BRP’s off-road division, Can-Am, recently introduced a new Side x Side vehicle called the X3.
This thing is totally radical and for all-the-world looks like a cross between a desert racer and a trophy truck.
Here’s what’s interesting to snowmobilers: The X3 uses a version of Ski-Doo’s 900 ACE 4-stroke triple boosted with a turbocharger. Bottom line? It makes 154-hp and runs as smooth as silk.
When our test riders (from our off-road televison show, Dirt Trax) rode the X3, they came back raving about its engine. Apparently it makes big-time torque down low, has almost no turbo lag and cranks power like an engine double its displacement.
The 900 ACE has been consumer proven for a number of years in snowmobiles and in Sea-Doo personal watercraft and has shown itself to be durable when operating in the 90-hp range.
Knowing Ski-Doo’s penchant for building 4-strokes that last, we think the company was actually being conservative pegging the turbocharged version’s output at 154-ponies.
Based on what we’ve seen with other turbocharged 4-strokes in the snowmobile biz, big displacement isn’t always necessary to get big power. Remember Cat’s original 660cc triple? It made about 115-hp and was fairly conservatively boosted. Polaris came with a 750 Weber with a turbo and that engine made 140-hp with a boost cycle that could give you over 160 stallions for a short interval when you tipped-in the throttle.
Yes, we think Ski-Doo is working on a 900 ACE with a turbo and it will make over 165-hp, giving buyers the opportunity to go 4-stroke in the same range as the Gen 4 850.
