Supertrax had the opportunity to ride a 2010 Apex a couple of weeks ago equipped with a G-Force Yamahacharger and came away totally impressed with it.
Unless you haven’t heard, the Yamacharger is a turbocharger that runs off the end of the Apex’s crankshaft. It doesn’t rely on exhaust forces to turn a turbine like a regular turbocharger but instead runs at the ten thousand-plus RPM the high revving Genesis 5-valver’s crank spins at peak RPM.
It’s actually half a turbo with no turbine side but it does have a conventional compressor, which provides considerable boost. Keep in mind; an exhaust driven turbo spins upwards of 150,000 RPM while this one is spinning much slower.
However, the compressor does generate enough pressure that it adds about 20 horses to the Apex at top end. This puts the mill mighty close to Arctic Cat’s turbo, which claim about 175-177 ponies.
What’s amazing is you can trail ride a Yamacharged Apex all day and never notice anything different – except for a mighty big kick in the pants when you wind it out. There’s no whine, absolutely no lag, no difference in throttle pull, throttle tip in, idle or start-up.
The price is a bargain, too. You can get one of these setups for about two grand and it’s definitely worth every penny.
