to fuel inject or not???

[Ryan_V]

Looking to upgrade my machine. is it worth spending the extra money to get a little bit bigger with fuel injection?? specifically looking at the arctic cat 700 efi vs the 650.

[jltimm]

With EFI you don't have to mess with a choke, you get better fuel efficiency, and you do not have as much warm up time.

[Scott K]

Fuel injected is nice, if I had the option of the two, I would go fuel injected. As for fuel efficiency, I dont think there is an advantage, more power yes. I have a comparison of a different model, from fi, and carb- fi more power, but alot less mpg.

[BobT]

I disagree with the less warm-up time. It seems in recent years that we don't believe we need to warm up our vehicles anymore. I see it all the time with automobiles as well. Warm-up does not mean until the engine begins to perform without the need for partial choking. Warm-up means as it implies, to warm up to running temperature. This includes engine and drive train although we aren't typically provided with drive train temperature sensors. For this reason, I believe that the drive train is less critical but that doesn't mean we should ignore it.

As an engine warms up, the metal parts are expanding and so the cylindes, rods, bearings, pistons, etc. are not all necessarily expanding at the same rate. Until the engine is fully warmed up, it is detrimental to its life to work it too hard.

Let's consider the extreme. At -40 degrees F. 80w-90w is solid in your vehicle's rear-end and/or transmission. How long do you suppose it takes for that gear oil to become liquid enough to flow into the wheel bearings or gears? In the mean time, what is lubricating them?

Unless we are prviding ample time to fully warm up, I guess it doesn't matter much that we don't give any time.

Bob

[Dave]

How does a rear end "warm up" if it's just sitting there, while the engine is warming up?

[BobT]

It doesn't. I'll refer to automobiles. That's why it is recommended to travel slowly for the first couple miles. it gives the lubricant a chance to warm to some degree and provide some lubrication. Every time I see these guys jump in their car after work, start the engine, and floor it out of the parking lot in -20 degree weather I make a mental note not to buy that car in the future.

Bob

[Dave]

Ah, okay, I agree.

[jltimm]

By warm up time I meant that you don't have to feather the throttle or play with the choke in order to get underway when the machine is cold.The wheeler idles perfectly once started and doesn't die.