and on from that to my 6 pound turbo viper it really makes me appreciate the mpi turbo on mine. I can say that top end the cat prolly has more, but up to 90 mph the viper at 6 pounds of boost was every bit as fast if not a tad quicker than the cat, yes we did touch them off a couple times. Cat wanted to just loft the skis and carry them where the viper just locked in and would launch. 90 mph in around 400 feet with about 100 foot of shut down space means on the brakes very hard so only touched them off a couple times but what a fun day! Wish I could spend every day just trying out different sleds. When it came right down to it I can truthfully say the viper outperformed and out handled all the other sleds in the trail riding aspect of it that we did today, even heard a polaris rider make the comment that the viper rode far better and had much more low to mid range power and speed that his pro r 800 has. Successful day for yamaha!

 

[Zampinator]

Great write up!

 

[csederlund]

The Curves are good bang for your buck imo.