I had the opportunity to ride a T3 174. These are my impressions.
- The T3 is significantly easier then previous years xm's to initiate a side hill manuver. Once in a side hill I felt no difference except that the long track does not wash out and holds a line very well.
- The 800 Etec just keeps getting better and better, feels stronger then 14, doo must of tweaked the computer again to open the motor up even a little bit more.
- The new front end and lowered rear is a big mprovement in ground clearance. This has been an issue doo has always had compared to the other brands, they are taking it seriously now.
-trail manners were good, they seemed to put serious shocks on them now, we shall see. Perhaps they are valved better I'm not sure.
-The flick ability of the sled is pretty impressive considering the tail length, it does not feel as long as it is, it does show up on the spring crusted snow we were in most of the time pushing you here and there.
-But by far the most impressive aspect of the 174 was the motors ability to maintain good track speed in all conditions. I saw a consistent 43 mph pulling hills in 10" of spring powder all day. That is a lot of rubber to turn and load to push. This was really impressive to me.
We were riding from 9000-10500 feet, crusty to shallow powder conditions depending on aspect.
Now for the cool part, we drag raced up a hill 1000ft long that was 600 vertical at 10000ft on a south aspect with 8" of powder on a solid base. These were the results.
1st race. T3 174 vs stock 13 xm 163. Hotshot was almost even, 174 slowly but surely pulled away and won by one sled length.
2nd race. T3 174 vs stock 13 xm 156 3" paddle track light weight hood. T3 kicked its butt off the holeshot by 3 sled lengths (156 was digging a bit before it got off the line). 13 slowly but surely gained some distance back all the way up the hill to the top. 13 lost by one sled length at the top.
3rd race. T3 174 vs 14 163 w/872 trystad big bore, both sleds were even off the line. BB slowly but surely inched ahead all the way up the hill and one by one sled length over the T3 174.
Needless to say it was pretty impressive all things considered. I know this is useless without video but take it for what it's worth. This new sled is impressive and I see it getting people in stupid places. Should be interesting.
