Our bench racing team spends a lot of time thinking about what’s best.

As a matter of fact, our December 2015 issue of Supertrax will be focusing on just that: What is the best sled in each of eight different categories.

One segment we stress over is the vertical category. This year, it looks like everyone has raised their game another notch and delivered mountain sleds that are way, way better than in the past.

Polaris has come with an AXYS-basd RMK line-up and these sleds are very sophisticated, using carbon fiber and other weight saving techniques to reduce mass and add chassis stiffness. The addition of the super-powerful Liberty 800HO powerplant introduced in the trail-targeted AXYS line-up last year means two things are working to the buyer’s benefit: Less weight and more power.

It’s pretty difficult not to give kudos to Polaris when the company took a sled that was arguably at the top of its class and made it so much better….Unless you consider Arctic Cat.

The front end and skidframe tweaks made to the new M-Series Cats combined with all-new TEAM Industries clutching make major changes to the way this snowmobile handles in the deep stuff. Our test riders tell us there’s a measurable improvement in these sleds and they are truly worthy of consideration.

Then there’s Ski-Doo. The T3 concept is really working and the fact you can buy super-long tracks like a 163 ad a 174 with SK’s unique, tilting tMotion setup adds a lot of appeal.

One of the biggest factors is that Ski-Doo has made tMotion available on several more models this year.

Ask Yamaha and they will tell you they’re dead serous about the mountain market. Sure, some would rule them out simply because they are 4-strokes. The fact is, the Viper MTX series are surprisingly capable – maybe not to the extreme level of the 2-strokes… yet, but fully able to perform at levels many would have thought impossible a few years ago.

So there you have it. If you were us, what would you choose?

We’ve been wondering how the showroom response will be when people have to walk by the extensive Viper line-up before choosing to buy a new Vector or Apex this year.

Yamaha made changes to both these sleds rear suspensions, dropping weight and actually improving the way they perform.

We’ve noticed a considerable difference in the way these sleds turn with both the 129 and especially the 146-inch version of their new SingleShot skidframe.

Frankly, the Apex with a 146-inch SingleShot is a surprisingly good handling, great riding sled that goes far beyond what the 144-inch former versions performed like.

You could say the same for the Vector. It has the same suspension changes plus a new version of the 1049cc triple under its hood this year. Although we don’t see much difference in performance, the engine has a beefed up crankshaft, different rods and new pistons.

Its most noticeable change is its drive-by-wire throttle that offers three driving modes and delivers very smooth and linear throttle tip-in – something we had absolutely no complaints with in its original form.

Are these changes significant enough to pull customers away from Vipers? We think there’s still a strong element of Yamaha owners who simply wouldn’t buy a Viper because it is built in Thief River Fall, Minnesota. These Yamaha hardcores only want a real Yamaha. It’s here the Vector will satisfy.

We think the Apex will have less trouble capturing buyers simply because it’s the only hyper-powered sled Yamaha offers. The changes in weight and skidframe tech will go a long way toward keeping those types of buyers in the Yama-fold.

Frankly, we’re anxious to see where all this is going. We don’t know how many more years sleds like the Apex and Vector will be relevant in light of the success Yamaha is seeing with the Viper.

It’s likely going to take another year or two before the blanks start to fill in with where Yamaha’s next generation of sleds are going.

Ski-Doo is having success with its new Enduro line-up this year and some prospective buyers are asking if it’s just a case of camouflage.

We’re not talking about the Enduro’s paint job here – we mean the fact this “new” sled has its roots in the now terminated GSX.

On close inspection the Enduro comes mighty close to what the GSX was in its former life. That model was available in two forms – one a 137-inch REV-XR platform (SE) with choices of 800 E-TEC and 1170 4-TEC powerplants. The other GSX (LE) used the more barebones 120-inch XS platform and came with a 600-E-TEC. Both models were really close in performance and personality to either a Renegade (137) or an MX-Z (120).

This year Ski-Doo has rethought the designation of that category and now offers one chassis – the 137-inch Renegade – and four different engine choices: 4-TEC, 600 & 800 E-TEC and the 900 ACE in the Enduro. Each has its own personality and target market.

All models have an incredibly long feature list: Adjustable 137-inch rMotion air suspension, a factory-studded track, the XS’s comfortable bodywork and Ski-Doo’s best electronics. The 1170 version has special exterior side panels to accommodate the 4-stroke’s huge muffler and uses the company’s unique drive-by-wire technology to alleviate throttle lag.

So what’s going on? Is this just smoke and mirrors?

We think it shows a big shift in the consumer’s appetite for fully featured, versatile sleds. It’s not enough to just have fast or even fast and light. Many buyers are looking for sleds that are competent both off-trail and on and can carry an extra passenger and gear when necessary.

The big issue is sizzle. We want it all without giving up macho, raw edged appeal and sexy looks. No one wants a foof sled – even if it can do a lot of stuff.

The Enduro fits the bill. The sled is fully competent in all the above applications regardless of which engine you choose. Its looks are downright cool and it now fits perfectly into the Renegade family – a nomenclature that drips machismo.

We think the re-dreamed Enduro will sell big in 2016 and we can guarantee, based on our experience with the old GSX, those who buy will be smiling big grins from here to Tucson.

What bugs most people about advertising involving product comparisons? We think it all hangs on this: Fairness – or the lack thereof.

Whenever we’re faced with an ad proclaiming a product is superior to another similar product we immediately become skeptical. We just don’t believe a manufacturer of an advertised product would say anything less than their product is superior to all competitors.

Comments like: “The competitive vehicle was not set-up properly” or “the advertisers vehicle was a ringer” is pretty much our default position when exposed to comparisons.

Face it, we’re a generation raised on pick-up truck commercials with Ford, Chevy and Ram duking it out towing a boat or hauling a heavy load with an obvious winner proclaimed.

Unfortunately, we’re increasingly cynical about these comparisons and often downright indifferent, discounting them as nothing more than biased or plain inaccurate.

Enter what Polaris calls the COE: Competitive Owner Evaluation. The idea isn’t completely new; the auto business has been using the COE concept for the past two years and it’s working. Maybe you’ve seen Ford’s series of “Challenges”, more specifically the Eco-Boost Challenge and the F-150 Challenge. These are now classic examples of the COE concept.

So what is a COE? The COE template completely removes competitive product and replaces it with the competitive product owner – thus the letters C and O for Competitive Owner.

COEs don’t carry credibility-undermining baggage from pitting one snowmobile brand against another in supposed “fair” evaluations or tests. Instead the COE concept takes real-world owners of competitive snowmobiles and draws on their frame of reference (FOR) to validate the advertiser’s sled.

In the case of the Polaris AXYS Experience COE, Arctic Cat, Ski-Doo and Yamaha owners rode the all-new Polaris AXYS chassis in its MY2015 variants, for three days. The competitive owners’ personalities, level of enthusiasm, experience and knowledge almost literally become the competitive snowmobile.

There’s no need to have a raft of comparable sleds present when the owners of the competitive brands are the commentators, describing the technology and performance they experienced on the AXYS. Click on the link to the Axys Experience video and see what we mean.

The icing on the cake is this fact: These are real people snowmobilers can identify with. Their opinions are not derived from head-to-head drag races or top end pulls with an AXYS pitted against a competitive snowmobile but rather, from their frame of reference. From what we can see, this makes all the difference.

Polaris is onto something here. The participants in the “AXYS Experience” COE generated hundreds of genuine comments from a group of owners who ride competitive brands. These real snowmobilers are easy for us to identify with.

All of them have lots of experience with their brand and thus viewers and readers immediately – and strongly – identify with these competitive brand owners.

Going forward this is going to get interesting. The COE format builds strong credibility for the AXYS. It’s almost like walking into your local trailside pit stop and yacking it up with friends you respect.

Check out these COE videos…

AXYS Comfort – Polaris Snowmobiles

AXYS Power – Polaris Snowmobiles

AXYS Handling – Polaris Snowmobiles