35+ hour update on the 174 x 850

Teth-Air

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Sled is really working well but it did take some time to tweak to get it the way I like.

The biggest hurdle has been the mapping as it is slower to respond on the bottom end and runs fat compared to the 800HO. This is at 4500 RPM and once through that it rips. Here is what I did to deal with this so far:

Clutching. Primary, dropped to 66 gram EPI weights, dropped to a 105/300 primary spring. Secondary, increased the spring to a 170/240 and added the radial roller bearing beneath the spring cup. Also replaced the helix to a 60/44 angle from the straight 42.

What this did is keep the nice low engagement while lightening the clutch to pull through the 4500 RPM range easier. The sled hits 8350 RPM and backshifts much better too. There was a slight loss in mid-speed pull but the sled is very smooth and top end is excellent. I run the TKI belt drive but is geared stock ratio (2.32 or 2.52 equivalent to 8 tooth drivers) I will try some alternate gearing to see if I can recover the mid-speed pull. Also I have some adjustable weights on back order that I can load the heel to see if this can help. The TKI accelerates noticeably better than the chain setup. We switched back and forth between 2 exact same sleds with only this change, prior to doing other mods.

Additionally I have changed to hotter spark plugs and have about 6 rides on them and they definitely reduce fouling. They still look wet but the sled runs much crisper.

For suspension and handling I have tightened the front skid shock to make the sled roll side to side easier, this has allowed me to stay more centered more often as I have found If you stay center you can react much faster in change of direction rather than try to jump side to side for "wrong foot forward". The rear shock needed a bit of tightening too to reduce bottoming and control for climbing but this 174 is much better for controlled climbing than the 163 I had. With the front skis set at 36" this sled will tend to dive easier so I had to tighten the ski shocks springs too. This makes the steering a little heavier but I just turn the dampening down a bit on set up snow.

For other accessories I put on the SLP trail can with the muffpot bracket. (nice option), a Skinz windshield bag, a Polaris tunnel bag, Ice Storm reversible scratchers and a Laser Phantom Teth-Air, cordless tether system.

Not that it means much but we had a little race this past weekend, my sled, a 2018 AXYS 155 800HO and a 2018 175 G4. The 2 Polaris's were fastest with the 174 out front slightly due to traction and the Doo was last.

In a longer race I would expect the 155 would have gone past my sled.

For steep and deep this sled gives me crazy confidence. I did not expect to be able to handle it so well on super steep, tree littered slopes. As the track spins so easy it feels like a shorter sled yet behaves much better without wheelieing out of control. There is also much less "push" than expected when trying to make a "$hit hook" turn.

I must say this sled is the best Polaris I have had so far and expect they will only get much better with a few updates from the factory e.g. slight mapping change.

Can't wait to get out on it soon.
 

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JungleJim

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Nice pic and write-up Chris! I for one am glad you're liking your 174 and its working well for you. My back is glad too... ha ha! Once Polaris get's the mapping right to clean up the bog on the bottom end and quit fouling plugs it will really help as the 850 Polaris certainly has good top end as evidenced in your drag race results.
 

SnowJunkie82

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Great write up! We have two new 850’s in our group, one with same configuration as yours (and the same issue’s). The other is 163x2.6 and seems to run much cleaner.

P.S Great pic! Looks like the Alpine!
 

Mountainman52

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Great write up and some good info- feed back here for the Pol. camp. The one think I noted is I dont think Doo made a 174 in 2017 ????

Cheers and safe riding !
 

adamg

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Great write up and some good info- feed back here for the Pol. camp. The one think I noted is I dont think Doo made a 174 in 2017 ????

Cheers and safe riding !

They did, it was an XM T3 174 800cc in 2017.
 

Caper11

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Great write up and some good info- feed back here for the Pol. camp. The one think I noted is I dont think Doo made a 174 in 2017 ????

Cheers and safe riding !

I think You meant they didnt make a 175 G4 in 2017, as it was wrote in the review.
 

Teth-Air

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The G4 feels old and heavy that you swear you are still on a sled with 2017 technology and performance.

5hit disturber! Maybe your right but they sure work better than the XM/XP era sleds. Not that they were bad either but seeing a guy move to a G4 that was a slow rider through the trees and seeing his speed almost double, says something.
 

Lund

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Thank you for this very nice, informative and yet not bragging post.
I like your tuning style and even though i don't ride a Polaris i completely agree on the way you went forward on setting everything from clutching to suspension. It is the basis on how i set up most sleds, you and i must of gone to the same sled setup school...LOL ;)

It's refreshing to read great info like this, unlike other threads that are more of a bragging BS on their superiority.
I'm thinking its more certain individual's with a image issue.
Thank you.
 

Danbot

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I'm curious what hotter plugs you went to? bpr8's?
 

Teth-Air

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I'm curious what hotter plugs you went to? bpr8's?

BPR6EIX iridium. I know this is a big jump but it needed to be a significant increase to stay dry enough. They are still dripping wet. Don't do what I do unless you are sure to take the necessary precautions to verify they are not harming your motor.
 

snobyrd

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I find it odd that you are having wet looking plugs, I pulled mine and they were dry and tan looking, I was doing lots of short tree climb runs, lots of throttle chopping. I installed some orginal mtx weights, added a few grms and im liking the results so far, good strong bottom end with strong mids, the throttle response feels just like my 16 155 2.6 and im now running the 163 2.6, track speeds are up in the high 40s in a loose snow climb, i did find the stock 68s/70s lazy on the bottom end.
 

takethebounce

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I find it odd that you are having wet looking plugs, I pulled mine and they were dry and tan looking, I was doing lots of short tree climb runs, lots of throttle chopping. I installed some orginal mtx weights, added a few grms and im liking the results so far, good strong bottom end with strong mids, the throttle response feels just like my 16 155 2.6 and im now running the 163 2.6, track speeds are up in the high 40s in a loose snow climb, i did find the stock 68s/70s lazy on the bottom end.

The 850’s I have ridden are like a diesel, they are making what appears to be loads of torque before 5000-5500rpm before they take off. None have felt like the 800’s, those motors rev very quick compared to the 850’s. My 800’s have been screamers and my 18 is no different and it’s completely different to the 850’s.

There are definitely differences in some of the feedback owners have provided as far as how the motors are performing.
 

Teth-Air

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I find it odd that you are having wet looking plugs, I pulled mine and they were dry and tan looking, I was doing lots of short tree climb runs, lots of throttle chopping. I installed some orginal mtx weights, added a few grms and im liking the results so far, good strong bottom end with strong mids, the throttle response feels just like my 16 155 2.6 and im now running the 163 2.6, track speeds are up in the high 40s in a loose snow climb, i did find the stock 68s/70s lazy on the bottom end.

So what weight are you running for the MTX's? And does yours burble at near 4500 RPM? Some guys are saying they are not getting any of this.
 

snobyrd

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The 850’s I have ridden are like a diesel, they are making what appears to be loads of torque before 5000-5500rpm before they take off. None have felt like the 800’s, those motors rev very quick compared to the 850’s. My 800’s have been screamers and my 18 is no different and it’s completely different to the 850’s.

There are definitely differences in some of the feedback owners have provided as far as how the motors are performing.

I agree with you, cause I felt the bottom end was lazy, not no more, my sled with my current clutching is very snappy now, I can now launch it off mogals at low speeds unlike when it had stock weights. I also ran the mtxs in my 16 155, so I guess im used to how they feel. I would like to try a stk setup back to back vs mine just to see the diff.
last week i went head to head vs a 164 alpha and a 850 164 doo, we each started from the start of the slope, no run at it, both the doo and alpha climbed about the same height 3/4 way up, my 850 blew over the top like nothing, Im contrubuiting some of this to my clutching,
 

snobyrd

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Im runiing the 74s ( really 73,1), with weight added in the mid and tip. I did start empty than added weight and this added weight made it snappy, and im reving in that 82,8350 range and that was on a very warm day last sat. I know the burbble ur talking about and from what I remember, its gone. it could very well be due to the fact that the mtxs load the bottom end with 4 extra grms
 

snobyrd

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I noticed right away on the trail head reguarding my throttle responce, I may even add 1 more grm to the tip just to see what it does. but overall as things sit, im very happy with the results.
btw im about 40 hrs
 

snobyrd

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Sled is really working well but it did take some time to tweak to get it the way I like.

The biggest hurdle has been the mapping as it is slower to respond on the bottom end and runs fat compared to the 800HO. This is at 4500 RPM and once through that it rips. Here is what I did to deal with this so far:

Clutching. Primary, dropped to 66 gram EPI weights, dropped to a 105/300 primary spring. Secondary, increased the spring to a 170/240 and added the radial roller bearing beneath the spring cup. Also replaced the helix to a 60/44 angle from the straight 42.

What this did is keep the nice low engagement while lightening the clutch to pull through the 4500 RPM range easier. The sled hits 8350 RPM and backshifts much better too. There was a slight loss in mid-speed pull but the sled is very smooth and top end is excellent. I run the TKI belt drive but is geared stock ratio (2.32 or 2.52 equivalent to 8 tooth drivers) I will try some alternate gearing to see if I can recover the mid-speed pull. Also I have some adjustable weights on back order that I can load the heel to see if this can help. The TKI accelerates noticeably better than the chain setup. We switched back and forth between 2 exact same sleds with only this change, prior to doing other mods.

Additionally I have changed to hotter spark plugs and have about 6 rides on them and they definitely reduce fouling. They still look wet but the sled runs much crisper.

For suspension and handling I have tightened the front skid shock to make the sled roll side to side easier, this has allowed me to stay more centered more often as I have found If you stay center you can react much faster in change of direction rather than try to jump side to side for "wrong foot forward". The rear shock needed a bit of tightening too to reduce bottoming and control for climbing but this 174 is much better for controlled climbing than the 163 I had. With the front skis set at 36" this sled will tend to dive easier so I had to tighten the ski shocks springs too. This makes the steering a little heavier but I just turn the dampening down a bit on set up snow.

For other accessories I put on the SLP trail can with the muffpot bracket. (nice option), a Skinz windshield bag, a Polaris tunnel bag, Ice Storm reversible scratchers and a Laser Phantom Teth-Air, cordless tether system.

Not that it means much but we had a little race this past weekend, my sled, a 2018 AXYS 155 800HO and a 2018 175 G4. The 2 Polaris's were fastest with the 174 out front slightly due to traction and the Doo was last.

In a longer race I would expect the 155 would have gone past my sled.

For steep and deep this sled gives me crazy confidence. I did not expect to be able to handle it so well on super steep, tree littered slopes. As the track spins so easy it feels like a shorter sled yet behaves much better without wheelieing out of control. There is also much less "push" than expected when trying to make a "$hit hook" turn.

I must say this sled is the best Polaris I have had so far and expect they will only get much better with a few updates from the factory e.g. slight mapping change.

Can't wait to get out on it soon.

Your quote about the fts adjustment , going stiffer, ive honestly never tried it cause of the neg effects of trenching but in more marginal sno, I gotta ride very aggressive vs just standing on top centered over the boards.
 
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takethebounce

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Your quote about the fts adjustment , going stiffer, ive honestly never tried it cause of the neg effects of trenching but in more marginal sno, I gotta ride very aggressive vs just standing on top centered over the boards.

The Axys does trench more compared to the Pro Ride, I haven't had any negatives with a sittfer FTS though.
 
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