In 96 I was 14 and already oozing green out of my pores. I remember a couple kids had their dad's new sleds in the field, a 96zrt600 and a 96xcr 600. There was also a Yamaha srv540. Anyway they raced a few times and the zrt completely destroyed the xcr, we're talking bus lengths. The 540 also beat the xcr. That was such a memorable moment for me, I put the zrt up on a pedestal that day and it's no wonder that the first sled I ever bought with my own money, almost ten years later was a 96zrt 600. There was nothing I could have got before getting that sled. Mine got the full black magic treatment and those pipes run at 9400 rpm she was a screamer!!!
I was 16 in1996 and my Dad got a 1996 ZRT mountain Cat with the 136 inch track. That is when I fell in love with Arctic Cat and have been oozing green ever since lol. I still love Arctic Cat and between my Dad and I we have 9 sleds.
Remember the XLT was the volume leader. More comparable to a 580 cat . ZRT motor would have compared to the case reed XCR600sp. Great video love to see the old sleds running!!
I absolutely love your channel, i grew up in this era of sleds. My best friend had the powder extreme and I was riding a 2000 Powder Special 600 EFI. My dad still has this sled and it runs great
That was a great match up, Super good drag race! I'd love to see that race at double the track length... you could see that cat starting to really pull at 3/4 track
Love those old school cats, they are so fun, I don't need a fancy looking new one. Not to mention I'd love to get my hands on a powder extreme. Great videos Rocky, keep them coming.
ZRT should be faster its in a different class 600 triple triple class. The polaris 600 sp was actually the sled from Polaris that rivaled the ZRT. But the SP was actually lot heavier than the XLT a piped XLT was close to the same speed as the 600sp.
@@SkidderMan the XLT wasn’t in the same class as the ZRT 600. Polaris has the 600sp triple tripe that was the ZRT’s rival. Ski doo had the formula 3 doo actually started the 600 triple triple class. The XLT was out years before the ZRT 600 was. So the XLT was a king of its class with triple pipes nothing could compare to it. The XLT was much lighter than the Polaris sp 600 formula 3 and the ZRT. Was a mono block piston port sled not reed caged. On a race track it was very competitive back in the day. Was never meant to run with a ZRT 600 stock was made to compete against the 580zr and the 583 doo.
Was just ripping up the fields on my powder extreme today…lots of fun in a straight line! Had to thaw the frozen carbs for a couple days after 30 minutes of powder riding.
that powder extreme is heavyer and i think you might of had a few pounds on your buddy ridding the xlt heheh so all in all that powder extreme goes pretty damn good
I still ride my 99 XLT touring. She runs like a top and starts second pull every time. Unfortunately this season was trash and it never left the garage. Fingers crossed for a decent next season 🤞
Let’s just stop all the BS ! That XLT was modded out….. If someone spent the money on putting 136 inch, 2 inch track on it then you know they change the gearing and they recalibrated the clutches. And then they added triple pipes, which are not cheap and most likely rejected the carbs. The powder extreme was completely stock out of the box and there is no way that XLT could come close to he powder extreme. I know this, because I own a powder extreme, and I’ve come up against these sleds many times, I know I can beat them off the line and I can know I can beat them in the mid range to top end. At the end of the day it was great Video ! I was very surprised at the weight differences. Thank You !
That XLT came out when I was in high school and ohh how I lusted after those things. It really kicked off the 580 - 600 class wars that soon followed. I was an Arctic Cat fan in those days, with a soft spot for Polaris, and I really disliked that ZR chassis because it looked so bloated......like a whale. I know they ran great but man I hated that design. Even the styling and decals became so cartoonish in my opinion and I really lost my taste for Arctic Cat. Great video though! Keep up the great work!
Surprised how close race was. The weight of the powder special is the factory pipes they weigh a lot more than aftermarket pipes do. The XLT ran very well for a piston port engine vs reed cage ZRT 600. Like I mentioned before the XLT 600 isn’t really the rival model from Polaris it would be the 600sp with reed cage and factory triple pipes. But that sled was heavy so actually a piped XLT vs the powder special is a good comparison. My father had a SP 600 in 96 i had the XCR 600 bigger carbs than 600 XLT think only difference. Anyway i had triple pipes milled heads on radar 115mph. With dads SP600 same day i ran 116 mph so id say pretty equal. Polaris messed up by using the aggresser chassis the duck bill i call them lol!! If polaris put the 600sp engine in the indy chassis been faster for sure. The 680 ultra piped was a very fast sled in the Indy chassis. Our buddy dave had one with pipes my father did all tuning back then on his mine and daves. Same day i ran 119mph on daves 680 ultra. I have a 97 ZRT given to me few years ago with aftermarket pipes Vforce reeds. The sleds a animal idk could be a big bore its fast really fast. Really enjoyed watching this video keep doing what ur doing think its awesome. My advice is keep comparing models from all the manufacturers and race like u did in this video. Thanks for the excellent fun entertainment.
If that clutching was really stock like you said then there is alot left on the table since you need to reclutch for those pipes. Also im sure you know mountain sleds arent for speed, theyre for torque
@@clintbruderer2278 I know. Everyone thinks Yamaha is so heavy. But there are sleds out there are the same or more then Yamaha. But everyone makes fun of Yamaha.
I’m looking at the third race and I see the Polaris get the win by a ski tip. But that’s me and I only see it through the cameras but other than that those are two beautiful sleds!!!
