Question:
I had an ’05 vector and currently have an ’06 Rage and a ’07 Attack. I have never exceeded 15-16 mpg with the first two and have not bettered 13-14 with the Apex.
Are you running the machines at 30-40 mph? What gives?
Also, have any of you ever changed the oil filter on a new Apex? As much as I love the 4 stroke yamaha’s, the Apex oil filter change is ridiculous.
Sincerely,
R. Witte
Response:
Thanks for your email!
The oil filter ritual on most 4-stroke snowmobiles can be a challenge. You need to think about how many times during the riding season you didn’t have to saddle bag oil bottles, fill up an oil tank daily (nightly?) or buy injector oil by the case when you are struggling with the once a year oil filter change.
I’m not trying to be smart, but here’s where the rubber hits the road – new 4 stroke sleds are tightly packaged and because snowmobiles need a completely enclosed belly we are limited in access to the engine area. It’s the nature of our machines.
The fuel economy issue is intriguing. We ride our sleds hard and fast – honest. In fact we have some of North America’s best lake running at our Canadian facility located in Central Ontario.
We run lakes at WOT all the time. Not good for mileage. Having said this – we have already seen 20 mpg (US gallon) from our Attak GT. Go figure. This sled has almost 2000 miles on it today.
In the past we have recorded over 21 mpg with a Vector/Nytro. We are not using factory tweaked units but real, full-on production sleds. Trails at high speed and lakes at WOT.
This season it has been difficult to get big numbers because we’ve been riding on what amounts to unpacked snow (no hard base) all season. We are having our first mild spell since the snow came.
With unpacked snow on trails skis tend to “sink” and generate much more parasitic drag than running on harder snow. When we’ve run on hard pack, we get better mileage – I would guesstimate as much as 20% better. When it’s loose and cold, we get less mpg on everything.
Hope this helps,
Motorhead Mark
