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Honest opinions - 900T vs Thundercat

25290 Views 223 Replies 66 Participants Last post by  one ton fun
I currently have a 16 xrs 800. Been a great sled and I love it, but it's time to snow check a fresh one. Most in my group have 850s and love them, but I want the piece of kind of the 4 stroke longevity. One buddy is a Thundercat, rode it once and was very impressed with the light steering, shocks were great, and the motor was smooth and fast. I've always been a skidoo guy, but the reasonable snow check prices cat has currently are making it a tougher decision. Skidoo it better fit and finish wise, but the cat has better shocks imo, led headlights and the ability to get a 230 trail friendly tune for pretty cheap.

If skidoo added a slightly higher hp options, led headlights, and a better track option, my decision would be easy lol... oh and taller spindles would hurt either.

I would really like to hear opinions or guys that have ridden both, good and bad of both sleds.
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Not sure this response to the OP's 3.5 year old inquiry is going to be that helpful. Lots has changed since then (900r, Polaris Boost, 850r, SmartShox, 7s display -- not much change for YamaCat) and he's likely made his snow check choice by now...unless this was just an excuse to talk about TCat's :LOL:
I agree. Regarding Hawkkiller, I'm calling troll. 12 posts in and already arguing that Cat makes a better sled than 'doo on a 'doo site.
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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.
Yes, they all have issues. And I Had many cats back in the day…they were my brand. But as time has moved on, and manufacturing processes and techniques have evolved, I think Doo has far outpaced the other manufacturers. The quality of a ski Doo is hands down the best in the business. Yamaha used to be the best fit and finish, but since they don’t make sleds anymore, that’s not even debatable.

I had a sidewinder, and other than the motor(Yamaha), the chassis and quality of the workmanship is not even close. I say that sadly because I loved Cat. But they have fallen way behind and need to improve or they will be out of business soon. Maybe the Catalyst is a step in the right direction for them…?? Hope so. Competition pushes the quality bar up for all of us.

My ‘21 Ski Doo 850 is so well put together, and the chassis and parts workmanship far exceed the quality of my Sidewinder. It’s a fact I had to admit by having both of them, and seeing the stark difference.

So yes, sadly to say, Doo makes a better quality sled hands down currently.
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I have both sleds in my garage. The Doo is better built and it isn’t even close.
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I have both sleds in my garage. The Doo is better built and it isn’t even close.
Yes, Exactly! It’s not close at all as you say.
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I agree. Regarding Hawkkiller, I'm calling troll. 12 posts in and already arguing that Cat makes a better sled than 'doo on a 'doo site.
Yeah that's a big no no here with all the Doo nut swingers.
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The next fight will be when the New 2024 850 turbo R owners start whooping on the Boosted 900R and Poo owners .
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until the 850 turbo blows up...
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I'm excited to see how the 850r does this season. I love the innovation going into these sleds. I've never been a top speed guy. Amongst the couple groups I ride with no one is a lake racer. It's more about handling at speed so I won't be butt hurt if the 850r smokes me on a wide open stretch. I know my 900r should run longer and be more reliable.

The Poo Boost has proven to need some work out of the gate but can be a real runner with a few easy mods/tune. We'll see how Doo does.

Only $25k+ CDN to be as fast as sleds made 20+ years ago! Fun times :ROFLMAO:
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No fight from me, wouldnt trade my 900r for any 2s turbo..not a chance.
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Yeah that's a big no no here with all the Doo nut swingers.
What is a 'nut swinger'?
What is a 'nut swinger'?
nutswinger
Some one who hangs from someone's nuts, (i.e. a stalker, fan). Follows ever move they make
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until the 850 turbo blows up...
Anything could happen, but How many Mountain Turbos have blown up? Those things are held wide open constantly…they seem to be holding up just fine. I wouldn’t be too worried about that.
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nutswinger
Some one who hangs from someone's nuts, (i.e. a stalker, fan). Follows ever move they make
Ugh. I'm sorry I asked. Troll comment awful knawful.

You're saying us dooTalkers are under some kind of Ski-Doo spell. That's pure BS. The vast majority of dooTalkers have come to Ski-Doo from other brands because of the quality of the product offered.

Until someone else consistently brings a better product, any of my hard earned $$ spent on snowmobiles is only going to BRP.
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Ugh. I'm sorry I asked. Troll comment awful knawful.

You're saying us dooTalkers are under some kind of Ski-Doo spell. That's pure BS. The vast majority of dooTalkers have come to Ski-Doo from other brands because of the quality of the product offered.

Until someone else consistently brings a better product, any of my hard earned $$ spent on snowmobiles is only going to BRP.
Troll comment, no.
And yes that's what I'm saying.

I buy SkiDoo because the product gives me mostly what I'm looking for.

I do not believe it is the best product for everyone.

I do not have yellow glasses. Poo, Cat and Yamaha all bring something better to the table, if that's what is important to you.
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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
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
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
Thats an assumption.... Nobody weighed the 900R.
I like how the 998's really show there weight when there lighter than the xrs's hilarious
If they are lighter(big IF) than a 900R Doo, it’s not by much at all. And the Winders and Cats do show their weight in tight twisty trails…I had one and I found the exact same thing. I ride in an area where tight and twisty isn’t all that common, but there is some, and that’s where you’ll notice the weight for sure. My buds on 850’s were railing through the tight trails, and I was working much harder to keep Up than they were. And when I got my 850 in ‘21, it was a night and day difference compared to my Winder when the terrain got tighter. The weight difference was vast.

Other than that, the Winder’s power to weight masked its weight most times.
nutswinger
Some one who hangs from someone's nuts, (i.e. a stalker, fan). Follows ever move they make
IE Fanboy?
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Thats an assumption.... Nobody weighed the 900R.
Yes. One of our members has.
@stevewithocd
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