Get the alpha 165, It behaves and feels like a 155". It takes a few trips to get used to, I couldn't believe how fast it carved and changed direction on me and threw me off it lol.
This past week we had a ton of fresh snow, I rode a pro rmk, khaos, and ski doo xm, heres my observations, my 19 alpha at 3k km. has made me so much better of a rider, it holds a side hill great, i can change direction while sidehilling with ease, it's easy to hold over, and get over, it has great traction, I have issues keeping the nose down at times with the 165 3 inch , at the end of the day I feel the best riding it, least effort required, IT instills great confidence in my ability on the machine, However the suspension on it is average, the doo has the best.
That said here are a few observations, the Khaos was like the pro rmk but more power, it feels close to the 800 ctec/doo but for a 850 engine it lacks. But polaris always has hasn't they in the engine department?. The khaos/pro took more effort to get over but once over held a decent line, However they have a bad sense of traction, they trench badly, I get stuck on it where my alpha tracks by with no issues, It's like the rear end sinks down and nose goes for the sky anytime you start to chew. The doo has great traction and like the alpha does not want to just trench right down when you start to chew and having the front end point to the sky. the doo I feel is easier to get initiated into a sidehill but does get a bit wiggly and more constant correction to keep it there. I've had so many times where I was amazed at how quick the pro would drop that rear end and get stuck with little forward movement when the doo/cat/alpha flies right by.... I'm not the only one with those observations its well known, Sidehill wash out from it too because it trenches down wanting to climb up the hill at times but all sleds can do that to some degrees too.
I noticed that my alpha 165 behaves perhaps in some ways like a 155? maybe shorter track? I didn't realize it until I rode the doo. It will turn fast and tight and It took me a while to "detune" my input as I was overshooting what I meant to do. in my instance I'm on a slight side hill dodging trees, I'm say 10 ft from a tree pointed at it so I stop and I want to hammer the throttle and lean to the left and shoot out to the left of the tree, Alpha will do it right now like some nice carve. The doo, it wants to shoot forward and turn and It won't make that tight curve that my alpha does so easy.
All In all I feel the alpha is the all around best mountain sled, Easiest to get over and hold over, predictability, Reliability seems good. I do wish the track was a 2 ply instead of 1, but all the new sleds are a single ply.
If you choose an alpha I say the 165 if you have some powder days and climb, It still wants to wheelie easy when you want it to and when climbing I still fight to keep the nose down time to time, it just hooks up and pulls.
