Is the ZR 500 right for me?

I think the ZR 600 carb would be the best fit personally. There are more 600 stock classes in racing as well if you are planning to get into that at all. The weight difference isn't that much and there is quite a jump in power between the two. If you plan on keeping the sled stock so you can run in the stock class you might want to go with the EFI model so you don't have to mess with the carb at all. If you watch alot of the pro's that do freestyle, alot of them use the bigger sleds for that little bit of extra power!

Well the only difference between the two is the Efi uses a batteryless fuel injection system which automatically adjusts the air fuel mix according to temperature, altitude and many other factors. This is an awesome system if you plan on keeping your sled stock and don't want to mess with jetting carbs and such. Typically the EFI models make a couple more HP than the carbs models as well. Now, if you want to mod your sled then the EFI system cannot be adjusted to account for pipes, reeds or anything else you put on that could change the air/fuel mix which could cause the sled to run lean and burn up a engine. They have come up with a way to change the chips in the computer for the EFI module to account for a specific mod or set of mods, but that is not adjustable either. Basically if you want to Mod your sled get the Carb model. If you want to keep it stock, then the EFI is the way to go. Other than those differences the two sleds are identical.


Edited by - intendedacceleration on 13 Dec 2001 10:59:30

If you can still find one, thry to get the Cross Country Version, as it has a little better suspension setup for Racing and such. The difference is very small though, so if you can't find it, don't worry about it. Other than that I can't really think of anything else!

Have you ever thought of an XC 600? Polaris 600 twins pull the most horsepower out of any other stock 600 on the market. 116 HP stock. Add pipes to that and get upwards of 125 or more HP!


Vote for Snowmobile Fanatics.com

Honestly......I can't tell you and neither could anybody else here. Both are very very nice sleds. For me this year when I was looking at the new sleds, I left no options out, and I researched for months before I finally decided with the Cat. In all reality, the polaris probably has a few hp on the Cat in the 600 class. Are you going to notice this? Probably not. What really sold me on the Cat was:

A) EFI---this was a huge factor for me

B) The rider ergonomics....with the cat you get the exact same riding position and bars, running boards, etc as the race sleds that the pro's use. The riding postion of the cat's favors more of an aggressive riding style, where the polaris seems a better choice if you are a sit down rider. The cat's bars are high and have hooked ends to hang off the sled, where the polaris has low, narrow bars, and narrow, slippery running boards. Can you fix this with aftermarket parts? Yes. Do you want to have to spend big $$$ just to be comfortable on a brand new sled? I didn't.

C) The engine setup on the Cat was more of a technology leader than that of the Polaris, with servo controlled electronic power valves instead of manual ones, and a better clutching setup.

D) I don't think anybody could argue that the Cat isn't the leader in handling, with the only stock sled with A-Arm technology. The handling on my Cat is simply awesome, and I think it would be tough to improve on.

E) Looks, for me I loved the look of the bright green.....but this is completely my opinion.

F) For me, after sitting on both sleds for a long time, the Cat really had a quality feel to it, where the polaris seemed like it just felt cheap. Although I do think the polaris gauges are better, I felt that polaris had really cheapened up their sleds over the years, as my last sled was a 93 polaris storm.

Well I think that just about covers it, hopefully I gave you what you were looking for, and remember that only you can decide which sled is best for you. For me, the Cat was an easy choice, but for you it might be the polaris or some other sled in fact.

By the way I liked the Ski-Doo over the Polaris as well, and that was a little tougher choice between the Cat and the Doo.....Both were really nice.

No problem man.....I fully encourage you to ask as many people as you can, get as much information as you can! That way you know you will be happy and not regret anything.


Edited by - intendedacceleration on 14 Dec 2001 08:56:12

I'm gonna have to try a mental block on that darn cat mind control team before they take over.

Beware of l

Edited by - steve on 14 Dec 2001 14:38:37

hehehe you are getting sleeeeeppy, very sleeeepppy! lol