The Lester Brothers are at it again bickering and arguing about their picks for the annual Supertrax Best In Class Awards!
WINNER: SKI-DOO 900 ACE TURBO
Doesn’t matter what chassis, track length or bodywork you put this all-new mill into you get the same result – excellent trail performance.
The hardcore Ski-Doo 4-stroke legion had been drooling for a re-invented answer to the venerable but somewhat long-in-the-tooth 1200 triple.
The new ACE 900 comes to market with 150-hp and we can tell you – if you were looking for an upgrade from the 1200 4-stroke, you get a significant horsepower boost – and a turbo-torque kick in the butt.
Kent likes to think he knows a lot about turbocharging since the time he hooked Mom’s 1500-watt hairdryer to the Tillotson carb on Dad’s 19-inch Clinton lawnmower.
It took off like a gyrocopter, ultimately landing in our neighbor’s award winning petunia patch. I tried to tell him about waste gates but he wouldn’t listen.
Moving on, we think Ski-Doo’s first turbocharged snowmobile engine is a hands down winner destined to do two things: First, this engine’s appeal as a 150-hp 4-stroke is already rabid in its first year and that appeal is only going to grow.
Second, I don’t believe for a moment Ski-Doo intends to stay at this power level with this smooth, torquey and potent engine. Look for more variants with more – and possibly less – power in the not-too-distant future.
There’s little doubt Ski-Doo has done its homework with the new ACE 900. It has a broad range of meaty power and demonstrates an ability to finger walk to triple digit speeds.
The engine is comparatively light, compact and quite simply, a blast to hold wide open down Kevlar Lake.
– Mark
RUNNERS-UP: SIDEWINDER SRX/ZR 9000 LIMITED
Mark, please… are you serious? How can you pick the new, unproven, underpowered-in-comparison Doo Turbo as the best trail 4-stroke in the presence of 180 claimed, 200 actual, horsepower from the Yamaha SRX and the Cat Limited iACT?
This choice only underscores your ineptitude (I think that’s a real word) when it comes to making these critical kinds of choices. Both the Yamaha and Cat are proven entities and now offer an incredible uptick: Rider adjustable, electronically-controlled suspension!
Mark, this is real advancement in our industry. Not just ultimate power, but now, ultimate power combined with ultimate ride. These two turbos are the fulfillment of every trail rider’s dream. Simply stated: it doesn’t get any better than this.
You need to take your eyes of the glitter of a new sled and look at the real steak of this business. Fastest still rules.
You can run these two sleds down the lake a hundred times and still not know which one is fastest. The 150-hp Ski-Doo Enduro? Check your rear-view mirror; it’s that little dot in the bottom corner.
– Kent
