Power
These sleds came with less boost then advertised. 17.4PSI in the technical video was a huge part of why most of us thought these sleds would be in the 205hp range. In the end, these sleds are near 16psi. Had a long conversation last week with(Unamed) and after he checked boost on several 900r's, they all seem to be around that 16psi at most. Also said that the test mules of last spring, which many magazine writers rode, were MUCH MUCH stronger then these production sleds. IMO this is likely why the stock 897 Mach ramps do not work well, and especially on a fresh sled which takes many miles to loosen up. Notice I didnt say "break in". IMO there is no break in built into the ECU program, and tuners who have been able to read the ECU also agree.
So with this being said.....riding these sleds with stock tune, "is what it is". I personally want a lot more! hearing really good feedback on the Hurricane ECU and will be talking with Dave by next season. I will likely leave things stock this year and see if other tuners will bring anything out.
Mach Z overall appeal
Aside from the power, the Mach Z (in particular) is an incredible sled overall. The Smart Shox really need to be talked about more, with the trail miles now piling up and getting to ride some groomed, some pounded, some high speed sweepers and of course lakes....I'm amazed how composed the SS system makes the sled feel. I swap often with Dano(adr) and while the Adr. feels surprisingly good, the base shocks have their limits and so he must crank up his torsions more, resulting in some kickback on the bigger hits. With my modded transfer setup I have the sled feeling MUCH more playful, and have been really getting the feel of how the SS system plays into transfer once you mod it. Softest SS setting will result in the best transfer, rather obvious....but WOW this really changes things alot more then even I had assumed. So not only can you change your firmness with button instantly, you will also change your transfer instantly too. Slick!!!
Another side effect of firmest mode I love is we finally got onto some big sweepers and man the firm mode feels like you added a 50mm anti-sway bar instantly with a switch of the mode button, just incredible how FLAT this sled will sit on biggest high speed turns, and also even slower tighter corners the sled will no longer "dive" on the outer shock. Back to soft for big wide open rollers where you want that front to blip the nose off the knolls, transfer mod and soft settings have this sled feeling super playful and much lighter then it is on paper. Where my Winder would wear me out in big moguls, the Mach keeps me feeling fresh, this 137" chassie with SS works incredible!
When it comes to clutching, it really will come down to your belt choice. I have found the 44/38 helix to be the biggest change that I like. Slippage in very top end is something I fought on the Winder too, 38 helps with this. As mentioned many times, the 897's are not what I liked at all. 880s work really well with 44/38 helix. And as always I will say again, many ways to clutch to get similar end results. Things that I tested and DO NOT WORK WELL are higher start secondary spring, they do very little in mid and hurt top end. Also if running Dalton adj you can mimic the 880 with tip weight. 880's are heavy at 85.5g however what people need to realize is most of the concentration is in the heel. So it acts like a lighter weight then the 897 as it has a lightened tip already.
Dan