Wildcat Trail Evaluation

Today I went to Windrock for the Arctic Cat Wildcat Trail demo rides to give one a try.  They told me that they were competing with the RZR 800.

Fit and Finish is pretty good.  The floor boards were a little slippery to my liking and I discussed this with them before my departure.  With the way the front (or lack there of) fenders, I am guessing this will be a mud slinger but with the temps in the 20's, there were no issues.

Ride and Handling is really good.  Straight out of the box, this thing was awesome.  I was lucky enough to get there and be the only one in line so I got to follow the Team Arctic Cat driver and I asked him to let it rip as I wanted to see how she handled.  Handling was awesome.  it cornered very well with no pushing of the front end.  It even handled the ice with no problems.  We jumped over the water bars and she felt like it was connected to the ground.

Cockpit was a tab bit small but fairly well designed.  Everything was easy to reach and see.  As stated above the floors were a little slippery to my liking but that could easily be corrected.  The 1/2 doors felt good even as an arm rest but I can see where the lower section would need something to block off the mud.  Compared to a RZR, you set very low although it could just be the seat design as it felt like the bucket seat was made to fit around you.  The factory seatbelt was very comfortable and I really did not feel the need for adding a harness to this configuration.

Power is not an issue as it had plenty.  The 700 engine was very peppy.  I kept asking who made the engine and never got a definitive answer I was just told that the engine was not out of any wheeler they had and that it was designed specifically for this model.  The sound was great and it appeared to be easily accessible to work on.

Conclusion, this is a very nice machine that is going to remain high on my radar for my future ride.  For me, it was very comfortable with plenty of power and looks straight off the show room floor.  

Downfalls, is if you are taller than 6', there will not be a lot of leg room for you as the cockpit is made for me      and not a taller person.  Slippery floorboards that can easily be fixed although hopefully they will do something about that in the factory.  Potential mud slinger but I am not 100% certain of that.  Lack of dealers close by also is an issue although I was told that Crossville would be getting one within a month or so.  Price for the LE is ~$12k and the standard is ~$10 with the difference being a little paint, wheels and seat colors.  Not worth it in my book as all of the running gears and power is identical.

There is a dealer here phil. WWW.GRIFFITHCYCLE.COM

I believe everybody will find them nice.But at the end of the day 50 inches wide is not very wide.They will be like the basic rzr 800 and 570,easy to turn on there side in off camber situations .

They seem to ride lower than the RZR but off camber your will have to adjust.

Thanks, nice review! Any snow on the mountain today? We got a good dusting down here in the valley.

RedNeckRanger wrote:

I believe everybody will find them nice.But at the end of the day 50 inches wide is not very wide.They will be like the basic rzr 800 and 570,easy to turn on there side in off camber situations .

And easier to go between tight spots. Bigger isn't always better   

Kimco makes the motor. Old boy aj makes mud guards for them very nice. now that every one has SUV sxs there a so many really cool trail that are not ridden. Or Are turned it to highways. I would like to see som updated 60 in sxs.

RickyBobby wrote:

Thanks, nice review! Any snow on the mountain today?  We got a good dusting down here in the valley.

There was a good dusting when I left and it was snowing hard. I would guess and inch or more now.

pit dog wrote:

Kimco makes the motor. Old boy aj makes mud guards for them very nice. now that every one has SUV sxs there a so many really cool trail that are not ridden. Or Are turned it to highways. I would like to see som updated 60 in sxs.

I could not get them to say Kimco even though everyone knows it. You are correct as there are a lot of trails (especially Pickett) that if you are much over 60", you aint gonna ride it. Myself, I refuse to spend $25k on another machine just to break it every ride.

I had on good authority that Kymco made the engine, but I asked a guy point blank today and he said No, it's made by us in Thief River falls.......Not sure I buy that as there is a scooter Kymco makes what specs and looks identical to the Cat trail engine.......It should hold up decent, nearly 90% of all mini ATV's and small ATV's are made by Kymco. time will tell.

Stakk wrote:

I had on good authority that Kymco made the engine, but I asked a guy point blank today and he said No, it's made by us in Thief River falls.......Not sure I buy that as there is a scooter Kymco makes what specs and looks identical to the Cat trail engine.......It should hold up decent, nearly 90% of all mini ATV's and small ATV's are made by Kymco. time will tell.

Yeah I wouldn't put much faith in that guy. But who knows- I just chalk it up to rumors and speculation. I'm sure there is some truth thrown in ther somewhere   

It was a pretty impressive machine, power, suspension, and steering was all really good.