I have been snowmobiling since riding on back of my dads 1976 Johnson JX 650 have owned many a sleds through the years and believe it or not until this past weekend my all time favorite sled was my 1992 Skidoo Mach 1. I have been a Cat guy since my 1995 ZRT 800, my last one being a 2017 ElTigre 8000. I am also a 2 stroke guy through and through, when I first saw the Catalyst I knew I had to have one, I would constantly leave a pic up on my screen at the shop for my wife to see LOL! I knew she would let me but we also had a tough year at my shop so I filed the idea of one away... for now. Fast forward to this fall my wife says " I thought you were buying a Catalyst this year? I turned to look at her and within a week of her saying so I purchased one without never seeing or sitting on one in person. My wife and I went to west bend snowmobile show this year and there it was, the very model I purchased, needless to say I felt like a little kid in a candy store. Was able to talk to the Cat guy at the booth and one of the things he mentioned was I was going to be very disappointed with the engine during break in period which he said would be approximately 300 miles, performance would be lacking, would experience excessive oil and fuel consumption, but... after the 300 miles it will blow me away.
I accessorized it with powermadd 2xl gauntlets, mid height windshield, snow trackers, the duffle bag style tunnel bag and tunnel flares. Then came early snow in the U.P. so I went. in the first 50 miles I had already fallen in love with the sled, one of my concerns was the seat or lack there of one and how hard it felt sitting on in but...I love it! going from what was comparatively a couch to a bicycle seat, it still provided enough movement while riding and shifting weight. I also really like the riding position as I am sitting up higher, I like to ride with knees bent and feet behind me, by far the most comfortable chassis to do so that I have owned so far. The sled is also very nimble feeling, the over all rider position makes handling almost effortless, easy to lean into corners and position yourself aggressively. I have owned a few 600 cc engines through the year and this one does not disappoint, it is my first Arctic Cat engine and to say the least I am very impressed, at 65 mph the engine sound changes considerably, becomes very throaty sounding. Cat uses servo motors to actuate exhaust valves and does so in stages and am assuming this is the final valve position stage thus the change in sound. IMO... especially looking at it from front on the baddest ass looking sled out there!! I do want to make a few chassis adjustments to it, the only complaint i have so far is the back shifting is pretty severe, like having a dynamic brake but... also equates to less time on the brake. As well as the sled performed in my first 304 miles I am not expecting a "blow me away" change or improvement in performance, I would be very satisfied if the sled continues to perform the way it does. I did also like the guage Arctic Cat used for years that was on my ElTigre and my wifes F8, although I do get more information on the new "sport guage" I liked the appearance and the backlighting on old guage comparatively. Im not a techie guy so really not interested in the garmin guage but not saying I wont upgrade just because of the appearance. Those are my first impressions and I can honestly say that me personally am over impressed with the sled so far.
I accessorized it with powermadd 2xl gauntlets, mid height windshield, snow trackers, the duffle bag style tunnel bag and tunnel flares. Then came early snow in the U.P. so I went. in the first 50 miles I had already fallen in love with the sled, one of my concerns was the seat or lack there of one and how hard it felt sitting on in but...I love it! going from what was comparatively a couch to a bicycle seat, it still provided enough movement while riding and shifting weight. I also really like the riding position as I am sitting up higher, I like to ride with knees bent and feet behind me, by far the most comfortable chassis to do so that I have owned so far. The sled is also very nimble feeling, the over all rider position makes handling almost effortless, easy to lean into corners and position yourself aggressively. I have owned a few 600 cc engines through the year and this one does not disappoint, it is my first Arctic Cat engine and to say the least I am very impressed, at 65 mph the engine sound changes considerably, becomes very throaty sounding. Cat uses servo motors to actuate exhaust valves and does so in stages and am assuming this is the final valve position stage thus the change in sound. IMO... especially looking at it from front on the baddest ass looking sled out there!! I do want to make a few chassis adjustments to it, the only complaint i have so far is the back shifting is pretty severe, like having a dynamic brake but... also equates to less time on the brake. As well as the sled performed in my first 304 miles I am not expecting a "blow me away" change or improvement in performance, I would be very satisfied if the sled continues to perform the way it does. I did also like the guage Arctic Cat used for years that was on my ElTigre and my wifes F8, although I do get more information on the new "sport guage" I liked the appearance and the backlighting on old guage comparatively. Im not a techie guy so really not interested in the garmin guage but not saying I wont upgrade just because of the appearance. Those are my first impressions and I can honestly say that me personally am over impressed with the sled so far.
