If you’ve perused the statistics on the new Polaris RUSH AXYS platform, you’ll notice the new chassis has pared nearly 40-lbs from the former Pro-Ride version.
You bet this is significant and it squarely puts Polaris into the “lightest in class” category.
When it comes to power to weight, the revamped and much more powerful 800 Cleanfire version, claimed to have been benchmarked against the competition, will likely exceed Ski-Doo’s long term claim to lowest snowmobile power-to-weight.
Ski-Doo has whipped the lightness pony in its promotion for a lot of years and we’re pretty sure the company will not be happy having to clam up about owning the weight category.
Fact is, two years ago it seemed pretty far-fetched to imagine anyone else exceeding Ski-Doo’s power-to-weight ratio given the fact it looks like the company designed the XP-XS platform top to bottom to be lightest-ever in the industry.
So much for progress – we’ve learned to never underestimate any of the OEMs’ engineering people when it comes to new innovations.
Those who have owned XP-based Ski-Doos know there’s been a penalty sometimes in front clip strength and durability in order to achieve this high level of lightness. We’re curious to know if Polaris will experience the same issues with durability when every possible unnecessary ounce has been eradicated from the AXYS.
One ace Polaris has up its sleeve is the fact it has begun with a cast bulkhead on the AXYS and then used its proven bonding process to ensure box-like strength up front.
It’s going to take a whole season of consumer testing before we know how strong this platform is but we’d gamble it’s good and it’s enough to send Ski-Doo back to the drawing boards.
