Polaris 4-strokes
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trailshredder
Member
I have an 07 FST and love it.
2008 FST IQ Turbo Touring
I have a 2008 FST IQ Turbo Touring. I bought it brand new for last season and have 2600 trouble free miles on it. I bought it for a spare sled because of the great deal I got and like it so much that it is all I ride. The best part is it loves to pass stock Yamaha Apex's.
I have a 2008 FST IQ Turbo Touring. I bought it brand new for last season and have 2600 trouble free miles on it. I bought it for a spare sled because of the great deal I got and like it so much that it is all I ride. The best part is it loves to pass stock Yamaha Apex's.
anonomoose
New member
I owned a pair of FST's, and a few cats...all 4 stroke. I would hesitate to recommend a Polaris 4 stroke. The FST is a nice balanced sled and a good skid, but they just tend to throw the engine in there and figure out later what should have been done to keep stuff from rubbing thru, or provide the right routing of hoses and wiring. They have not changed in a long time in this regard.
If you are into crazy speed stuff, I would look and end up buying a Cat turbo... other than the insane horsepower the sled is actualy a really nice riding and handling product. And one look at hose routing and wiring puts the Polaris to shame.
If you aren't going the turbo...I would look at and buy a 1200 doo. They have the latest technology...learning from the others. The motor is well balanced and very reliable...even if the gas mileage might suffer some with the big motor.
I also owned a 4 stroke Yamaha, but the skids on those sleds just are not there...and I would rate them dead last for ride. I had two of them and they saw the shop almost as much as the Polaris rides did.
If you are into crazy speed stuff, I would look and end up buying a Cat turbo... other than the insane horsepower the sled is actualy a really nice riding and handling product. And one look at hose routing and wiring puts the Polaris to shame.
If you aren't going the turbo...I would look at and buy a 1200 doo. They have the latest technology...learning from the others. The motor is well balanced and very reliable...even if the gas mileage might suffer some with the big motor.
I also owned a 4 stroke Yamaha, but the skids on those sleds just are not there...and I would rate them dead last for ride. I had two of them and they saw the shop almost as much as the Polaris rides did.
G
G
Guest
Dream on beating an Apex unless you are on 10 miles of straight running. When your Turbo catches on fire make sure to have some marshmallows ready. They all burn at some point. Then go out and buy a Cat. Even with 200 HP they hit a brick wall at 110 mph because of the Diamond drive.
BS on 110! I have yet to see a yami pass a z1t at any drag in 3yrs prob because only a hand full of yahoos would start with a sub par power plant set in a heavy chasi with a skid that has to be swaped out to make it eaven think about transfering respectably off the line .eavery 4cyl yammi turbo I knew of has long ago blown the crank apart .btw no self respecting lake racer who would take the time to reflash ecu would stick with stock gearing or clutching.yami makes a great trail runner with great fit and finish but lake racer not in the running
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indy_500
Well-known member
gotta admit diamond drive should be thrown out the window
If it was such a good idea, poo, yami, and doo would have it by now.dd is a good system for the buy and ride. best out no but good for a low weight mass heck yeah part of the reason the M has done so well for so long no jack shaft up high no clutch up high all below the motor.the 04 to06 dd no more issues than a chain case. 07 08 with rev not great heavy way to mutch going on. 09 up good like the 04 to 06 but hold more oil few with a bad 19 buck bearing.all plaged with 5 pinion gear but that is cats manufacturing BDX has a better gear good for at least 2000mi .and dont think yammi has not been talking to BDX now that cats contract is up with bdx have heard a few rummers.I know of a few 360HP and over drag sleds running the bdx light drive with no issues.and from what I understand the drive cat has or had been working on was like the STM sidewinder dd chain case upgrade drive.and I know for a fact that drive flat out works and can handel a ton of torque and crazy HP and is on a world record cat with no issues to date and still keeps all the weight down low
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gotta admit diamond drive should be thrown out the window
I don't anything about diamond drive, but that's what they said about A-arms for a LONG time.
No Dream Reality
Well according to you I must have a dream come true Polaris! I am here to tell you the Polaris Turbo I ride will eat an Apex across the entire power band. As for burning up at some point well 2600 miles no burn, 4 years left on the bumper to bumper warranty, plenty to burn and then I get a new sled. HOT DAMN!
Well according to you I must have a dream come true Polaris! I am here to tell you the Polaris Turbo I ride will eat an Apex across the entire power band. As for burning up at some point well 2600 miles no burn, 4 years left on the bumper to bumper warranty, plenty to burn and then I get a new sled. HOT DAMN!
anonomoose
New member
Staying well away from "my color sled is better than YOUR color sled" I can tell you that the diamond drive is a front runner to all the sled makers. It costs more to make but all gears rather than a chain with tensioners and such is a far smarter way to put the power to the track.
Remember how long it took the other makers to catch on to the wishbone suspensions?? Cat had them for many years before the other left the functional but restrictive trailing arm suspensions. They made a lot of money selling trailing arms that were getting bent every other outing.
As far as the turbo charged sled...well, all you have to do is see the charts of where the horsepower is developed. Turbos are 95% full at half throttle. Naturally aspirated engines, such as the Apex, gets only 1/2 the power at half throttle. That would mean the FST gets about 130 hp at 4,000 rpms...and the Yamaha gets about 60 or 70 hp. Which one do you really think will put the torque to the track faster...the higher horsepower or the lower one unless you like to rev the motor to 11,000 rpms???
As I said previously, I would look hard at the Cat if you want crazy fast and need to go 130 mph...or more. For me...that isn't necessary to have fun. But I understand that young bucks have to get out there and show the world....that day for me has long past. I like mileage and reliability and low maintance....I would rather ride than wrench.
BTW, that polaris engine is a german design, and nobody in the locomotion business dismisses german ingenuity. At least not if they have any brains.
Remember how long it took the other makers to catch on to the wishbone suspensions?? Cat had them for many years before the other left the functional but restrictive trailing arm suspensions. They made a lot of money selling trailing arms that were getting bent every other outing.
As far as the turbo charged sled...well, all you have to do is see the charts of where the horsepower is developed. Turbos are 95% full at half throttle. Naturally aspirated engines, such as the Apex, gets only 1/2 the power at half throttle. That would mean the FST gets about 130 hp at 4,000 rpms...and the Yamaha gets about 60 or 70 hp. Which one do you really think will put the torque to the track faster...the higher horsepower or the lower one unless you like to rev the motor to 11,000 rpms???
As I said previously, I would look hard at the Cat if you want crazy fast and need to go 130 mph...or more. For me...that isn't necessary to have fun. But I understand that young bucks have to get out there and show the world....that day for me has long past. I like mileage and reliability and low maintance....I would rather ride than wrench.
BTW, that polaris engine is a german design, and nobody in the locomotion business dismisses german ingenuity. At least not if they have any brains.
I have a 06 fst classic, I had all the issues asssociated with that year, thermostates, temp. sensor, tubing routing, 08 reflash, chain case cover. Everthing was covered under my 3 year warrenty. I now have over 11,000 mi. on the sled, and the sled runs great. I get 14 to 18 mpg deppending how I drive it. The sled rides nice, handles well with some effort, and will cruise all day at 40 or go over 100. No problems at all in the last two years. I did manage to break the front tourqe arms on the rear suspension, but that was after 11,000 mi. and a lot of hard ridding. You need to run the best belt polaris makes, or they only last 1000 mi. I have over 2000mi. on the good belt. SLP hot air elimination kit is also recomended.
anonomoose
New member
Not trying to dis the motor...it is a nice size for the IQ chas...and it is well made unit. The problem comes with the folks who are installing it in the body and taking care of the details, such as routing and chafe points. Suspension is one of the best, but that sled you own has lousy skis, and they put the wrong geometry into the steering. Put some holtz spindles on there and a decent set of skis with some good steal under them and that is as good as it gets right up thru the 2011 model sleds out there.
Or you can go buy a $15k sled with power steering....if you have money to burn.
Just saying that Polaris is the worst when it comes to taking care of details. They just don't do it right...and they haven't changed in 10 years or more. Engineering on the fly!
Or you can go buy a $15k sled with power steering....if you have money to burn.
Just saying that Polaris is the worst when it comes to taking care of details. They just don't do it right...and they haven't changed in 10 years or more. Engineering on the fly!
Yep FST platform old in the tooth for sure. Not sure why Poo does not seem to want to improve 4s offerings but then again typical of Poo over last decade. FST not bad just better 4s sleds out there than FST. FST would be the last 4s sled to consider IMO but to each his own.
snow_monkey
New member
It's not always the sled that leads you to victory. I had a smart one on a 700 poo try to show me up on the local trails last year and I crushed him with my wife's fuji 500. I am sure he still has bad dreams of that pink and white sled passing him on an inside turn!!!
tealracing16
Member
Diamond Drive
As a person who likes Polaris sleds I really liked the DD. The problem is that gears are not nearly as efficient as chains so your losing efficiency. If I had 230 HP but only 3% made it to the ground I'm gonna lose to a 120cc in a lake race.
As for the FST, it is/was a fun sled but its 5 years old now. I think its a great sled but the other poster was right, if you want 200 hp go with the Cat.
As a person who likes Polaris sleds I really liked the DD. The problem is that gears are not nearly as efficient as chains so your losing efficiency. If I had 230 HP but only 3% made it to the ground I'm gonna lose to a 120cc in a lake race.
As for the FST, it is/was a fun sled but its 5 years old now. I think its a great sled but the other poster was right, if you want 200 hp go with the Cat.
Freind of mine turns wrench at Polaris shop, he said there are isolated incidents of the seals on the turbo unit leaking oil into the intake tract which means the intercooler gets fouled with oil, the whole intake. It's a spendy fix if your out of warrenty as the turbo is integral with the exhaust manifold. Buy an extended warrenty, no worries. Aside from that it's a great machine.
kingston_phazer
New member
agreed yami makes the best 4 storke sled.