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What is the best, what do we like?
The overall performance of a mountain sled depends on four main attributes: horsepower, weight, traction and handling. The interesting thing about this group is each sled has an exceptional rating in at least one of the categories. The Polaris has the edge in weight, the Cat in engine power and now the Ski-Doo with traction. Power, weight and even traction are all easily quantifiable on paper; however, handling is much more subjective.
It’s nearly impossible to pick a clear winner for an overall mountain sled as it all depends on what type of riding you do and how important those attributes are to you. But take what we say in this section as our ‘winners for each aspect of riding’.
For tree riding and technical sidehilling the Pro-RMK is strongest. For deep snow downhill riding and ease of initiating turns the Ski-Doo wins. When it comes to more trail riding and rough terrain the M8000 wins.
While we may debate the strengths and weaknesses of these machines, we always need to remember all three of these sleds have the capability of taking us to places we’ve never been before. So if there’s a weak link in any of these sleds, it’s almost always the uy (or gal) behind the controls.