We’d be the first to admit that although turbochargers are certainly a lot of fun, their extra plumbing and complexity drives prices higher.
For instance, Arctic Cat’s Z1 Turbo is without question the horsepower king of the industry, producing between 175 and 177 ponies. No one else comes close.
If you’ve ever ridden one of these monsters you know how much torque a turbocharger produces and frankly, dipping into the throttle of a Z1 Turbo is like getting a swift kick from behind from a moose.
Cost and weight are certainly real considerations in the marketplace these days and although there’s been nothing but silence from Arctic Cat, we’ve heard rumors there’s an all-new 3-cylinder 4-stroke in development.
Snowmobiles seem very happy with this 4-stroke configuration, as evidenced by the success of Yamaha’s Vector and Ski-Doo’s 4-TEC and, although Cat has proven the parallel twin in the Z1 can be a powerhouse, a naturally aspirated triple in the 1100-1200cc range is fully capable of producing a safe, reliable 160 horses.
Wouldn’t it be interesting if the new Cat chassis we’ve been speculating about also introduced a new, lightweight 4-stroke triple?
