Okay guys. Ever since I have been a snowmobiler, I have been a MachZ guy, and a pretty hard core one at that. Had a real nice 1025 MachZ that I sold here last year, and took a year off to save up soem money for a place up north in Michigan. Anyway, I was looking around for a new MachZ and I found a brand new 2001 Thundercat still in the crate for $6500 OTD. I am a die hard triple lover and I know its hard to find these sleds, especially new. So what do you guys think, a good deal or not? Feels kinda weird jumping ship like this, since all my buddies are still riding machZ's. Everyone is gonna want a piece of me. Since the sled still has a 1 year warranty, what can I do to it the first year to get it to run good without pipes and porting yet. I have run a few T-cats back in my Mach days and I was never impressed with them box stock. Who is the best at helping me get this t-cat to run? Also, from anyone familiar with riding both a late model T-cat and a Late model MachZ, how will the T-cat compare in the trails? Thanks for any help.

WOW!! That is a very rare find and at a alright price too, Here (http://www.kbb.com/kb/ki.dll/ke.kb.mr?kbb.VA;557000;VA013&22215;sm;r&156&2001;Arctic%20Cat;Thundercat;23999;15645;;;;&) is the suggested retail price from Kelly Blue Book. To run and beat the Mach's you will need to 'uncork' the T-cat, gut the airbox and get a good clutch setup. Also some years of the newer T-cats benifit from different CDI boxes, but I'm not sure what years work best. I've never rode a late model Mach but my ZRT is the same as the T-cat and they handle best above 60mph and for wide open trails they are great and stay flat in the turns. They do handle good in tighter trails but the weight is more noticeable, the harder you hit the bumps the better the suspenion works.

A 2001 still in the crate. With 2005's available for order now, that means this thing has been sitting around for 4 years. Would you have to worry about seals and things like that hardening up? Just something to think about.

nice steal man,,,, welcome to the dark side,,,,

the newer tcats were tame compared to the 98's,,,, but as Scott said, gutting the air box will give you a little more, and a good clutch set up will hook you right up. clutching is the best bang for the buck out there,,,

you bought a place in northern Michigan,,,where are you from???

I am from the Brighton area, but we are buying a place over by Silver Lake Sand dunes mainly for summer fun. I will still probably run to the U.P. with all my buddies in the winter. Thanks for all the feedback guys. Looks like I will picking it up next week. I have alot of new stuff to learn. It's realy weird because I had become very good and familiar with tuning my Mach's and now I have to learn all over again. At least what works and what doesn't.

theres a lot of guys on here that will give you a hand,,,,

I am unfamiliar with the silver lake sand dunes,,,, I usually go up to Newberry, but found a really good time down near starvation lake this year,,,,,, so I would like to make a few trips to that area next year also,,, maybe a couple of day or two long trips

Congrates on getting the new sled :thumbsup: , welcome to the dark side :undercover: . You just picked up a sled many people would dream to have, I dont think there are many brand new T-cats left.

Puree,
Silver Lake Sand Dunes, is in the LP. It's between Muskegon and Ludington, in a little town called Mears.

If you can set aside all the hype, you don't have to do much to a 2001 to run with a mild MachZ. A quality clutch setup, drop the mains to 310's and you're all set (against a clutched Mach). I go back and forth on gutting the airbox for a trail sled. I actually took my powerbreather off and put the shelf and tubes back in the airbox to help with a midrange lean condition but I also have a bunch of other mods.

The 2001 already has the better (more advance) CDI box, so you're all set in that respect.

As far as trail riding and bumps, there's no comparison from my experience. I rode with a 2001 Mach in Feb and we swapped sleds a couple times. It's a very impressive performer (as we all know) but when the trails got choppy you realized it was more at home on the lakes, it rode the washboard about as well as my old ZRT800 which my buddies affectionately called "the back-breaker". The Mach owner actually said that riding my sled (in the crappy choppy stuff) was like being on a Cadillac with a 500 CID enigne, lol.

One of the guys in our group rides a 2001 TCat with just clutching and dropped mains. The Mach was also clutched. Dead even until about 70 mph and then the TCat would inch away, but not by much.

Nice sled man. I agree. Just drop the mains, clutch it. Call it a day. They run, and run well. You won't be dissappointed. Great Find.

Oh, and congrats on the place. I go to the dunes all the time.
Can't wait.

Thanks for the waqrm welcome guys. I just spoke with the dealer and he reassured me that it is in the crate and it has been stored under a roof shelter. He says it has not seen rain or sun and it will look showroom new when I pick it up. I am a little pumped. I feel like I found an old classic musclecar. I found a guy in Howell MI. called Onestop performance. Some old Arctic cat buddies said he know his stuff. Onestop told me he has a nice kit for that sled that will get it running the way it should. Kit includes a clutch kit, gears, and some airbox mods. I would also like to put some V-force reeds in it. It will be under warranty for a year, so I don't want to do to much visual stuff like pipes yet. You guys have any other ideas? How is the stock track on this sled? I am thinking 192 1.180 Roetin Hornets in the stock .85 track. I was told there is room for long studs.

SHould be plenty of room in there. But I wouldn't go longer than reccommended for that size track. Go 192 atleast. Maybe more. But thats a personal pref.
Have fun. Too bad this season is over.

I'm just curious what dealer you found it at. Jim Fritch has been poking around looking for a left over as well.

Be glad to let you know after I pick it up. I believe the dealer has two of them. When I pick mine up next week, I will find out for sure and let you know.

I have 1" studs in my ZRT and still have plenty of room for longer studs. The stock track is alright but will NEVER hook up the power the T-cat is putting out, even with 192 studs there may be a few times that you just can't get enough traction. Once you get it studded, jetted and clutched you'll be very pleased and better be hanging on tight when you grab a handfull of throttle :D .

Originally posted by Mach1000@Mar 24 2004, 10:22 AM
Be glad to let you know after I pick it up. I believe the dealer has two of them. When I pick mine up next week, I will find out for sure and let you know.
Yeah, please post the dealer here so Jim Fritch has a heads up. Thanks.

Originally posted by Beerman@Mar 24 2004, 09:35 AM
Yeah, please post the dealer here so Jim Fritch has a heads up. Thanks.
Thanks Art!!!!

Mach, I pm'd you.

You are deffinately correct about finding a muscle car and yet to find one in the crate "There's gold in them there Hills" Personally a Thunder Cat is my favorite and wish they were still building them I have two 98 T-cats now and looking for more I think I'm addicted HaHa. Congrats on the find I'm sure you won't be disopointed and still with warranty.

And $6500 OTD is a pretty good deal too. I've seen very clean used '01s go for almost $5000. So an extra $1500 for 0 miles and a warranty is well worth it.