A ten-year-old sled, if you can find a really good one, represents good value and can provide comfort and reliability at a fraction of the price of a new sled. If you’re looking for used iron, here’s a few suggestions in no particular order:
In 2009 the 600 Cleanfire was available in the Shift, the Dragon (with Walker Evans shocks), the IQ 600 (121) and the 136-inch Switchback. Polaris was touting “competition killer” prices and, depending on how you equipped it, you could pick up one of these sleds for hundreds less than the 600s from Ski-Doo and Cat.
The Cleanfire 600, although not as fuel efficient as the newly introduced 600 Ski-Doo E-TEC, was rated at 125-hp and with Polaris clutching, was plenty fast.
IQ Polari were not as light as the new Ski-Doo XP either (Ski-Doo was making a very big deal about its low weight back then), but have proven to be strong and durable over the long haul.
These sleds were equipped with PERC – Polaris’ version of electronic run-backwards reverse, but Shift versions were stripped bare of goodies and in 2009 didn’t even have a thumbwarmer. Those sleds were cheap back in 2009 and should be reasonably cheap today.
The IQ was a bit sensitive to carbide length on the skis and if your replacement skags are even a bit too aggressive you can have some steering resistance issues – tiring on long rides and you can get some darting. We suggest staying with the stockers.
All in all, the IQ platform was very comfortable and warm, had good suspension and handled great.
Unlike the 2009 Cleanfire 800, which was a troublesome engine, the Cleanfire 600 has a very good reliability record and customers rate it fairly high. We’d definitely suggest you limit your 2009-era Polaris IQ searches to the 600 and the FST Turbo.
We rate any 2009 Polaris IQ with a Cleanfire 600 a 4.5 out of 5.
