Any Catalyst 858 Turbo Kits in Progress?

[madmax]

Now that there is a 26’ cat line up, what experiences people had with a boosted 858 this season? I love catalyst chassis, but the motor is a bit weak. Edd’s boost elevation. Tried the Speedwerx stage 2 kit and added a little in the mid, but overall pretty disappointing.

 

[Sleddinhunter]

Boy for a NA I am very impressed with this motor. I don’t know how it seems weak it sure pulls pretty hard in my opinion granted it’s no m1000. If you think it’s weak I guess you do need to turbo it. My dealer installed a couple of ibex on two 858s this season and said they were pretty nice. He himself is waiting for the boondocker to come out if it hasn’t yet. He really likes boondocker. If you have speedwerx stuff already you would have less to buy to get their turbo kit. I’m sure it’s all preference as to what people like though.

 

[ndfb35]

I have a Silber kit that I am installing, probably won't get the chance to ride it this year.

 

[spoon]

I would love to see if anyone would build that center mount turbo setup like in patent pics, TSS built a few Cat and SkiDoo kits like that and called it Instaboost. Anyone ever ride one of the Instaboost kits?

 

[MTsled3]

I would love to see if anyone would build that center mount turbo setup like in patent pics, TSS built a few Cat and SkiDoo kits like that and called it Instaboost. Anyone ever ride one of the Instaboost kits?

Now that Cat is free from the corporate shackles of Textron, hopefully we see something boosted in the next few years. Hell they could even team with one of the aftermarket companies like Boondocker or Speedwerx and offer a discounted turbo kit like what Yamaha did with the MPI turbos and supercharger back in the day. That might satisfy demand for a bit until they get their own turbo dialed in.

 

[spoon]

Now that Cat is free from the corporate shackles of Textron, hopefully we see something boosted in the next few years. Hell they could even team with one of the aftermarket companies like Boondocker or Speedwerx and offer a discounted turbo kit like what Yamaha did with the MPI turbos and supercharger back in the day. That might satisfy demand for a bit until they get their own turbo dialed in.

Teaming up with aftermarket to do dealer installed kits would bypass the emissions regs easily enough as well. Speedwerx would be ideal partner for Cat as they have done great things for the race team in the past.

 

[Old & slow]

The aftermarket turbo kit is the way to go IMHO. Ski Doo and Polaris have a 5 year head start and are well established. Staying with after market lets you keep the weight down something the factory ones cant do. If AC were to offer a dealer installed kit for a price the same as a factory turbo with stock hp or a slight increase and warranty it would sell. To spend all the R and D time and money may not be worth it just to come up with the same thing the other two offer. My point is I don't think they can come up with enough of a difference to take buyers from SD and Pol, and they need to, there is not enough new people entering the sport. The other thing I am seeing is no one wants a used turbo, guys are taking 10k plus losses (on a year old sled) trying to sell them. The dealers wont take them on trade it's getting ugly. The loss wont bother some but it will for the majority. I think AC should keep progressing the Catalyst Chassis like they did for 2026 and get a Catalyst Blast out for next year. They need to keep working on the efficiency, weight and marketing. They have the lightest sled available and no one knows about it. If this was a Polaris it would to all over social media.

 

[goridedoo]

The aftermarket turbo kit is the way to go IMHO. Ski Doo and Polaris have a 5 year head start and are well established. Staying with after market lets you keep the weight down something the factory ones cant do. If AC were to offer a dealer installed kit for a price the same as a factory turbo with stock hp or a slight increase and warranty it would sell. To spend all the R and D time and money may not be worth it just to come up with the same thing the other two offer. My point is I don't think they can come up with enough of a difference to take buyers from SD and Pol, and they need to, there is not enough new people entering the sport. The other thing I am seeing is no one wants a used turbo, guys are taking 10k plus losses (on a year old sled) trying to sell them. The dealers wont take them on trade it's getting ugly. The loss wont bother some but it will for the majority. I think AC should keep progressing the Catalyst Chassis like they did for 2026 and get a Catalyst Blast out for next year. They need to keep working on the efficiency, weight and marketing. They have the lightest sled available and no one knows about it. If this was a Polaris it would to all over social media.

Aftermarket being the way to go is a WILD statement after being around aftermarket turbos and factory turbos. There is absolutely no comparison IMO. Add a can to a factory system and you get rid of most of the additional weight (vs aftermarket).

I think the pricing will sort itself out here. We went from HIGH demand, low supply, low interest, everyone had extra cash to the opposite of all those things real fast. People are taking huge losses on pretty much anything they bought the last 4-5 years. There has been some hesitancy to buy used factory turbos, but that should wane. The systems and motors are good, and longevity should be there. Most of the issues have been sorted out and are easy fixes.

New prices need to come down and I think they will, unless of course inflation picks back up.

I do agree to some extent what you are getting at that adding a turbo to the Cat won't be enough to get people to jump ship... But at the same time, I think there are enough people who get bored riding the same brand but refuse to go so far backwards power wise. The Catalyst is attractive in alot of ways, but I don't know a single person who has gone factory turbo that would go back to NA (not ALWAYS the case, I know, I know).

 

[Krause09]

Winter of 24 we rode out of island park and there were 2 orange catalyst there, one of them was turboed. I’d think after this new ownership gets established we will be seeing factory boost in 27

 

[Old & slow]

Aftermarket being the way to go is a WILD statement after being around aftermarket turbos and factory turbos. There is absolutely no comparison IMO. Add a can to a factory system and you get rid of most of the additional weight (vs aftermarket).

I think the pricing will sort itself out here. We went from HIGH demand, low supply, low interest, everyone had extra cash to the opposite of all those things real fast. People are taking huge losses on pretty much anything they bought the last 4-5 years. There has been some hesitancy to buy used factory turbos, but that should wane. The systems and motors are good, and longevity should be there. Most of the issues have been sorted out and are easy fixes.

New prices need to come down and I think they will, unless of course inflation picks back up.

I do agree to some extent what you are getting at that adding a turbo to the Cat won't be enough to get people to jump ship... But at the same time, I think there are enough people who get bored riding the same brand but refuse to go so far backwards power wise. The Catalyst is attractive in alot of ways, but I don't know a single person who has gone factory turbo that would go back to NA (not ALWAYS the case, I know, I know).

When I say aftermarket I meant a kit co developed with the OEM like Yamaha did for a while.
Where I am at guys are taking a 50 % hit in some cases on a premium sled, as I said before some wont care but most will. New prices do need to come down but I don't see that happening anytime soon. I've rode the Doo turbo and they are a good working sled and if AC builds one I most likely wont buy one if I was 30 years younger maybe lol. I find now that the 3 inch track is overkill on most days. But the deep days sure a turbo and a deep lug track awesome, just not enough of those days for me. I do agree with the power though its hard to go back if not impossible. Maybe I am dead wrong and AC builds a turbo and does well with it I hope that happens as the Catalyst is a awesome chassis. I just don't want or like the uncertainty of losing a manufacture, that is bad for everyone in the sport,