You won’t hear a lot about the Renegade Sport but it’s one of Ski-Doo’s absolute best second sleds. The Renegade designation means it is a versatile sled with multiple uses.

Primarily, it’s a trail sled but because of its XP roots, it’s an amazingly good trail sled. This means it handles like it’s on rails, is incredibly light and has enough advanced design and technology to keep the competition at bay for the next decade. You can take this sled out into deep powder and not have to worry about digging out for hours, too.

The Sport’s ACE 600 produces tight-fisted fuel economy and spins out an adequate and somewhat torquey 60-horses. If you want to shave the price by several hundred dollars, you can go for the Renegade Sport powered by Ski-Doo’s Rotax 550 fan-cooled 2-stroke.

We think the ACE Sport is such a good sled we’d gladly spend the extra bucks for it. When riding the ACE 600, you can feel its MX-Z roots, with very sharp turn-in and feather-light steering input. It’s Motion Control gas cell shocks offer near-perfect calibration for riding all kinds of trail junk at every speed.

Throttle response is linear and predictable from this pint-sized (by today’s standards) EFI 600 4-stroke. Cold starting is easy and consistent and the sled never, ever burps at idle. In fact, its start and idle behavior is completely user-friendly.

Here’s a bonus: On trails, this sled is surprisingly quick. You won’t be making apologies for holding up your friends riding bigger displacement sleds. It’s truly about power-to-weight and what the Sport lacks in power, it makes up for in lightness. The end result is surprising performance.

The Renegade Sport 550 fan comes with trail friendly essentials like RER reverse and can be optioned with electric start. On the ACE version, the uptick in price gets you the same net horsepower but a sweet, super-light 4-stroke with EFI, electric start and reverse.

Surprisingly, both also include a 1-inch deep Camoplast RipSaw track that’s 137-inches long – definitely an upgrade for a sled in this price range. There’s even an analog gauge package with a tach included. The point is this is not a cheesy, cheapo sled. Five years ago this snowmobile would have represented the ultimate equipment load for a performance snowmobile.

We’ve often said: the best thing about buying any XP-based sled is that you’re getting the technology of tomorrow, today. The Renegade Sport is a very advanced piece of equipment and its all-aluminum, rider forward design is a benefit that filters down from the top of the Renegade product line to the baseline model here.

As a second sled, the Sport is a snowmobile everyone in the family will love.

The 2011 IQ Race Sled has a new, lightweight IFS to complement the Polaris Liberty 600 engine. The new IFS uses Walker Evans Aluminum IFP (Internal Floating Piston) 16-position compression-adjustable shocks with piggyback reservoirs.

There’s 10.3″ (26.2 cm) of travel while the IQ rear suspension has 13.9″ (35.3 cm) of travel and now uses a Walker Evans Needle Shock as the front track shock. The rear track shock is a Walker Evans Aluminum IFP Aluminum IFP 16-position compression-adjustable unit with a large-body reservoir.

Polaris racers have title-winning power under the hood with the Polaris Liberty 600 twin. It has dual Mikuni Rack TM 40 carburetors, NiCaSil-lined cylinders for enhanced heat dispersion and the Polaris VES (Variable Exhaust System) for optimal power throttle response. The legendary Polaris P-85 clutch manages power distribution and for braking, the race sled has a Cyclone master cylinder and lever teamed with a liquid-cooled Phantom dual-piston caliper.

With a new Independent Front Suspension (IFS) providing easier, more responsive handling, Polaris racers will have an even greater performance advantage as they pursue checkered flags and points titles this winter on the 2011 Polaris 600 IQ Race Sled. Polaris racers piloted the 2010 version of this sled to numerous race wins and season points titles, and they’re looking forward to the improved handling the new 2011 race sled will provide.

“The 2011 600 IQ Race Sled has a new IFS with new spindles, new control arms and control arm bushings, and a new steering post,” said Chris Wolf, Polaris Snowmobile Product Manager. “The new front end delivers easier steering and flatter, more precise cornering.” It was developed to provide Polaris racers with handling that matches the race sled’s outstanding power, suspension performance, and durability.

“Our racers said if there was anything they would like changed, it would be to make the race sled handle even better,” Wolf said. “We started testing the new front end with some of our racers last season, and continued our testing throughout the winter and into summer. “We ran hundreds of miles on snocross tracks in multiple locations to prove the durability and effectiveness the front end. Racers who rode it love the way it handles.”

Another noteworthy change on the 2011 600 IQ Race Sled is its new front track shock. “The race sled used to have an air shock for the front track shock, but nearly every racer switched to the Walker Evans Needle Shock. So, we made the needle shock standard to suit our racers’ performance needs,” Wolf said. “It’s the exact same technology as riders will find on our RUSH PRO-R models.”

The 2011 race sled also has a different look from those of recent seasons. It will be delivered to racers with bodywork that’s primarily red with black accents, like the 2011 RUSH PRO-R. Each team and racer is free to customize the sled’s graphics to feature their team colors and sponsor logos as long as the Polaris logo remains prominently featured on each race sled.