Sled Tests

2010 Mid-Market Luxury Snowmobiles Comparison Test

DECISIONS, DECISIONS … PICKING A WINNER IN A STRONG SEGMENT
By Mark Savage
Published: Friday, September 18, 2009
OUCH, OUCH, OUCH … I'm hurting here because I've got to pick a favorite in the loaded mid-market luxury segment - my favorite.These are the snowmobiles that a lot of us 50-somethings enjoy because they're plenty fast, handle well and supply us with the goodies and pleasant ride that allow us to continue to rack up a lot of miles each season.

I know, I know! There's no sympathy from you, because you know that to make my choice I was "forced" to ride these four beauties, back-to-back. And as it so happens (I feel a gloat coming on), I had to do it on a beautiful day while touring the well-groomed trails outside Grand Lake, Colo., the soaring Rockies as my background. Darn!

This time out we compare three 4-strokes, Yamaha's new fuel-injected Vector GT, Ski-Doo's GSX 4-TEC and Arctic Cat's Z1 LXR, along with Ski-Doo's GSX E-TEC, a lighter weight 2-stroke. Admittedly more than one Polaris sled could compete in this segment, but no Polaris was available to us for testing with the other sleds this year.

OK, OK, so stop twisting my arm. Here's my take, along with the consensus of our AmSnow test crew!
(Click the links below to read each one of our reviews.)
2010 Yamaha RS Vector GT
2010 Ski-Doo GSX 4-TEC & E-TEC
2010 Arctic Cat Z1 LXR
Final verdict!
There's no bad choice here. The Cat is so comfortable and well equipped that it's a good value. Last year we leaned heavily toward the GSX, which we still like, but the others have made substantial improvements for 2010.

This year we're happiest with the Vector GT, for price, power, fuel-efficiency, handling and ride.

We think the Vector GT is the complete package!
ABOUT THIS ARTICLE
Appeared in: November, 2009 issue of American Snowmobiler Magazine
View the Table of Contents of the November 2009 Issue