pro 600 vs pro 800

[jdrice]

im looking at buying a used 13 pro 600 with a stage 2 slp kit on it with 900 miles for 8,300. or a left over 14 pro 800 for 10,200how much more reliable are the 600s vs 800s. with the mods on the 600 it should be about 130 hp but I don't know if I would be happy with the power I mostly like boondocking. just not sure witch sled to buy.

 

[tdblakes]

I'd say it depends how much you weigh and what you ride now

 

[edgey]

Get the 800 I bought my wife a 13 600 155 pro she came off of a 09 m8 with SLP single and she misses the grunt of the 800 I'm now snochecking her a 15 800 and keeping the 600 for a spare until my 8yr old is big enough for it. Where you from my dealer has a 14 800 155 for 9750

 

[cateye5312]

I have both and love both. (2012 Pro 600 and 2014 Pro 800) I won't go back to the 600 though. Love, love, love my 6 but the 8, well, it's just that much more sled. And when you need it, it's there. As for reliability I personally can't vouch for the 6's as I have had 2 of them blow up. But I am the only one I know of that has encountered that. My 8 has 600 miles and is running strong. Both 6's blew at 300 +- miles, one a crankshaft seal that was improperly installed and one from air in the oil line. Evidently I have really bad luck with 6's because no one else seems to have issues.

 

[Teth-Air]

I just had to put pistons in my 13 600 at 2500 kms due to low compression. That's too soon seeing that it gets premium oil and has never been over heated. Polaris does not warranty wear, only breakage.

 

[OuraySledder]

I think altitude plays a big part here. In Alaska or even the west coast, riding elevations are lower than where I am in Colorado. The 600 simply isn't enough power above 10,000 ft.

 

[dktraw]

depends on how you ride mainly. i have both sleds, and if you want a sled that feels super light, and managable that will get you anywhere you want to go but not get the highmark, the 6 is an awsome sled. the 6 will also usually leave you with more energy at the end of the day. my biggest complaint is that the 8 vibrates more...its a little thing, but i notice it. but the 8 does pull harder in the steep and deep, and just has that extra ummph on the hill. i have rode the 6 on deep days with a group of guys with nothin but 800s....needless to say i was not in the back of the pack at all for most of the riding we did. comes down to personal preference, and how u like to ride. cant go wrong with either sled in my opinion

 

[rockinmranch]

depends on how you ride mainly. i have both sleds, and if you want a sled that feels super light, and managable that will get you anywhere you want to go but not get the highmark, the 6 is an awsome sled. the 6 will also usually leave you with more energy at the end of the day. my biggest complaint is that the 8 vibrates more...its a little thing, but i notice it. but the 8 does pull harder in the steep and deep, and just has that extra ummph on the hill. i have rode the 6 on deep days with a group of guys with nothin but 800s....needless to say i was not in the back of the pack at all for most of the riding we did. comes down to personal preference, and how u like to ride. cant go wrong with either sled in my opinion

Well stated. A good rider can narrow the gap between the 6 and the 8. I have a rental business and have no problem at all if the only sled that I have left on the ground to ride personally is a 600. The 600 motor is cleaner and snappier. I am also a believer that the 600 holds it's rpms better under most circumstances. I can think back to many rides that everyone riding a pro 800at higher elevation was complaining of only tacking 7500-7900, but on the same ride the 6 is still tacking 8000 plus. This often is the case. When this happens, the sleds run fairly close to each other. As for reliability, the 600 is pretty hard to beat. I know of one of the tour companies in Jackson that rode 6 600's into the ground as guide sleds over the course of 4 years. Every one of those sleds made it over 12,000 miles on the original motor, no pistons freshened up. I am not a big rental company but have probably run 4-10 Polaris 600's every year since the late nineties. Last year was the first year that I saw the inside of a 600 motor . I had one with a crank problem around 4800 miles. That is the first in over 60 sleds. I always turn my oil pumps up and add a little oil directly to the tank every ride. I do know that for whatever reason, the 2012 pro rmk model had some problems. One of my friends also in the business had 3 out of 4 of those models lose motors under 2000 miles, claimed an issue with the oil pump, yet none of my standard rmk models had any trouble. I'm sure many of the people that frequent snowest wouldn't consider the 600 over an 800, but for the guy who doesn't have to have the "biggest", the 600 will hang in about 90% of the situations, and give the buyer several trouble free years.

 

[OuraySledder]

I am curious about this placebo effect where the smaller displacement engine makes the sled feel lighter. Polaris lists the 600 Pro and 800 Pro at exactly the same wieght. As far as I know the 600 and 800 are the same basic engine except for internal displacement. How can the smaller engine sled possibly feel any different except for lacking power?

We have a buddy who tried to run his 600's in a group that rides 800's. It can not keep up period, not at altitude. I have seen it first hand, he even added nitrous to his SLP 626 IQ and it barely climbs with an 800 on spray. There is a reason the 800 class is the most popular, they work better.

 

[dktraw]

ouray, have you ever ridden a pro chassis 600? u keep saying ive seen, or my buddy. ive had the 600 for my wife for 2yrs now, and everytime i get on it, it never fails to impress. if you ever get the chance to ride one and you can hide the pride that bigger is ALWAYS better, you would be very surprised at how well they do. they feel lighter because you have that much smaller moving parts. the torque of the motor isnt pulling you one way all the time. my 13 660 155 would turn 39-40 mph track speeds,wifes 12 600 155 35-36 mph track speed, and my 14 800 155 is at 40-42. there is no doubt the 800 has more power and will make it farther up the hill, never said other wise. but the 600 is a great option for people that what to get out in some steep mountain riding, want a little more reliability, and dont have to have an 800 just because its bigger.

 

[rockinmranch]

I am curious about this placebo effect where the smaller displacement engine makes the sled feel lighter. Polaris lists the 600 Pro and 800 Pro at exactly the same wieght. As far as I know the 600 and 800 are the same basic engine except for internal displacement. How can the smaller engine sled possibly feel any different except for lacking power?

We have a buddy who tried to run his 600's in a group that rides 800's. It can not keep up period, not at altitude. I have seen it first hand, he even added nitrous to his SLP 626 IQ and it barely climbs with an 800 on spray. There is a reason the 800 class is the most popular, they work better.

If your buddy is riding an "IQ", that should answer your question, we are talking about the pro chassis. You are correct they weigh about the same. The feel of the motor is just an observation shared by many. I never said that the 600 class was better than the 800 class. That would be a ridiculous statement. There are many riders out there that don't measure there every ability in horsepower, some would choose reliability over the 10-15% hp gain. I have owned turbos. I like horsepower as much as the next guy. I like tight technical steep tree riding, of which the 600 doesn't do to bad for that type of riding, of course nobody expects the 600 to highmark the 800 with comparable riders.

 

[Pro-8250]

800

im looking at buying a used 13 pro 600 with a stage 2 slp kit on it with 900 miles for 8,300. or a left over 14 pro 800 for 10,200how much more reliable are the 600s vs 800s. with the mods on the 600 it should be about 130 hp but I don't know if I would be happy with the power I mostly like boondocking. just not sure witch sled to buy.

Around here that price for the 2014 seems a bit high. I think you would be happy with the 600 for mostly boon-docking. I prefer the 800 over the 600 especially when it comes to climbing the steep and deep.
I can't recall anyone that I know personally who does their riding in the mountains with an 800 saying they wished they had a 600 instead. As far as reliability goes. I had three 600's and one 800 go down. The 600's were repairable, the 800 was not. $.02

 

[boots1031]

I have the base rmk 600 144, and a pro 800 155. I spent a good portion of the season on the 600 and I have to say I love that thing. Goes pretty much anywhere I want it to, I've let my buddies run the 600 and they came back saying how impressed they were with the power of the 600. I just find that its missing a bit more power, or traction not sure which since it has the 2" track, wouldn't mind trying it out with the old competition track.. As far as the 800, its awesome lots of bottom end torque, have to tell you its scared me a couple times when I first got it. I had placed where I was thinking I might be stuck, then put the throttle to the bar and it just stands up and climbs out. I would have probably been happy with the pro 600 with the 2.4" track, if not I would have made it a 660 big bore and then id be more than happy with it, I still keep the reliability of the 600.