We’ve had a chance to put some miles on three very different 600 2-strokes so far this winter and the results are pretty interesting.

The candidates are the 600 RUSH, the 600 Indy SP and the new XS MX-Z X. Here’s Part III…

After riding the Indy SP we just had to ask ourselves: “Would we pay more to ride a RUSH?” With that question burning in our brains we approached the RUSH with a very critical attitude and came away feeling that, yes, it is worth the extra bucks to own a RUSH.

Why? First of all, this sled feels completely different than the Indy. The rider sits taller in the saddle and the back end flat-out works fabulous.

The gauges are better and the whole riding experience is a step up from the Indy. Even though the Indy is completely acceptable, we felt there was a pervading sense of quality about the RUSH that made it feel like it was well worth its price.

Somehow, the RUSH feels more substantial and handles the bumps with a tad more confidence than the Indy.

Certainly, the high speed, deep stuff is well in control with the Pro-Ride back end and the marriage of that external shock skid to the Polaris non-parallel A-arm front end has been perfected beautifully.

We love the way the RUSH transfers and explodes itself out of the hole on acceleration. You can have wheelie contests with this sled and win!

We’ve had a chance to put some miles on three very different 600 2-strokes so far this winter and the results are pretty interesting.

The candidates are the 600 RUSH, the 600 Indy SP and the new XS MX-Z X. Here’s Part II…

The newest version of the 120-inch MX-Z is a real step up from the former XP.

The ergonomic changes are immediately noticeable when you ride it. Most certainly, its biggest asset is rMotion.

We’ve said it before and it bears repeating: This skidframe is the very best in the business and sets the standard for everyone else to match.

You can ride over crushing trail junk and not even feel it. It never comes close to bottoming but uses almost all of its travel to deliver amazing plushness even when ridden very aggressively.

There’s never a sense this back end is “packing up” at the bottom of its travel – just a great, smooth ride that always keeps you in control.

The 600 E-TEC is still an amazing powerplant delivering great mileage and impressive power.

Frankly, we can’t tell you which engine’s performance is better here – the 600 Cleanfire or the E-TEC. They are both great mid-sized mills.

The combo of ride and power with this MX-Z makes you wonder why anyone would ever need more.

Three 600s To Go! We’ve had a chance to put some miles on three very different 600 2-strokes so far this winter and the results are pretty interesting. The candidates are the 600 RUSH, the 600 Indy SP and the new XS MX-Z X. Here’s part I…

When you ride the Indy you can’t help but be impressed with its lightness.

This sled actually feels lighter than the MX-Z (it isn’t), but its steering is so flickable and its responses in the corners are so intuitive it just feels like a feather on the trails.

Even the view over the windshield and the ergonomics of the driving compartment deliver an impression this sled is smaller than the other sleds (it isn’t).

This writer’s first take was “this thing feels like your riding a fan-cooled sled”. Of course one dip into the throttle and you know for certain your not.

The Indy hauls booty and that Cleanfire mill is a real powerhouse in this chassis. Very fast, very responsive on the trails and much, much more than we expected.

Although the back end isn’t as good as a RUSH or especially the MX-Z with rMotion, we felt the ride was completely acceptable.

The front end is nothing short of magic!

It’s impossible to deny the growing interest in vintage iron and the number of sled projects people are getting involved in to restore and resurrect sleds from an earlier era.

The number of vintage snowmobile races, ride-ins and shows is increasing every year and the old stuff, particularly the sleds from the pre-80’s period with leaf spring front suspensions, are becoming more common out on the trails.

Eventually we need to ask the question: Are these sleds having any effect on the new stuff we’re seeing in showrooms?

It’s kind of a reverse engineering concept and, honestly, it’s really impossible to negate the technology advances we’ve seen in the last thirty years.

Also, there are so many EPA and government conformities today, the OEMs couldn’t very well go backwards with what is currently on the drawing boards.

One obvious change we’ve seen the last couple of years has been paint schemes to commemorate popular sleds of a bygone era. Polaris, on its Pro-R series sleds, has offered a unique 1970s and ’80s TXL red, white and navy blue paint scheme and it’s been a big success.

In 2012, Arctic Cat presented a black and gold minimalized paint scheme for some of its ProCross sleds reminiscent of oval racing Cats of the 1970s. This, too, was a popular rendition. Is a paint job enough, though?

We’ve heard rumors the manufacturers are so aware of the growing interest in vintage snowmobiles, there’s been consideration given to offering a limited edition, mid-performance model with a leaf spring suspension, carbureted powerplant and styling similar to popular models from a time when sleds were, lighter, simpler and way cheaper.

Obviously, the numbers built would have to be small but the logic is that because the snowmobile has reached such a high level of perfection, many potential buyers would be attracted to a sled like this that offered new millenium reliability and the cache of those older models. Price would be a huge factor.

Interesting conversation, but would you consider buying a brand new leaf spring sled like this?

Now that the snow has arrived pretty much everywhere people snowmobile we’ve had a chance to sample a few 2013 sleds.

As you’ve read, we’ve been very impressed with the 800 Cats but also have to give kudos to the Polaris RUSH 800.

Although the sled doesn’t appear grossly different from last years version, the product people have been busy getting all they can out of the RUSH rising rate rear suspension to get it closer to Ski-Doo’s rMotion.

This year’s RUSH has stepped up considerably (again) and its performance over trail chop and deep whoops at trail speeds is even better than last year’s vastly improved Pro-Ride.

Keep in mind there are two advantages to this style suspension: First, there’s very little chance of bottoming it if it’s set up right for the rider’s weight.

Second, this back end transfers like no other sled out there. It will lift its skis on command and carry a “wheelie” for a long way if you keep the gas on. This feature enables the sled to get out of the hole and accelerate hard way past its midrange.

It only gives up a bit to the competition at the top end but this 155-plus engine is a beauty to ply and runs extremely smoothly for a big-inch 2-stroke. Clutching is superb, just as it was last year and the handling is absolutely premium.

Certainly one of the nicest handling snowmobiles we’ve ever ridden. Its neutral turn-in and predictable oversteer lets you get the tail out and stay deep into the flipper on exits. Just so intuitive and fluid you can’t believe it.

As this is being written we’re testing some of the other 2013’s and will continue to report our findings. Stay tuned!

We got our first riding in the week before Christmas and wanted to give you a report on some of our earliest impressions.

The snow was only about six to eight inches deep but the ground was nicely frozen underneath. We rode some rough ditch trails and then hooked up with an ungroomed, frozen rail-line for about sixty miles.

We were apprehensive about the Sno-Pro 800 because we thought it rode fairly stiff last year. Cat had told us it had re-calibrated the front and rear suspensions on the Sno-Pro ProCrossers this year and we had high hopes. Glad to report, we were not at all disappointed.

In fact, we were very impressed. Not only has the skidframe’s compliance been taken up a big notch this year but the front end’s air shocks soak up trail chatter and medium sized bumps much better than in the past.

Barely any kind of roughness comes up through the handlebars. Without question we’d call this the best version of the Sno-Pro ever.

Although this writer hasn’t had a chance to ride a 2013 LXR this year, one of our Supertrax editors has over 100 miles on one.

He claims the LXR (always our fave in the past) has also been softened a bit but without risk of bottoming in the big stuff. This is real progress and means rising rate sleds like the RUSH and the Ski-Doo rMotion have got some formidable competition from Cat.

We also felt the 800’s clutching was much better this year compared to last. There’s no surging forward, the sled engages much more smoothly and the old “4-barrel carb” effect as the engine spools-up into its power is absent. The electric start feature works nicely and has an override on the switch so you can’t cycle the starter motor too long.

We were also impressed with the ProCross Cat’s brakes. It feels like you’re getting everything that was promised last year now and this one-finger deal is so linear, smooth and predictable, we love it.

The 2013 version of the Sno-Pro is a flat-out better sled than the 2012 and it only takes a minute ro realize it.

We’re giving a big tip of the hat to the product people on Brian Dick’s team for smoothing off the rough edges and making this sled all it can be. Congratulations!