Good luck with this one.....

 

I dont really care for the colour of next year’s TCat, and after using late model Doos and Poos, I’d really have no interest in the current Yammicat gauge options, but other then that, and if those things don’t bother you as much, then for pure lake blasting or high speed smooth trail work, the SRX or TCat are compelling enough options.

 

It's really about what you want.

Some guys prefer the "glued to the trail" feeling. The 998 is just that. Glued to the trail. It feels pretty good at what it does. I associate glued to the trail with feeling heavy. So to me, the 998t feels much heavier than the 900t, even though the weight isn't that big of a difference.

The 900t is a more well rounded snowmobile. I'm more of a 2 stroke guy, so the 900t is a better fit for me. It feels more nimble and easier to throw around. I think the guys who say the 998 can't keep up in the trails With the 900t are being a little too critical. The 998t is a tough package to beat and would really only start showing its weaknesses off trail or in very tight and twisting trails.

At the same time, the 900t would need some adjustments to make it as glued to the trail as the 998. But if you make those adjustments, as a trail sled, I think the 900t is hands down the better snowmobile.

 

It's really about what you want.

Some guys prefer the "glued to the trail" feeling. The 998 is just that. Glued to the trail. It feels pretty good at what it does. I associate glued to the trail with feeling heavy. So to me, the 998t feels much heavier than the 900t, even though the weight isn't that big of a difference.

The 900t is a more well rounded snowmobile. I'm more of a 2 stroke guy, so the 900t is a better fit for me. It feels more nimble and easier to throw around. I think the guys who say the 998 can't keep up in the trails With the 900t are being a little too critical. The 998t is a tough package to beat and would really only start showing its weaknesses off trail or in very tight and twisting trails.

At the same time, the 900t would need some adjustments to make it as glued to the trail as the 998. But if you make those adjustments, as a trail sled, I think the 900t is hands down the better snowmobile.

This makes a lot of sense, thanks! The 998 sure are heavy in the front end. The fox qs3 did a good job of hiding the weight

 

I had a Winder that was Yamahas version of the Thundercat.

It was and still is an awesome sled with industry leading performance.

It is much heavier than my 900 t but you would never know it while riding it.

My Winder rode and handled as good as any sled I ever owned.

I came back to Doo because of reliability concerns (even though I never had issues) and the fact that Doo just builds better sleds than Cat.

 

I had a Winder that was Yamahas version of the Thundercat.

It was and still is an awesome sled with industry leading performance.

It is much heavier than my 900 t but you would never know it while riding it.

My Winder rode and handled as good as any sled I ever owned.

I came back to Doo because of reliability concerns (even though I never had issues) and the fact that Doo just builds better sleds than Cat.

better sleds than Cat? Ha, Bull***t!!!
You love your Doo’s and god bless you! They’re a great sled!
again, every manufacturer has had issues. They all have had engineering fails and parts problems. You even said you didn’t have problems. All the junk being spoken out there.
I will not put down The Doo. There a great sled! But I don’t have to tell you anything when it comes to speed and performance. I could get cocky but I don’t need to.

 

I had a thundercat... honestly I did not like it... it was fast but felt very heavy and I was not impressed with the shocks at all.. rode it for one trip in the UP sold it when I got home... after that went back to 850's and wrote off 4 strokes.... until I got my 900T last year.... hurricanes 205 kit and it runs stronger than my thunder cat, at least to 100 mph, and still rides and drives like a ski-doo. The guy i sold my tcat to said the suspension was all screwed up, and has since fixed it and claims it's a different sled, but I haven't ridden it since..

 

There are a lot of positives to the cat and Yamaha but if you want that “4 stroke reliability “ the cat is not the sled you want.

 

Cats are famous for 3 trips out and a day in the shop fixing broke stuff. Gets old after a while. Owning 2 doos and a cat turbo I speak from experience.

 

I did an evaluation last spring before ordering my 900T XRS and can say the new pricing is not really the reason to go with the Cat. The 2020 TC was $13,500 with a 1 year warranty and a 1" track. By the time I added a comparable track and a warranty the price for the Cat was higher than the XRS. But my Doo dealer gives me a pretty good discount - but most dealers around me offer pretty close to the same spring order deals on Doo's. The Cat dealer I worked with would not discount and said spring order deals prices were it. I have heard some Cat dealers throwing in free warranties. The one I spoke to did not. Beyond these basics you can easily get into a back and forth over nitpicking which features are more or less valuable but for me that was what it boiled down to from a pure pricing perspective. You may have completely different priorities than I do in which case the value prop may be also be different.

What really made the difference for me was that there was nowhere for me to test ride a TC or even look at the new 2020 TC in person. On the flip side my Doo dealer let me take out a 19' XRS 900T demo sled and I put nearly 30 miles on it. Doo also has spring test ride events and shows locally so you can actually see the new sleds before ordering one. My dealer also sells Yamaha so he let me take a spin (not a full 30 mile test run) on a used Sidewinder that someone had recently traded in on a Doo 850. For me the 900T XRS was the clear winner in all around trail manners. It felt more nimble and lighter in the tight stuff. For me I wanted the sled that handled best between 30 - 80 MPH not the sled that could accelerate best beyond the 100 MPH mark. In stock form I thought the Doo was the clear winner in the turns, the SW definitely had more punch on the top end. Both sleds can be tuned to make more top end speed and if that is your thing I think a TC/SW is going to be the clear winner in that department. I priced a 2020 Sidewinder from my Doo dealer just because and the price was so far out to lunch compared to the Thundercat that it was not even a consideration at that point.

Good luck with your search. While it sounds like I am bagging on the Thundercat and Sidewinder I am not. The 900T XRS likely does not exist if these sleds were not on the market. I thank Cat and Yamaha for that and there really is no better time to be on a 4S performance sled. Hopefully they just keep getting better and better.

Edit: Just did a quick check of the Cat website and it looks like they did a couple of smart things. They now have a 1.25" track as standard and they got rid of the crap brown spindles. The bad thing is the price is now up to $14,195 and still only a 1 year warranty.

 

To the above, yes I did see the cat comes with the 1.25 ripsaw 2. I flat out consider the ripsaw 1 junk after having a rip2 1.5 on my current sled, to the 900T would need a track swap immediately.

Hopefully I get the opportunity to ride a 900t this season

 

Were the t-cat spindles really brown? I thought they were more bronze-like, like the Kashima shock coatings. And they matched the slide rails, so I didn't think they looked too bad. I like them better than the red doo spindles (although I haven't seen the brown ones in person yet).

 

Were the t-cat spindles really brown? I thought they were more bronze-like, like the Kashima shock coatings. And they matched the slide rails, so I didn't think they looked too bad. I like them better than the red doo spindles (although I haven't seen the brown ones in person yet).

Well, bronze to me is just another name for a shade of brown. While I don't buy sleds based on their color I have to say the color Cat picked for the rails and spindles leaves a bit to be desired compared to the colors on the rest of the sled.....

 

Well, bronze to me is just another name for a shade of brown. While I don't buy sleds based on their color I have to say the color Cat picked for the rails and spindles leaves a bit to be desired compared to the colors on the rest of the sled.....

Whoever gave the green light on those colors should be looking for a new job.

 

any one who thinks the 900 can run with the yamacats does not realize the cat turbo can make an extra 100hp over the 900t

can you use all 300hp in the trails...no...but they will try...lol

then there are the fast yamacats with a compressor wheel upgrade thats close to 400hp :blink:

 

Maybe its just me but the SW/T-Cat I demo'd felt like I was riding on a greased buffalo in the turns compared to the last 3 ski doo chassis I have in my shop... The 900T right out of the box is a far better all around reliable handling sled...

 

So the 900t is better out of the box even though the true weights shows it weighs more than a srx and still can't keep up

 

DARN TRAIL DONKEY !!!!!!!

 

HEE HAW

 

As far as an all around great trail sled the Doo is superior. Now if all that matters to you is speed and hp then you just can't beat a sled with the Yamaha 998 turbo in it. The sky is the limit with that engine.

 

A little background.. I sell used sleds and toys. I've rode and sold them all.

I've had a T Cat as my demo with boosted with 265HP.. Fast in a straight line but I couldn't keep up on junk rough trails... Too heavy..

I had a 900T last winter.. I loved it except the throttle.. Otherwise great handling. The power stock is decent overall. Might actually handle better then 850 Renny X... but not as playful as the 850

The Cat and Winder turbo are heavy pigs!

 

What the heck, might as well throw my opinion in with next to no experience LOL. This is based on owning a 1200 for 3 years and a G4 850 for 2 years and doing short demos on a Thunder Cat & 900 Turbo.

Doo's got the quality. The Tcat would steer lighter & corner flatter. Take your pick.

And they both have plenty of power.

 

My buddy must have got a good tcat. he runs stuff as basic and stock as you can, when I say basic he sets the suspension on medium and doesn’t touch anything else. When I rode it, it handled like it was on rails and soaked up the large moguls better than my xrs. I honestly have a hard time keeping up with him even in tighter trails, when we get on open sweeping trails in the UP, forget it!

 

From factory I feel like the 998t is set up for trails way better than the XRS. But the XRS can do stuff they can't do either. That's why if you dial in the XRS, you have a pretty sweet package in my opinion. Those yamacats are pretty darn good in the trail until things get really tight and they show their weight. They are great for UP trails.

Our group has 3 998's, some Polaris, and cats. I'm the only ski Doo sled. I don't think they are envious of my sled at all. And I'm not envious of theirs either.

It's all about what you want. I want 2 stroke performance in a 4 stroke platform. The 900t is the closest snowmobile on the market to that. I can tell you that my XRS was not able to keep up with their 998's in the corners and it had nothing to do with the motors. Those guys are really fast period (one was a semi pro snoX racer), but not fast enough to make me struggle like that. That's because the XRS stock is just not dialed in for fast trail riding. It should be much better this year.

 

I like how the 998's really show there weight when there lighter than the xrs's hilarious

 

I actually HAVE a Sidewinder, but NOT a 900t. I rode a friends 1200 Enduro and it felt jittery.....but I didn't conclude it was junk.

It really wouldn't matter what I rode or tried....unless I own it for a while and can fine tune the suspension, I would assume it's gonna ride like crap. Maybe it's because I'm only 180 lbs....but one small adjustment can make it ride like a rolling death wagon, or a smooth Ferrari like machine.

Who's jumping on their buddy's sled and spinning knobs and pulling limiters in, to ride for an hour? Yeah, I forgot.....experts and professional riders don't adjust 'nuthin.

Not flaming and not looking for a purse fight.....they simply all have pros & cons, and each seems to have a use. I've taken the Sidewinder off trail, but only in late March. Otherwise it would sink like a rock. I've had a Cat run like a B26 bomber I couldn't destroy for anything. I have a Renegade...not bad, but not the end all to end all.

I will say this: If I ordered a part labeled "anti fog kit" for my Sidewinder, and Yamaha sent me a silica bag and double stick tape, I sure as heck would take a hard look at why I'm buying the brand. I mean seriously? You have to pay to fix a fogged up gauge, and they send you a bag of silica?! That's jacked up.

Brand new 2020 BC 850 sitting in my shop, .1 mile.....I can't wait to try it out, but first need to find out if the brakes are faulty and needs to go back to the dealer. Yeah, right out of the box quality. Still happy with my decision, but I absolutely know that until I get the suspension "dialed in," it's gonna ride horrible. I will blame only myself, until I've exhausted every suspension option.

Just my 2 cents.

Q. Arrius

 

I gotta a chance to ride my buddys sidewinder last year and it is bone stock, meaning my buddy bought it and just rides it. No adjustments, and right out of the box that thing just eats up corners! Much more rail feeli then my rene x but i did feel it being heavier but not to the point it was overbearing. I was also very surprised how well it performed off trail. Loves to stand up and rip outta the deep with ease.

 

I actually HAVE a Sidewinder, but NOT a 900t. I rode a friends 1200 Enduro and it felt jittery.....but I didn't conclude it was junk.

It really wouldn't matter what I rode or tried....unless I own it for a while and can fine tune the suspension, I would assume it's gonna ride like crap. Maybe it's because I'm only 180 lbs....but one small adjustment can make it ride like a rolling death wagon, or a smooth Ferrari like machine.

Who's jumping on their buddy's sled and spinning knobs and pulling limiters in, to ride for an hour? Yeah, I forgot.....experts and professional riders don't adjust 'nuthin.

Not flaming and not looking for a purse fight.....they simply all have pros & cons, and each seems to have a use. I've taken the Sidewinder off trail, but only in late March. Otherwise it would sink like a rock. I've had a Cat run like a B26 bomber I couldn't destroy for anything. I have a Renegade...not bad, but not the end all to end all.

I will say this: If I ordered a part labeled "anti fog kit" for my Sidewinder, and Yamaha sent me a silica bag and double stick tape, I sure as heck would take a hard look at why I'm buying the brand. I mean seriously? You have to pay to fix a fogged up gauge, and they send you a bag of silica?! That's jacked up.

Brand new 2020 BC 850 sitting in my shop, .1 mile.....I can't wait to try it out, but first need to find out if the brakes are faulty and needs to go back to the dealer. Yeah, right out of the box quality. Still happy with my decision, but I absolutely know that until I get the suspension "dialed in," it's gonna ride horrible. I will blame only myself, until I've exhausted every suspension option.

Just my 2 cents.

Q. Arrius

Every sled is going to have their issues. Ever vehicle really. To be honest, the 900t was about the most successful trouble free release I have seen so far. The two biggest issues are a crappy secondary spring and some people don't like the throttle. Neither is getting you stranded. That's a big win for a new snowmobile.

Obviously the 998t has it's issues too. A little worse than the 900t so far. Turbo bolts backing out, gasket problems. The overblown chaincase issues. I guess it's overblown until it happens to someone who owns one anyway and leaves you stranded. If your biggest issue is needing Silica gel, although annoying, then you have a good snowmobile.