Who has gone from Pro to XM?

winter brew said:

We have XM and Pro. My issue with the Pro is the lack of quality. I think Polaris would have fewer little problems if they added about 20 lbs. and removed all the " made in China" labels.
I will admit, Polaris listened to the customer, they have basically built a "mod" sled from the factory....very light, good power and no frills, but unfortunately it also comes with the same problems that we all fought over the years on the lightweight "mod" sleds by typically having to fix something and look them over after every ride and hope the engine makes it through the day. I don't say this based on internet hype, just what I have seen come through the shop and heard from the Pro owners themselves. At least the 12's should hold their value! :face-icon-small-hap

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I agree, but i think Polaris will take this and chalk it up as a learning period. Same old thing with any first year sled. I look for them to next year (hopefully) lick their wounds and build some scar tissue. They truely are a great sled aside from some issues.

Bump......updates to this thread? I am demoing both Tuesday, will let ya'all know what I think. Poo last 13yrs. I think rider size may have something to do with this so I'm going to add that and the others that are riding them with me. I'm 5' 10" and riding weight is probably 200-210. Ride Baker %95 of the time so that should tell you a little about what and how i like to ride. I will update tue or wed.

Well... as a Doo hater, I might as well add my 1.25 cents here.

I've ridden revs, XP's, nearly every doo from 2005 to 2012... and HATED them. Couldn't stand the handling, and couldn't understand how people subjected themselves to the abuse of riding an XP in particular.
Just had to get that out there for background... I'm no blind follower on the doo train in other words.:face-icon-small-win

This sat though, after hearing from a number of cat guys & pro guys that the XM was the first doo they've liked in many years, I attempted to be open minded & gave one a try.

CRAP. After spending the day on one, I'm screwed. How the heck am I gonna talk smack about the doos anymore when I go buying an XM???


I'm a jumper & technical rider primarily. Don't really care about much else. I climb when I want to get somewhere, and do enjoy it, bu usually only if it's got some reason to be challenging. The XM took me about 1 hour to get used to coming from my short track, very modded boosted M. It feels to me that it steers much more "vertically" than any other doo I've ridden, making it much more easy to switch over for me.

it's ability to roll over is so improved it's not even a comparison, it's more fitting comparing it to a pro than an XP... SO smooth, and I really love the lack of "point" where it starts laying over, I assume that's the track that causes that, but it's really easy to choose just a little lean & vary your angle easily.

Down hill descents... now that's where this really shined. I expected to panel out with the narrow stance, but as I laid it over it was really easy to keep the back from passing the front & go down on your side like the M does... BUT, despite 4+ years on essentially the same machine & only a few hours on the XM, I could descend smoother on the XM than my own M.
As I got going down the hill it was very easy to roll over, then slow down using the edges of the boards & skis together on a steep descent, even in stiffer snow, then coming to a stop & going sideways or stopping & parking was very controllable. This kind of thing is where the new cat falls on it's face imo, and is the main reason I was even willing to even try a doo, but I was really impressed.

I had a few instances where it didn't react how I expected it to when i hit the other side of a creek, or took very aggressive carves trying to hit a line in the trees... but that's a matter of time I think, other than that... in one day I went from not even having doo on my radar to most likely buying one some time soon.

Needless to say, I'm beyond impressed. Doo hit a home run with the 13 XM... amazing sled, even coming from a "doo hater".

PJ-Hunter said:

My brother in law told me yesterday that he rode a 2013 PRO for a few hours and then jumped on his 2012 Pro. He said he was glad to be back on the 12.

I haven't seen any XMs on the snow where I ride. All I have seen are XPs and Pros. I have yet to ride an XM. Tried signing up for the BRP demo your on their Steamboat stop but they were already booked. So not looking like I get to ride an XM this season. Called the local dealer and told him that. He's trying to work on getting some more out as he is getting a lot of complaints from customers that they can't find a demo ride. And none of them wants to drive the 8 hour round trip to the Mesa or the 16 hour round trip to Durango for a 3 hour ride. I have faith in him, as I told him that I won't buy unless I get a feel for what the sled will do, in my element, not whipping around in a meadow next to the parking lot.

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Ralph... it took me one call, and about 3 minutes to get a sled for an entire day to go play on. Why waste your time with a stupid demo ride where you get 5 minutes on a sled?

Perhaps you've got the wrong "local" dealer