Demo Ride Review

Guest

Found this posted on the Arctic Cat Forum….

I went to the demo ride at Rausch Creek in PA yesterday, and just wanted to give a quick impression on the machine. First things first, the guys at Cat were awesome and really knew their stuff about this machine and the competition. I'm sure they didn't want to go back out for another 15 minute ride in the 20 degree weather, but they did anyway and I appreciated that! On the machine itself, there were 3 things that really stood out to me:

1) The machine is very solid. The demo machines had around 400 miles on them, and they made no noise (other than the engine) whatsoever. We were riding in 4WD in about 6 inches of snow, and there was no noise whatsoever from the suspension, bushings, or drivetrain. It really is to the extent that it stood out to me while I was driving. It's not something you appreciate until you experience it, but it is nice!

2) The EFI and clutch tuning seem right on point. I've never been in any SxS with such a direct feeling from the gas pedal to power at the wheels. Throttle response is excellent, and the clutch grabs HARD and puts down power right away. It was hard to get a good feel for acceleration in the snow, but that little machine was moving better than I expected. The girlfriend said she saw 44mph indicated on the dash at one point. Granted, this probably isn't accurate because of the snow, but I honestly don't think we were far off.

3) Steering. I really liked how quick the steering rack is. I could keep both hands planted on the wheel and never really felt the need to cross my hands up. Some the the trails were very tight, and a lot of steering input had to be exaggerated because we were running 4WD in the snow, but I still never got too busy in the cockpit. I remember running a RZR 50" in the snow being a handful - the Wildcat Trail is not.

We did run through some pretty rough stuff, and the suspension felt good. It was hard to get a good feel in the snow, but it soaked up smaller stuff pretty well. I did try to make it bottom through some harsher hits and wasn't able to. Brakes work much better than the 1000 Wildcat. Body roll felt very, very minimal, and getting the narrow machine sideways in the snow and ice didn't feel sketchy at all - even at 40mph down a rutted out snow covered "road". The ground clearance feels huge for some reason - I was driving over things I thought would surely drag, but didn't. Also, the exhaust note is much better than the Polaris parallel twin. It's similar, but has a much better tone.

The girlfriend did take some video, which I will try to upload to youtube later if anyone's interested.

I really couldn't pick out any bad points. If I had to, I'd say the interior quality isn't up to par with the WC 1000, however, I was told there would be some improvements since the machines there were all pre-production.

The bed was about the size of the full size WC, maybe little smaller through the center and not as deep. Big enough for a small cooler and then some. It didn't look like the plastic was quite as sturdy in the bed as the bigger machine either, but again, these were pre-production units.

Plastic skids, but about the same quality as the stock 1000, which is good.

Seats felt awesome, good quality and very similar build to 1000, but smaller. It did have 2 cup holders inside on either side of the tunnel. Same glovebox setup as the larger machine, but they got rid of the junk door and replaced it with a net. The shifter felt really solid, too. Better than both the bigger WC and the RZR. Shift pattern is the same as the RZR.

When we showed up at around 1:30 we were the only ones there, but apparently they had around 17 people show up before then. The guys from Arctic Cat seemed very excited about it, and they said the more people ride them, the more optimistic they are. They wanted me to point something out I didn't like, and I really couldn't find anything. The machine is near spot-on for what I would want in a 50" at that price. They definitely, hands down built the best performing 50" machine available. I can say that without hesitation.

I really have a hard time making a guess on the tires. It looked like there was plenty of clearance at lock for 26" tires with larger lugs, but you may have to run higher offset wheels to go bigger than that. Also, the steel wheels looked sweet.

Also, the machine comes with a 2" hitch AND they are working on plow setups.

Subject: Re: Demo Ride Review December 18th 2013, 3:16 pm

Subject: Re: Demo Ride Review December 18th 2013, 3:21 pm

Thanks for the write up and video. A friend and I are suppose to go up in Ohio this Saturday for the demo ride I am hoping they still have it I know they are calling for rain this weekend.

Subject: Re: Demo Ride Review December 18th 2013, 5:17 pm

Subject: Re: Demo Ride Review December 18th 2013, 11:08 pm

Nice write up thanks

Subject: Re: Demo Ride Review December 18th 2013, 11:33 pm

I would like to try one out

Subject: Re: Demo Ride Review December 19th 2013, 1:01 am

I reeally am intersted in testing one. Narrow has it's advantages. That means I can go faster in the woods. Where a 64" will fit a 50" will fit faster...

Subject: Re: Demo Ride Review December 19th 2013, 5:13 am

sounds like it's going to be a winner. May be a great machine for the trails we ride. Only thing as far as how it performs that I would be concerned with is ground clearence. In the pics it looks low as a standard rzr and it has a longer wheelbase. In most cases though, a little more speed or picking the right line will take care of that.

Somebody buy one.

Subject: Re: Demo Ride Review December 19th 2013, 9:37 am

My mother in law is hopefully trading her Ranger on one. If she does I will talk her into letting me bring it to Bergoo in the spring and we will try it out. $500 down (or take possession of your trade) before Jan 1 and you get the first ones delivered and either $500 Cat Cash or 18 months of extended warranty.

Subject: Re: Demo Ride Review December 20th 2013, 5:04 pm

Hey guys, that was my original post. If anyone has any questions, let me know. I don't check this forum as much as I should, but you can email questions to corey@xps-usa.com

Randy R's statement is exactly correct - there were trails we were running at speed that I would have a hard time fitting through in my Prowler, let alone a 1000 WC. This thing rips through the tight stuff - it's a good combination of motor response, clutching, and quick steering.

I'm going to the demo in Northfork, WV at Ashland Resort on January 6. Anyone else going?

Guest

I will be there with a buddy on Tuesday. I pretty much talked him into waiting on the Wildcat Trail to come out instead of going with the 570!

Subject: Re: Demo Ride Review December 20th 2013, 8:43 pm

If I had known this was coming this soon I would have waited a year and got the trail instead of the 570 too. Maybe I wait and get a big cat

Guest

I love my WC!

Subject: Re: Demo Ride Review December 22nd 2013, 12:49 am

Thanks for the video ross

Subject: Re: Demo Ride Review December 22nd 2013, 1:48 am

Good video and review. Thanks for sharing. thumbs up

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