Ultra vs. XLT Special

[Esox_Magnum]

We aren't mandated with Ethanol 91 octane here with a little octane boost at times.

[furnace man]

Well I have personally have had a 95 and two 96's. On my 95 xlt I have lined up with 2000 mxz 600 and a 02 artic zr600 and I beat the skidoo by far and the artic cat was right behind me. I have had my speedo over hundred but I dont think I was doing over hundred my guess is mid 90's. My 96's are both rmks and I will put them up against any sled up to 60's and after 60 I would be passed by any 600. Both sleds would go maybe 80 at best. All three sleds will get 100 miles to a tank of fuel. now I know that about 600 xlt but I have never road a 580 but had a friend that had one and it was just plain out fast.

[Dozer]

A foot of smooth hardpacked snow not loose snow, big difference.

My point was that your sled wont even come close to 120mph even on ice let alone on snow. I bet you would have a hard time breaking 90 on any snow.

I feel like Im beating a dead horse here but heres some info for you:

http://www.snowmobilefanatics.com/forum/topic/78777/display.aspx

For those of you who have better things to do than read this most of these Polaris 580 owners agree there sleds have somewhere in the neighborhood of 85-90hp and a top speed of less than 95mph.

Just for comparison:

http://www.maxsled.com/absolutenm/templates/articles_layout.aspx?articleid=1044&zoneid=4

Again for those with better things to do the fastest production sled in 09 was the Cat Z1 Turbo at between 107mph and 112mph. The test looks to be done on hard snow from the article.

So Esox_Magnum your 15 year old sled is faster than the fastest current production sled? That must be one hell of a sled! Do you have any idea what it takes to make a sled go 120mph on snow? I would guess somewhere in the neighborhood of 200hp. Im not saying your sled doesnt have it but thats well over double what yours came with from the factory! I dont care how much clutch work you have or octane boost you use it isnt going to happen!

[Esox_Magnum]

For giggles I posted this question on a sled site, radar or GPS readings only so far top speed is a 93 XLT 580 1000' run at 113 radar.

[Dozer]

For giggles I posted this question on a sled site, radar or GPS readings only so far top speed is a 93 XLT 580 1000' run at 113 radar.

What sled site? Give us a link so we can all see it!

[Esox_Magnum]

snowmobile forum

[leech~~]

Man, did this post get side tracked! It started out with loosegoose asking why one of his sleds used more gas then the other on the same ride, and turned into an all out horse power speed race!!!!! No wonder loosegoose hasn't been back in it looking for help or ideas why one sled eats more gas! Lets focus!

[Dozer]

snowmobile forum

Thats not a link but just to humor you I went to Snowmobileforum.com and didnt find any such post? How about a link to the exact thread your refering to.

[Esox_Magnum]

Anything with 3 spark plugs will get less milage than 2 plugs.

[Dozer]

Leech is correct. This is not what this post is about so Im going to just drop it.

As for the original question: When I was a kid I always got my dads couple year old hand me down sleds. He always said I used way more gas than him. One year he had a 98 580 mxz and I had his old 97 440lc MXz and I always used at least a gallon or two more than him on every fill up. I would try switching riders on the sleds and see what happens.

[rmk600]

We just had our club radar run today, we stopped using radar guns about 7 years ago. We use a timing system that has sensors at the end of the track, we run 1000 ft and the average speed with a xlt 580 is about 80 mph. The fasted sled of the day that I saw was 132.

There was a last year model f1000 that was stock that would only do 101. It takes one heck of a sled to break the 100 mph in a 1000 ft. Our ice track was flooded, shaved and very smooth.

Isn't the ultra 670cc and xlt was 580cc or 600cc depend on yrs?

[gregg52]

well every ones got the talking part done lets ridem

see where the bear $hits in woods !!!!!!!!!

[hydro]

Good thread, and it seems that the feeling of speed exceeds the reality of motion. Dozer has some good points on the power (and also RPM) needed to get into the triple digits. About 10 years ago I used to do the radar run thing and here are some of the empirical numbers that I was able to post. Keep in mind that the rider is a BIG factor here with respect to weight and I pack about 200 lbs onto the sled.

All are 1/4 mile ice runs, radar clocking:

1994 Polaris XLT SKS 580, 136" track, 100+ studs, stock motor: 83 MPH.

1997 AC ZRT 600 121" track, 144 studs, stock: 98 MPH

1997 AC ZRT (above) piped and silencer, V force reeds, exhaust ports raised, EGT tuned jetting, primary/secondary clutching set up for 1/4 mile ice run: 106 MPH

1998 AC ZL 500, 121" track, 96 studs, stock: 85 MPH

Current sled is an Arctic Mountain Cat 800 with a 2" paddle track. Makes lots of noise, snow flies everywhere and maybe can hit 80 MPH on a good day.

[gregg52]

huh ???

no ski dooos that day???

[hydro]

Sorry Gregg, those were just the sleds that I owned, and data that I collected over a few years. There were faster and slower sleds at each event in every class that my sleds ran.

[gregg52]

ahhhh ok

[Macgyver55]

Hydros post reflects a far more realistic view of what sleds are capable of than what a wishmeter says.

I've rebuilt enough motors and been around racing long enough to know a "stock" xlt isnt going to run 120, not even downhill with a tailwind.

As far as the original post, triples are not known for their fuel economy, but rider style is a huge part of fuel economy.

In fact, I notice a difference in mileage based on if I am leading or following.

[leech~~]

Hydros post reflects a far more realistic view of what sleds are capable of than what a wishmeter says.

I've rebuilt enough motors and been around racing long enough to know a "stock" xlt isnt going to run 120, not even downhill with a tailwind.

As far as the original post, triples are not known for their fuel economy, but rider style is a huge part of fuel economy.

In fact, I notice a difference in mileage based on if I am leading or following.

Come on, I setup a post just for this sled HP/speed issues stuff! lets move it over there!