Jiddru
01-04-2003, 12:53 PM
WOW! A local dealership sponsored an open house test ride last night of all the new sleds at the local snow cross track. I rode the REV 600HO X Package, 600Sport, 800Sport, RX-1, 800 Renegade, and about 6 other sleds. We even jammed the Grand Touring 800 around the track. The dealer must not have promoted it very well, when I got there, hardly anybody was there. We rode for 2 hours out on the track, one right after the other. We each must have put on 50 laps! But now for the impressions:
REV: This thing will change snowmobiling forever. Once you ride one, you will immediately want one. As I came down the long straight, there were a couple of monsterous moguls, and as you see them coming, your natural instinct is to clinch up and wait for the slamming that would occur. Instead, you just turn around and look back because you thought you were seeing something, but you just glide over them like they were not there! This thing just eats bumps with no slamming at all. I went over stuff that would bottom out any sled, but it just eats it up without you even feeling it. It was hard to get a true feeling for the cornering, since the track was really sugary, but that riding position and suspension is awesome. Unlike anything you have ever ridden! Just plain awesome. That stock 600X would eat up my MXZx440 in those bumps. I definately would take the 600 over the 800 in a second! That 600HO mill is just plain awesome. Butter smooth, linear power, and monster power at that. I preferred the X suspension over the sport, but if you are not an aggresive rider, the sport package is fine. You can ride standing so easily and the transition to standing is so much easier. My adreneline was pumping like never before...
RX-1: What a motor. Smooth as silk and pulls hard. If the rest of the sled could just meet that performance. The suspension did surprised me, and it is a lot better than the SXViper they had out there as well. Its problem is simple loose 100+ pounds of heft and shorten the whole package up about a foot. I rode the RX-ton back to back with the SRX, and the power feels about the same. However, the RX-ton is HEAVY. This thing will NEVER be a great trail machine for the tight twisties. Lakes and railroad grades it will be awesome, but to me that is the boring stuff. Did I mention it was HEAVY? Oh, and one last thing, I thought it was really heavy...
Renegade & Grand touring: Talk about understeer! These things just wanted to go straight. However, I thought for as long as they were, and how heavy (especially the Grand Touring), they really are nice machines. I tell you if I rode in deep powder all the time, the Renegade is really a nice machine.
All in all, it was great. Two hours on the track, able to ride them as hard as you wanted to, 15 different sleds, and all for free. I left there with a huge smile on my face. I'm just glad I already have arrangements to pick up a new REV 600X in about 9 weeks.
REV: This thing will change snowmobiling forever. Once you ride one, you will immediately want one. As I came down the long straight, there were a couple of monsterous moguls, and as you see them coming, your natural instinct is to clinch up and wait for the slamming that would occur. Instead, you just turn around and look back because you thought you were seeing something, but you just glide over them like they were not there! This thing just eats bumps with no slamming at all. I went over stuff that would bottom out any sled, but it just eats it up without you even feeling it. It was hard to get a true feeling for the cornering, since the track was really sugary, but that riding position and suspension is awesome. Unlike anything you have ever ridden! Just plain awesome. That stock 600X would eat up my MXZx440 in those bumps. I definately would take the 600 over the 800 in a second! That 600HO mill is just plain awesome. Butter smooth, linear power, and monster power at that. I preferred the X suspension over the sport, but if you are not an aggresive rider, the sport package is fine. You can ride standing so easily and the transition to standing is so much easier. My adreneline was pumping like never before...
RX-1: What a motor. Smooth as silk and pulls hard. If the rest of the sled could just meet that performance. The suspension did surprised me, and it is a lot better than the SXViper they had out there as well. Its problem is simple loose 100+ pounds of heft and shorten the whole package up about a foot. I rode the RX-ton back to back with the SRX, and the power feels about the same. However, the RX-ton is HEAVY. This thing will NEVER be a great trail machine for the tight twisties. Lakes and railroad grades it will be awesome, but to me that is the boring stuff. Did I mention it was HEAVY? Oh, and one last thing, I thought it was really heavy...
Renegade & Grand touring: Talk about understeer! These things just wanted to go straight. However, I thought for as long as they were, and how heavy (especially the Grand Touring), they really are nice machines. I tell you if I rode in deep powder all the time, the Renegade is really a nice machine.
All in all, it was great. Two hours on the track, able to ride them as hard as you wanted to, 15 different sleds, and all for free. I left there with a huge smile on my face. I'm just glad I already have arrangements to pick up a new REV 600X in about 9 weeks.