i did a 174 on a '16, liked it very much...picking through trees and other tough spots was excellent...climbing also was a cut above most 160 class sleds...only drawback i could see was trying to turn skiis during spring riding because the track pushed too much for the skiis, a ski change or suspension tweek would probably have taken care of it, but i snowchecked an alpha for last year, so i never pursued a solution...but overall, i would recommend the 174....i live in Utah, so i have a lot of dry type snow..
