Spent just over 65 klicks (40 miles) on the new EXUP Apex this weekend and found the newly re-packaged 4-holer to be smoother than its predecessor and seamless in its power delivery.

Velvet, smooth, creamy – these words come to mind when you squeeze the loud handle. Power does not seem stronger initially but its delivery is markedly more linear.

The suspension on our PR unit SE will need some tweaking and to this end we’re going to spend more time here before pronouncing a verdict.

Out-of-the-box the SE’s huge Fox air shock out back was either over-damped, over-sprung (too much air pressure) or both. Same goes for the front end. We’re on it already and will report back when we’ve got some answers.

The new 128-inch shoe outback is welcome and in the loose 6-8 inches of snow we rode, produced perceptibly improved traction given the Apex possesses imposing, track shredding torque.

The sled is exceptionally comfortable this year and very warm in both the footwells and upper body wind protection.

Stay Tuned.

Even though there’s been early snow in some parts of the snowbelt this year (Minneapolis has had considerable snow as early as November 14), Supertrax got its first official test ride of some 2011 sleds on November 27th.

One of the first sleds we tried out was our shiny new Renegade 800 E-TEC press sled. We were pretty curious to see what the actual production version of this sled performed like because we had ridden a production prototype several thousand miles last winter.

That particular sled was a 120-inch tracked MX-Z and since our focus was mostly on the way the new 800 engine performed, we didn’t pay as much attention to chassis details like suspension compliance, realizing all of it could change when the actual 2011 was released.

Our test area for the Rennie was local trails with a new snowfall of about 8-inches of powder. The weather was slightly below freezing and cold enough to feel like real winter.

Keep in mind this brand new engine was still on its computer’s “safe mode” and we can’t expect all its power to be unleashed until we get a few hundred more klicks on the odo. Not to worry, though. This engine felt very strong and there was no appreciable difference between the way this 137-incher performed compared to last season’s 120.

Handling was very similar to last year’s Renegade as was its ride – all this to say, both were excellent. This big direct-injected 800 has a more bass exhaust sound than the 600 but runs almost identically.

Its start-up is flawless and it will literally sit and idle for days if you’re a billionaire and can spare the gas. Even that isn’t much of a problem because this sled doesn’t use much fuel even when it’s in safe mode.

To all you Ski-Doo fans out there: You can sleep well tonight knowing the XP is as good as ever and this engine delivers everything it promised!

Right out of the box the RUSH Pro-ride gave off a completely new transfer-reactive feel lacking in the original 2010 version.

In loose snow, not particularly good for traction, the RUSH lifts its nose on command whenever the throttle is cracked with authority.

Ride compliance feels improved, particularly in the rear arm’s response. We haven’t used the RUSH’ “key” to set the rear shock yet but we intend to do some fiddling right away.

The execution of the new rear cooler is better than what we saw in Yellowstone last March. You can hardly see the hoses running into the rear articulated section of the skid and the cooler does a superb job of shedding heat, keeping the rear flap clear of snow.

The RUSH immediately displayed its laser-level handling prowess on the loose snow we were on providing nice flat turn-in at high speed.

Speaking of speed, the 600 CFI felt even stronger than the Ski-Doo 600 E-TEC we ran this weekend.

It must be remembered the E-TEC ECU holds the DI engine back until the clock clears five hours of run time so this may be a premature conclusion.

In any case, the improved weight transfer makes the RUSH feel more lithe and urgent when whacked.