2011
Full-Season Test: 2011 Ski-Doo Renegade E-TEC 800R X
November 11, 2011
Like any good marathoner, our 2011 Ski-Doo E-TEC 800R Renegade X demo sled just kept running last winter. It spent more weekends on the trail than in our shop from December to mid-March. Repairs weren’t ever required, giving us reliable, long lasting performances for 2,987 miles. Well, except for a... Read more »
2011 Ski-Doo MX Z E-TEC 800R TNT vs. Polaris 800 Rush
March 24, 2011
Ski-Doo MX Z vs Polaris 800 Rush These machines aren’t the hero models. They’re not the glamour girls that usually grace magazine covers and wall art. And it’s a shame. Base performance models often have a more devoted following. With more real-world accommodations such as functioning windshields... Read more »
2011 Mountain Snowmobile Shootout
March 24, 2011
In conventional product marketing, there are the 4 P’s: Product, Price, Place and Promotion. Product: Assembled for a Western romp last March in West Yellowstone, Montana, at the annual Rode Reports testing event were four premium, high-performance mountain sleds. We had Arctic Cat’s race-special... Read more »
2011 Power Cruiser Snowmobile Shootout
December 6, 2010
For years, the snowmobile manufacturers have been producing what they often referred to as “solo touring” machines by adding electric start, reverse, mirrors and a taller windshield to an existing chassis and engine platform originally designed for trail bashing. They typically slapped on cheaper... Read more »
2011 Crossover Snowmobile Shootout
November 8, 2010
There’s an aura about crossover sleds that gets many snowmobilers excited. It’s the lure of being able to blaze down a groomed path and then, on a whim, head into the backcountry to search for an undiscovered hideaway. Also known as hybrids, they mostly appeal to “flatlanders,” snowmobilers who... Read more »
Sled Profile: 2011 Arctic Cat Z1 Sno Pro
October 8, 2010
Arctic Cat’s 2011 model line has subtle changes, but among the product tweaks and updates is a new-model — the Z1 Sno Pro. The machine’s origins could be as simple as the product group’s decision to take existing parts and platforms, add a new page to the brochure and tell its dealers that indeed,... Read more »
Tow-testing the 2011 Dodge Ram 2500 Mega Cab
September 7, 2010
Now that gas prices, the Gulf Coast oil catastrophe and this spoilsport economy have knocked some sense back into American drivers and consumers, more drivers are buying properly sized vehicles instead of commercial-grade trucks for weekday runs to Pottery Barn. While there’s some black humor in watching... Read more »
2011 800cc Two-Stroke Shootout
August 19, 2010
With so many major changes made to snowmobiles in the two-stroke ultimate performance class for 2011, this story was immediately filed under the “Must Do” category when we planned for our annul Rode Reports test event, this time in West Yellowstone, Montana. Polaris had a new snowmobile in the 800... Read more »
Arctic Cat Turbo Adds More Than Power
August 19, 2010
To turbo, or not to turbo? The question may not be as engrossing as the Hamlet’s “to be, or not to be” soliloquy, but it’s a perplexing question nonetheless for any Arctic Cat fan seeking a four-stroke snowmobile. For 2011, the question gets a bit more difficult, as Cat has now added a Z1 Sno... Read more »
2011 Polaris Snowmobile Technology
August 19, 2010
Five years ago, a select group of western dealers was gathered at Polaris’ Roseau, Minnesota, headquarters for a sneak-preview of what would be the 2007 Dragon RMK. The Polaris engineers were proud of the mountain sled they’d be introducing the following spring, but because they were also charged... Read more »
