New Cat "Crossover"

[Dave S]

Arctic Cat has a few new machines listed on their site. I'm having a hard time believing the XC450i is their own machine and not a rebadged machine from another mfgr. I'm not sure if it looks like a Kymco or what other machine I've seen that has almost the exact same front end.

There's a few nice features on it. But I'm just not sold on the idea of this type of machine coming from AC.

[Dave S]

For comparison sake, here's a snapshot of the machines from their respective sites.

Kymco 375:

Arctic Cat XC450i:

[LightningBG]

Pretty darn close.

The only thing I can see different is the grille piece. The wheels are even the same.

[Dave S]

Guess we'll be seeing Kymco selling snowmobiles now

[rundrave]

For some reason is does look a lot like the Kymco Maxxer with a little bit bigger engine. Some of my thoughts after looking at the specs. I like that its EFI, but being that its only a 450cc and weighs 600lbs(dry weight) its way underpowered. The belt drive will suck up some of the little horsepower it has, it would be nice to see a bigger motor. It will get the job done, but I am looking for something similar to the Can Am Renegade.

Its by no means anything I would ride or want, but as far a sheer market share Artic cat is definately not a front runner. Just the fact that they have come up with this speaks volumes. This machine caught my attention last week because I am in the market for a sport 4x4, I have been happy with my Polaris Scrambler but I have been waiting(too long) for a updated version. If Arctic Cat can do it, I hope Polaris does as well, just not Kymco based lol

[Dave S]

I agree with everything you said rundrave. IRS - good, EFI - good, 4x4 - good.

Kymco based - the word filter will edit what I think of this.

IMO, if Cat seriously wants to be a front runner in this market, they won't get far by rebadging someone else's machine.

[PurpleFloyd]

They might as well. They were selling rebadged Suzukis for years when they started so it doesn't seem much of a stretch that they would go that route again instead of developing their own in house.

[pulsar_nx]

Rebadging has gone on awhile now.

Can you spot the family resemblance.

And so has motor swapping like Polaris and AC do. It's really no different than the car industry.

I think that it says something about the confidence that the MFG have in some of the imported wheelers out there now. Who knows if might be decent and parts will be available.

[Dave S]

I personally don't recall Polaris and AC swapping motors. At one point in the '80s AC did make a proposal to Polaris to share technology in a poor economy. Polaris declined.

AC has in the past used Kawasaki motors and most recently Suzuki. Suzuki is understandable since they owned part of AC. I don't recall if the amount was 23 or 35%. With the new facilities in MN, AC has been building their own motors for some models.

[PurpleFloyd]

I had a 1997 Yamaha Wolverine that I bought new and I guess that was probably the first "Crossover" on the market and I had a blast on that quad. It had the 5 speed trans instead of the cvt on the pater model and that made it a very fun ride. It was pretty light for it's size and somewhat sporty.

I later traded it for a sportsman 500 and while that had a more plush suspension there really wasn't much else that I liked better about the Polaris except the feeling I had when I sold it.

That could be a darn fun ride if the quality is there and if they do the setup right.

[Dave S]

I agree PF. The original Wolverine is one of the machines that set an industry standard. When I heard the 350 manual tranny was being discontinued instead of an upgrade to the current platform, it was a sad day in the ATV industry. Instead, Yamaha elected to totally redesign the Wolverine and put on the CVT tranny and, IMO, in the process made it more of a beginner's machine.

I don't mind making some machines more user friendly. I just think the Wolverine could've/should've gone a different direction.

[pulsar_nx]

Polaris uses Fuji motors in the past and maybe still do, I think that some of their smallest use taiwan motors also. AC is a long time user of Suzuki.