Opinions from guys jumping from axys to alpha

ullose272 · Mar 10, 2019

Im in the market for a new sled this year. Looking at either a new alpha mountain cat or a new 850 axys. Ive been on polaris for 5 years(14,16) and ive really had nothing but good luck with them. About 1800 miles on each. But something different would be fun and the alpha looks pretty sweet. So what is your experience going from the axys to the alpha?

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turboless terry · Mar 10, 2019

My buddy loves mine and doesn't phase him jumping back and forth.

10003514 · Mar 10, 2019

I’ve owned both, very easy to jump back and forth. I had 2 months on my 850 and just about 2 months on my Alpha now. Axys 850 great sled, still the best sled in technical terrain but by a slim margin. The 850 does make great power but so does the cat, with the 2020 upgrades cat has done their 800 will be on par with the 850. Cat is just plane fun if you are in a variety of terrain during the day, very palyfull and easy easy to initiate turns/donuts/sidehills. With the updated 2020 Axys aimed at being more playful and easier to initiate sidehills it will be a very fun sled. The Alpha has the best track in the business and carries forward momentum when sidehilling better then anything out there. I will say I’m more tired at the end of the day with the Alpha due to the heavy steering and if you ride marginal/wind crusted snow more often then soft snow the Alpha would not be my first choice. The Axys has better running boards, way better gauge, easier plastic/hood removal, and I think is an overall better built sled for fit and finish. The Cat is built strong and my only big complaint is the hood design as my sled barely runs on deep days, plus I’ve been getting a lot of snow ingestion as my intake has had lots of water in it every time I remove the hood.

Sheetmetalfab · Mar 11, 2019

10003514 said:
I’ve owned both, very easy to jump back and forth. I had 2 months on my 850 and just about 2 months on my Alpha now. Axys 850 great sled, still the best sled in technical terrain but by a slim margin. The 850 does make great power but so does the cat, with the 2020 upgrades cat has done their 800 will be on par with the 850. Cat is just plane fun if you are in a variety of terrain during the day, very palyfull and easy easy to initiate turns/donuts/sidehills. With the updated 2020 Axys aimed at being more playful and easier to initiate sidehills it will be a very fun sled. The Alpha has the best track in the business and carries forward momentum when sidehilling better then anything out there. I will say I’m more tired at the end of the day with the Alpha due to the heavy steering and if you ride marginal/wind crusted snow more often then soft snow the Alpha would not be my first choice. The Axys has better running boards, way better gauge, easier plastic/hood removal, and I think is an overall better built sled for fit and finish. The Cat is built strong and my only big complaint is the hood design as my sled barely runs on deep days, plus I’ve been getting a lot of snow ingestion as my intake has had lots of water in it every time I remove the hood.

Pretty much nailed it.

Sheer · Mar 11, 2019

I have an 850 and ride with a guy with an alpha pretty normally, we flip back and forth quite a bit i agree with all the above comments other than the track, i find the alpha track is sortof like a digger track... its a monster and really moves the snow when pinned but sometimes it backfires and just digs a massave hole in like a second... the polaris will do the same in the right snow conditions but i feel the flotation is way better and usually where the alpha dug a hole the polaris sortof packs the snow under itself and pops ontop... not always but usually... resulting in less stucks... the polaris is better in tight tree rideing and sidehilling, the cat is better hillclimber and easier is crappy snow conditions... by the seat of the pants dyno the polaris has more power but not much.... the cat has more bottom end but once the 850 is on the pipe its got more powa.. they are both good sleds if i could have them both i would, but only haveing 1 i like the polaris better for what i like to do.. you are compareing two diffrent beasts... i think the 850 has a really bad reputation on here for reliablity, and cats are known to be reliable, i think alot of the bad rep is overblown and you need to take it with a grain of salt...and i think for 2020 polaris has addressed any issues... best thing to do is take them both for a demo and see how they work for you

Boondockingak · Mar 12, 2019

Sheer said:
I have an 850 and ride with a guy with an alpha pretty normally, we flip back and forth quite a bit i agree with all the above comments other than the track, i find the alpha track is sortof like a digger track... its a monster and really moves the snow when pinned but sometimes it backfires and just digs a massave hole in like a second... the polaris will do the same in the right snow conditions but i feel the flotation is way better and usually where the alpha dug a hole the polaris sortof packs the snow under itself and pops ontop... not always but usually... resulting in less stucks... the polaris is better in tight tree rideing and sidehilling, the cat is better hillclimber and easier is crappy snow conditions... by the seat of the pants dyno the polaris has more power but not much.... the cat has more bottom end but once the 850 is on the pipe its got more powa.. they are both good sleds if i could have them both i would, but only haveing 1 i like the polaris better for what i like to do.. you are compareing two diffrent beasts... i think the 850 has a really bad reputation on here for reliablity, and cats are known to be reliable, i think alot of the bad rep is overblown and you need to take it with a grain of salt...and i think for 2020 polaris has addressed any issues... best thing to do is take them both for a demo and see how they work for you

Ive seen a few people saying this, but I have yet to experience it? All season I have yet to have the alpha dig a hole. This goes from dry sugar snow without base to all other snow conditions. I’m not saying “my track is better”, but I have seen a lot of axys sleds dogging plenty of holes. Who knows...

jakey-boy · Mar 12, 2019

You really need to ride one for yourself. My buddies and I have been swapping around a bit the last few weeks. I was nothing but impressed with their 850s I could certainly own one if the reliability issues were addressed but I have given up on being able to trust Polaris plus the dealers near me suck. As for my buddies some of them love my Alpha and think it feels better than their 850 some say it is interesting and they could probably get used to it and some say it is terrible.

So it really depends on the person. If you have an open mind and want to try something different I am confident you will love it. I sure haven't looked back on my Polaris days and the Alpha is next level but it still just depends on you.

I am thinking an Alpha with elevated spindles would be the best of all worlds and I am pretty sure that is what I will have in my stable next year.

madmax · Mar 12, 2019

I have an axys and an alpha. Spend plenty of time on both. It’s very easy to switch from one to the other and feel comfortable on either sled. The 3” powerclaw does tend to trench more. Just digs super aggressively to find something for traction. The Polaris 2.6” seems to spin on top and not dig as aggressively. Im talking same snow on the same day. I’m still not 100% sold on the alpha over the twin rail in super technical terrain. My only reservation for not buying a polaris 850 is reliability issues. I’ve tebuilt too many Polaris motors over the last 4 years. Four motors in that time frame, two 2015 pro, a 2016 axys and a 2018 axys. Never rebuild a cat motor since the proclimb came out in 2012.

PaulAnd · Mar 12, 2019

Boondockingak said:
Ive seen a few people saying this, but I have yet to experience it? All season I have yet to have the alpha dig a hole. This goes from dry sugar snow without base to all other snow conditions. I’m not saying “my track is better”, but I have seen a lot of axys sleds dogging plenty of holes. Who knows...

So your saying you have more control over your thumb?

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EOREGON · Mar 12, 2019

That’s exactly what it boils down to, just can’t pin the power claw. Takes less throttle to accomplish the same result.

WyoBoy1000 · Mar 12, 2019

EOREGON said:
That’s exactly what it boils down to, just can’t pin the power claw. Takes less throttle to accomplish the same result.

yes you can, but knowing when is key. Sometimes you do sometimes its a mistake. But one thing is for sure, the polaris tracks wont touch it!

madmax · Mar 12, 2019

WyoBoy1000 said:
yes you can, but knowing when is key. Sometimes you do sometimes its a mistake. But one thing is for sure, the polaris tracks wont touch it!

Yes, and when you switch off a axys to an alpha, throttle control is vastly different.

slyrydr · Mar 12, 2019

yup, i find i seldom use full throttle on my alpha....6500-7500 rpm gets me where i need to be 80+ percent of the time...sled gets on the snow and makes you go forward better than any other track i've used, which is most of them on all 3 of the brand machines..:face-icon-small-coo

ullose272 · Mar 13, 2019

madmax said:
I have an axys and an alpha. Spend plenty of time on both. It’s very easy to switch from one to the other and feel comfortable on either sled. The 3” powerclaw does tend to trench more. Just digs super aggressively to find something for traction. The Polaris 2.6” seems to spin on top and not dig as aggressively. Im talking same snow on the same day. I’m still not 100% sold on the alpha over the twin rail in super technical terrain. My only reservation for not buying a polaris 850 is reliability issues. I’ve tebuilt too many Polaris motors over the last 4 years. Four motors in that time frame, two 2015 pro, a 2016 axys and a 2018 axys. Never rebuild a cat motor since the proclimb came out in 2012.

Does the alpha tend to wheelie more than the axys? Im debating on 154 or 165. Coming off a 155 axys i dont think i want something that wheelies more than that so i might be more inclined to get a 165

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CO 2.0 · Mar 13, 2019

Alpha 54 wheelies a ton more than the 55 axys.

turboless terry · Mar 13, 2019

You can turbo a 155 Axys and I don't think they are out of hand but the alpha would be.

madmax · Mar 13, 2019

ullose272 said:
Does the alpha tend to wheelie more than the axys? Im debating on 154 or 165. Coming off a 155 axys i dont think i want something that wheelies more than that so i might be more inclined to get a 165

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Suspension set up and throttle control is the key to wheeling control on the slpha. You just can’t keep the alpha pinned all the time like the axys, the track hooks up too good.?

dgibbons · Mar 14, 2019

turboless terry said:
You can turbo a 155 Axys and I don't think they are out of hand but the alpha would be.

I haven't spent much time on turbo sleds in general, but the 154 Alpha with a Silber turbo that I rode was pretty much out of hand. It was nearly impossible to stay on top of in blower pow climbing. 7 lb of boost. Fun as heck and ran extremely well, but didn't seem very practical in tech terrain. Wheelied everywhere and would climb itself backwards with one grab of the throttle. Probably partly my lack of experience on a turbo, someone with better throttle control of a turbo, etc. could probably handle it better, but don't think I'd buy a turbo for the shorter track.

The speedwerx stage 2 165 I rode on the other hand, was a monster in the tech terrain. Wheelied when I wanted it to, but much easier to stay on top of and could turn uphill and climb and just kept grabbing traction. Same day and same conditions, much easier to manage in the steep trees. Had a bogging issue a number of times that screwed me, seemed to be sucking some snow. I hope they figure out a fix for that for 2020. Seemed a lot stronger than my piped 16 Axys 163.

Boondockingak · Mar 15, 2019

slyrydr said:
yup, i find i seldom use full throttle on my alpha....6500-7500 rpm gets me where i need to be 80+ percent of the time...sled gets on the snow and makes you go forward better than any other track i've used, which is most of them on all 3 of the brand machines..:face-icon-small-coo

Boom!

Opinions from guys jumping from axys to alpha

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