Some of us who ride trails all the time are bit hesitant to endorse 144-inch tracked sleds for trail riding.
We’ve been pleasantly surprised with the handling of this longtracker, however and would have to endorse it as the best handling 144-inch tracked sled we’ve ridden this year.
We think Cat has come up with a really good balance between trail and powder competence with this sled but the scales are tipped toward the trail side as the sled is a tad heavy and slow handling in deep powder situations compared to the Polaris Assault and the XP-based Ski-Doo Renegade. Certainly, many will prefer it over the old-school Crossfire, as did we.
This 800 2-stroke sled is nicely equipped with adjustable handlebars and seat, reverse, Cat’s Slide-Action rear skid and a 1.25-inch deep track.
The cab area is warm and comfortable with a decent-height windshield and because it doesn’t use air shocks (coilover Fox Zero-Pro gassers both front and rear), we’ve found the ride to be flat-out excellent.
Cat’s refurbished-last-year 155-hp 800 twin is a very strong running mill, especially up top, and will compete on lakes and powder with the performance of its direct competitors, no problem.
