Arctic Cat had a day when you can test drive the new Wildcat. The suspension is amazing. Here's a little video we made so click on the link. Enjoy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCr57qyT5oY..._H8Nj9rtb37cCME

Those look fun. I'm on the fence between an xp and that.

Tough decision. XP is a proven machine with amazing power. Wildcat amazing suspension but lacking torque.

Does anyone own a Wild Cat? How is the power. I know when I test drove it they were adjusting the belt drive system & torque.

Just picked mine up yesterday, haven't had it off road much yet but on the street the power feels good for a stock machine. The suspension is amazing. It's in getting a new cage built right now and next week I'll send the clutch out for the wcd. Big bore kit from speedwerx next and all should be good! The cage looks well built and much stronger than the other sxs's, too me it's a no brained. I put a deposit down 7 1/2 months ago and am not disappointed, not worried about the power at all! And the power steering doesn't suck either!

So far, only those lucky enough to get dealer floor models and a handful of preorder folks have them.
Suspension is all its hyped up to be according to those that have driven it. Power, not so much - not in the dunes at least. Adam from airdam clutches has dynoed one on the same dyno th at he dynoed an XP. The XP dynoed 64rwhp while the WC got 62.5.
He has also weighed both and the XP is actually a tad heavier.
Given that, you'd think the wc would be good to go. But its not. The wet clutch slips under severe load, like when climbing big sand hills. Seems part of the reason it slips is because the CVT clutches don't backshift under a load. They are an inferior design.
So when the car heads up a steep hill after getting a good run from the base, it hits the hill in high gear. As the car heads up and starts to slow down, the transmission fails to backshift and the wet clutch and/or belt starts to slip and you're screwed.
Airdam clutches already has a wet clutch delete kit that gets rid of the wet clutch and also includes some CVT reworking so the transmission backshifts properly. Its $1200 and puts the wc right up there with the XP, might say out even surpasses it when it comes to suspension. All of his comparison testing has been in the dirt and on the street though, so only time will tell how it does in the dunes. there is a guy that will be heading out to glamis presidents weekend with the wcd and I believe Adam is flying out there to help him tune it.
If the wet clutch delete is all the wc needs its cheap compared to the $5k one needs to spend on an XP to get the same suspension and travel that the wc comes with stock.

Awesome information thanks.

This is all true but everything that's been tested thus far has been on pre-production dealer units...Rumors are that Arctic Cat may or may not have made adjustments to the clutch prior to delivering the public units, plus the one unit that had belt issues wasnt stock and was modified slightly by a vendor - Basically, until a public / production unit is tested in the dunes with a good set of paddles, we can't accurately compare them to the XP's - as far as power in the dunes is concerned at least. Hopefully in few weeks those with stock production units will post up their findings...

I'm predicting a wave of Xp's for sale this summer.

I read somewhere that, if you would have bought $20k worth of Arctic cat stock back when they first announced the wildcat, you could sell it today and buy a wildcat with the gains. Had we only known...

That would have been nice!

It actually bottomed in may at like $14.40. Its sitting at like $32 now.

My local dealer just got in 6 wildcats yesterday and think only one is spoken for.

That's awesome.

A Wildcat just finished 2nd overall (Mitch Guthrie in an XP900 won) and won its class at King of the Hammers.

I was there watching this race. One word. Amazing. You have to go next year to experience it.

That Wildcat finished 2nd overall even though it was in a production class and had to pass a bunch of vehicles that started before. The overall winner was an XP and was in a modified class. Not too shabby for the Wildcat.

All you have to do is compare the worksmanship and you will buy the Wildcat. It is also made in the USA.
DON~~~

My brother picks his up today... we'll have it out for President's weekend. I'll let you guys know how it does.

I'm looking at an XP 4... he says the 4 seater WC will be out soon though. While we are both Honda fans (ATC, TRX), back when we were street racing, he had a Eclipse and I had an Integra... his opinion about this Wildcat is that of his Eclipse... "best one out of the box"... but my Integra still runs... can't say that about the Mitsushitty. We both look at stuff like this different and honestly, he surprised the hell out of me when he said he got one. I'm still a fan of the XP. We'll see what happens Saturday...

Wildcat 4 wow. Can't wait to see it.

According to the guys on the WC forum, there should be quite a few of them at Glamis this weekend----All of them in one accord say there is no power shortage------I have driven 3 different ones and watched 4 other different ones going up Olds Hill and all had power issues----Hopefully that has been addressed by AC and yours won't be like that---Eager to hear an honest report-----Vids

Happy

I just picked up a Contour ROAM camera last week and am itchin' to use it and... honesty is my middle name. Sibling rivalry is great in my opinion. A buddy of mine races these here side by sides... says the WC is a... let me look at the text... "The Arctic Cat is garbage... What a waste... might as well go to Pep Boys and get one of those showroom things"

That's his opinion. Some people have an unfathomable loyalty to some other brand, and it manifests itself in their attitude towards other products. Does he have any substantial facts or photos to prove his opinion, or just his butt dyno printout?

Andrew Buck drove one at KOH, and when I spoke to him at the fire, he said something along the lines of "this is going to be the one to beat in the coming year!" He loved it, and wondered how they could put that much into it (suspension, good seats, electric power steering, full tube frame chassis, etc) for that price.


Yes, it's slightly slower than an XP, but that's easily fixed. Nobody leaves these things stock for long.

It is his opinion and I thought it was funny... . He doesn't have a loyalty to any brand... he just gets paid to race 'em. I've seen him in Rhinos, RZRs and he really likes the Teryx and how it's built. I'm not taking what he says for gospel and I truly hope this machine turns out to be what you and my brother were looking for. I haven't seen one in person so I don't have an opinion. I was just relaying info from someone that has raced side by sides for 4 (or more) years now. As far as Andrew Buck is concerned, it's called mass production. I like the guy and know he has skills that not many have but when one looks at the industry, the hype is now side x sides and more manufacturers are willing to take the step to build a quality machine with a low price point.

I watched the video... the thing looks to run those whoops really well. I'm not taking anything away from it as I know very little about these machines. My brother will be here in a few mintues so I'll finally get to see it in person.

I think it's awesome so many companies are making these now... just wish Honda would step it up (they won't) and build what we all know they could... a class dominating machine.

People use these things for many different purposes, from rock crawling, mud bogging, sled pulling, trail riding to riding in the dunes. Some things are still universal: lower weight, lower center of gravity, more travel, safer, stronger roll cage are always going to help. Not to mention more power, we always want more power.

The specs. are what attracted me. 13" of ground clearance, 18" of travel, and 5" lower CoG than an XP, which is the current benchmark in UTV performance. If Polaris had built it with a complete tube frame, I'd have bought an XP, but as soon as the Wildcat was announced I knew it was going to be far superior in ride quality. The only thing lacking is a little power, and rumor has it the first prototypes had 95 hp on tap and they dialed it way back. I keep hearing rumblings from tuners claiming that the missing hp is very easily regained by an ECU retune and a less restrictive muffler or mufflers.

The metallic black/green paint job ain't too bad, either!

Finally saw it... looks good!

I'll see how it runs saturday morning.

AC Wildcat 4 ?










Having seen both the RZR XP and Wildcat sitting side by side.......I REALLY want to know how the motor/clutch set up works in sand.

.....and AC NEEDS to build a friggen 4 seater.

Well...

I saw how it ran Saturday morning and that was about it.

Apparently, the cv's are made out of glass. I'm not gonna talk shit... I hope it was an assembly issue but after a few hours, the new toy was sitting in camp, with one pissed off owner.

On the bright side... it was taken back to the dealer yesterday and they fixed the cv with parts from another on the floor.

No video though, sorry guys. Maybe the other one that broke got some footage before the front wheel decided not to be a team player.

Sad.

Oh no that sucks. That's the 2nd issue I heard about the cv's. Wow.

That's not good.

I don't know. My friend Vic (Sand_Duner) had his out here all Pres. weekend. Let me say I was more than impressed! That thing soaked up transitions and ruts that took my breath away. I have a 686 Rhino that really couldn't stay with him just because his suspension was so much better. He didn't have a problem the whole weekend, and he left yesterday. He put over 100 miles on it so he could take it back to the dealer for fluids change. I had the first ride which was about an hour long, the first thing I said when I got was "the rhino is now obsolete". And I have a very good one, LOL. I can't say how other people drove theirs, but Vic has been coming here since '78, and is an accomplished duner. Every thing he would go over, you would wait for the "hit", and it never came. I have never been in an XP, so I can't compare, but the Wildcat is wider inside, which made it more appealing to me. I think it's a winner - Socalmax!

I got a ride saturday morning and the thing soaked everything up without issues. I was VERY impressed, as was everyone in camp. My brother is an experienced duner and a very good driver and has broke very few toys in his life. We take care of our stuff but... the damn thing fell apart.

We're hoping it's a fluke however... it wasn't the only broken WC out there. We'll see this weekend... it's fixed and ready to go... and I have to say that I was amazed at the customer service that was provided.

Once again... it's not mine... I don't know why it broke but it did... and they took care of it. It was fun as hell...

I saw one in Pismo over the weekend. Guy didn't have any issues. He was also runnin the dirt tires.

One busted his crankshaft, but the drive system had already been modified (deleted the wet clutch) so who knows if it was a crank problem or modification problem. Its something they've been doing on the prowlers for a while tho, without issue. And it its essentially the same engine.

That's scary! Arctic Cat better get their shit together.

x2. Dealer in Southern Arizona got 6 in. 3 are sold already. Friend I grew up with works there and sends me teaser pics. Good dude to deal with if you are looking for one.

Scott @ 928-322-4681.

How much are they?

Got mine for under 18k from Prestige Motorsports in Temecula, CA. - Great Place to deal with so far!

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I don't know. My friend Vic (Sand_Duner) had his out here all Pres. weekend. Let me say I was more than impressed! That thing soaked up transitions and ruts that took my breath away. I have a 686 Rhino that really couldn't stay with him just because his suspension was so much better. He didn't have a problem the whole weekend, and he left yesterday. He put over 100 miles on it so he could take it back to the dealer for fluids change. I had the first ride which was about an hour long, the first thing I said when I got was "the rhino is now obsolete". And I have a very good one, LOL. I can't say how other people drove theirs, but Vic has been coming here since '78, and is an accomplished duner. Every thing he would go over, you would wait for the "hit", and it never came. I have never been in an XP, so I can't compare, but the Wildcat is wider inside, which made it more appealing to me. I think it's a winner - Socalmax!
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I saw your friend's Wildcat at Olds and talked to him for a little bit. He seemed very stoked and said the power was much better then the pre-production units. It is a very impressive machine in person.

Sounds like $17.9k OTD

I like the Wild Cat, but it's not that much different to warrant selling the XP.
Polaris will no doubt answer it with yet another improved Rzr.

Our XP has been super reliable and super fun.
The Wildcat is still in the teething pain stages and perhaps a year maybe two off from being correct.

I drove one last weekend.
The Power Steering is rough and doesnt return to center, or even try to return.
took a few feet for the power to come in, but after that it was nice.
Did some back to backs against my XP4 on a hill climb followed by a huge set of whoops at the bottom.
The WC felt about the same climbing, but over the whoops the cat was way better than my XP4.

Thats crazy I thought with the RZR XP4 wheelbase it would be better. Good to know thanks.