Clearly its Arctic Cat’s turn to step up with something new for MY 2012.
Not only does 2012 mark the company’s 50th anniversary as snowmobile OEM but industry standard product cycles all point to Arctic Cat’s F chassis and the Crossfire platform as due and overdue for updating.
Here’s the thinking in most corners of the biz. When the F chassis was born Arctic went down a road which saw them increase creature comforts and address ergo issues with their IRP system.
While these features have been well received, the F chassis came out of the gate heavier than any new platform released since its intro.
This means the weight game is clearly what buyers are into and we suspect any chassis AC intros will have not just light but super-lightweight as its calling card.
We feel the company will introduce a new platform capable of using both 2 and 4 stroke power and able to cover both 121 inch trail spec track lengths and 136-141 inch X-over lengths – all in one light platform.
Before you go too far with all this and assume the very trick, light and innovative Sno-Pro will be the basis for the new 50th Anniversary ride we’re betting it won’t.
We do think bits of Sno-Pro will show up in anything the company builds but the Sno-Pro’s single minded racing demeanor precludes it from full-on consumer use – in our humble opinions.
