Thundercat

[ccdhowell]

Man I saw a pic of the new Arctic Cat Tundercat in the latest issue of Quad magazine and I can't quite thinking about it. I drove to the nearest Arctic Cat dealer(30 miles away) after lunch today and danged if they weren't closed for vacation, had a sign on the door, been closed all week.

So tell me, has anyone seen one in person? Anyone ridden a Thundercat? Was it awesome? Would it XC race well for a utility?

[Kilborg]

Cant say i have ridden a thundercat, though i have ridden the grizzly 660, vforce 700, 650 brute force, and a few other of the big boys...I can say this...before considering running xc on one of these bigboys, take one for a spirited ride...i couldnt come to grips with the extreme weight...if you try to throw the bike around you just tire yourself out and pull msucles. Those same manuevers on quads similar to what you and I currently run, make for high speed manueverability and "flickable" handling.

Iv seen some of the utility xc guys run...some of the better and pro class riders you see you really have to respect...thats ALOT of machine to be throwing around the way they do for as long as some of those races are. Granted most of them are some pretty burly dudes, but either way...thats a 6-700lb machine.

[ccdhowell]

Yeah, there are three guys on Can-Am 800s that race with me. They are really fast and seem to handle lots of terrain as good or better than the sport quads. Maybe it's the courses we run, often they are rutted, muddy, rocky, just dang tough. The utility racers have a better ride, more power and all wheel drive, all at the expense of extra weight. Those guys are truely man-handleing their machines, but they are fast when done properly. I debated hard about buying one before I bought my Raptor and didn't. Unfortunately I'm getting the urge again.

[smokinwrench]

Local dealer here has one. It is HUGE! They said it is damn fast.

[super90]

For a 716lb machine you better be in pretty damn good shape to race one! I know I couldnt ride it as long as a sport quad.

[ccdhowell]

Local dealer here has one. It is HUGE! They said it is damn fast.

That's the feedback I get everytime I ask about it. I've read it's got breathtaking acceleration.

[The Goat]

been reading...most say it's surprisingly nimble for it's size.

without the speed limiter 90+mph and pulling hard the whole way there. dynoed at over 100hp and 190+ ft/lbs torque. apparently...this thing is a beast.

one of he testers compared it to having the horsepower of an old jeep...but in something that weighs a fourth of what the jeep did.

haven't ridden a tcat...but I can tell you that Iamschmee's grizzly 700 will give a stock air 250r hell all the way to about 45...then the trike pulls away briefly at that point...then the grizzly catches back up.

I can't imagine something with double the horsepower and 4 times the torque. it's gotta feel like hell/heaven, depending upon what your mentality is.

in short....i want one.


I'm wondering though, has arctic cat's quality control improved enough in recent years?

I know the 500 they have is one helluva bike.

[ccdhowell]

I've read good things about Arctic Cat's QC lately. They are building the Thundercat engine at their own facitlity in MN. They seem to have performance parts on their big utility quads...i.e. disc brakes. I hate drum brakes even on utility quads and trikes too.

[The Goat]

so they are actually building this engine?

I think it was their company, for a while different models had different engines made by other manufacturers. buddy of mine has an early 2000s utility with a kawi engine in it...and another with a suzuki....I'll have to check but I'm almost positive everything else was made by arctic cat

[ccdhowell]

Yep, that's pretty much how I understand it. I think they make the new 650 single and now the 950 v-twin themselves, but have bought Zuki and Kawi engines in the past.

AC is quite popular around here in the mud and they seem to do well and hold-up too.

From what I read, their new utility quads are aimed to be somewhat sportier than others utility quads.

Looks like a good thing to me, but they are pricey. I can't buy anytime soon, but gotta have something to dream about.

[Macs]

I have driven the thundercat a few times. It is fast but has the same handling flaws as the rest of the cats. They are designed with no sway bar so they will get full use out of there suspension. So body role is horrible. They do sell a sway bar but havnt seen any arctic cat with one installed. they make there own engines for everyone of there 300cc and up quads. They have used kawi and suzuki motors in the past but now they build there own ( ex: 2006/7/8 LE 700 suzuki, V2 kawi ) There was alot of speculation on the HP of these monsters. Arctic Cat has still not produced any numbers. Most bikes dyno between 85-88hp. If i remember correctly this is slightly higher than the Canned Ham 800. But with both in stock form the Canam takes it in everything but the mud. Now the thundercat is way more upgradeable than the Canam. We had installed the 1400c kit using 700h1 top ends, custom built exhaust, snorkled. We are still fooling around with the fuel maps but it dynoed at 128 hp. I am confident we will easil break the 130 mark. I was going to buy one myself but i think my 700 is more suited for me. We ride tight trails ( the thundercat is 2" longer ) and play in the mud. I never get over 30 mph. so it would be a waste. My buddy is building his to race in the bogs. 8" lift is comming next.

[ccdhowell]

I'm stunned...I thought 950cc is just about too much, but ya'll created a 1,400cc monster. Holy cow, I want to ride it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the info. I haven't made it to the dealer yet, still dreamin'. Gotta get some financial things taken care of before I can go get this monster toy.