2008 Polaris 800 Dragon or 2009 Arctic Cat M8?
- Thread starter muddymama
- Start date
PINKalicious
Active VIP Member
Oh boy my friend you are in for it now with that loaded question. I have an 08 800 dragon and I love it. It might be a good idea to try them both out if you can, yes some dragons have had issues but not all of them. Chrisco on here has one too and it is sweet I think it's for sale too contact him about he has a shop and built it all him self. Good luck.
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Keeperswilly
Active member
Not a loaded question at all, unless your brand blind. The 2008 - 2010 Polaris 800 motor's had major issues, and the 800 Cat motors are bullet proof. And reliability is key when venturing into the backcountry. I owned both sleds, and not brand loyal.
neilsleder
Active VIP Member
I had a 08 800 Dragon love the sled hated that I put 5 engines in it inside of 1600kms ! You don't hear of any bad stuff about the cats, they have better reliability.
dooryder
XP V.I.P. Member
imo the ride on the D8 is better then the ride on the Mseries but the motor in the cat is more reliable then the polaris but once the poo is set up right it will run amazing all day long
talkinghamster
Active VIP Member
the polaris 800 motors are hit and miss. you either have a good one, or a complete bomb. i have a 700 Dragon and no issues so far, i like it!
tantrumpipeline
Active VIP Member
M8!!!!!!!!! There's a reason poo came out with the pro rmk, they fell well behind the rest with the detonator dragons
sc800
Active VIP Member
I agree based on the years I would go with the M8!!!!
Try and ride them as well. I think the ergonomics are quite different.
Not great if you have a really reliable sled that you don't like riding. Some people don't like the feeling of the Polaris at first either.
I haven't ridden a cat yet but plan on borrowing one this year just to try. You never know until your on it otherwise you have to live with it and make it work.
Not great if you have a really reliable sled that you don't like riding. Some people don't like the feeling of the Polaris at first either.
I haven't ridden a cat yet but plan on borrowing one this year just to try. You never know until your on it otherwise you have to live with it and make it work.
Keeperswilly
Active member
No doubt the IQ is a nicer sled on the trail stock, until all the air/nitrogen leaks out of your walker evans shocks on the dragons, the ones with spring shocks were better. With the Burandt update on the skid shocks of the cat, its night and day how it soaks up the bumps, but Zbroz is the way to go for shocks on both machines imo. The IQ takes corners a lot better, and the rider position is more comfortable with the handlbars being farther ahead, being more rider forward. But the stock bars are angled up on the outsides and strained my forearms in a weird way. When compared the pro tapers that came on the newer dragons which are a lot better. Once your off the trail and in the deep stuff the IQ is more twitchy and less predictable than the M-series. With the M-series once you get the feel for it, seems like all you have to do is look where you wanna go, and you go. And you can hold a line like no other sled. Never rode a IQ with the sway bar out, so don't know if it would be similar. Power is close, M gets a little more to the ground imo. The 800's had awesome power before they started blowing up and were detuned. If i was gonna pick up an IQ, I'd go with a 700 and put an SLP pipe set on it. Buddy of mine had one and on the hill I could put the 700 anywhere I could put my 800. Overall just like Mac said, you have to ride the sled your most comfortable with, but you gotta do your due dilligence too, because it doesn't matter how comfy your sled is, when your on the end of a tow sling gettin hit in the face with snow chunks all the way back to the staging area. haha.
x2.....
Shitfly
Active VIP Member
No doubt the IQ is a nicer sled on the trail stock, until all the air/nitrogen leaks out of your walker evans shocks on the dragons, the ones with spring shocks were better. With the Burandt update on the skid shocks of the cat, its night and day how it soaks up the bumps, but Zbroz is the way to go for shocks on both machines imo. The IQ takes corners a lot better, and the rider position is more comfortable with the handlbars being farther ahead, being more rider forward. But the stock bars are angled up on the outsides and strained my forearms in a weird way. When compared the pro tapers that came on the newer dragons which are a lot better. Once your off the trail and in the deep stuff the IQ is more twitchy and less predictable than the M-series. With the M-series once you get the feel for it, seems like all you have to do is look where you wanna go, and you go. And you can hold a line like no other sled. Never rode a IQ with the sway bar out, so don't know if it would be similar. Power is close, M gets a little more to the ground imo. The 800's had awesome power before they started blowing up and were detuned. If i was gonna pick up an IQ, I'd go with a 700 and put an SLP pipe set on it. Buddy of mine had one and on the hill I could put the 700 anywhere I could put my 800. Overall just like Mac said, you have to ride the sled your most comfortable with, but you gotta do your due dilligence too, because it doesn't matter how comfy your sled is, when your on the end of a tow sling gettin hit in the face with snow chunks all the way back to the staging area. haha.
You said it all right there..sure enjoyed my first day on the M8!! Still thinking on what to do with the poo sitting in pieces...
polarisdragon800
Active VIP Member
My vote for the dragon, theirs a reason I ride one and not an M8. M8's are known to not carve as nicely and be nowhere near as flickable as a dragon. I will admit the dragons have engine problems but you get them set up properly and you'll have no problems. At the end of the day I think that most people would be happier on a dragon, cat guys won't admit it. The only thing the cats got going is a reliable motor, what about the DD problems?? A properly set up dragon should have no issues.
tantrumpipeline
Active VIP Member
This is coming from a polaris guy who has had good luck, I know of a few dragons that have never let a guy down, but they're as rare as the M8 with zero DD issues over 3500km but I've rode one myself, I think you'd really have to ride both and decide, to me the 163 dragon to the 162M8 i felt the dragon layed over the same, the dragon felt lighter to some degree in the meadow with about a foot of fresh, not sure if they are or not though, power wise the dragon felt lacking when on the flat or making pulls, rode both all day on and off but I am really accustomed to the m chassis so if you go in without prior ass time oin either you will really get to see which machine fits you and your style best, also don't gimme the you're a cat guy talk as I have made it quite clear I'm not brand loyal and next sled will be a Pro Rmk unless the chassis really change, heard ski doo is in the works for some big changes next year
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I find this hard to believe. My rev blew up at boulder 2 yrs ago and for our last day i rented an 09 dragon cuz i have never rode one before. they are a really nice sled with decent power (mine was a rental so set up would have been a lot better) then my rev got stolen so i went to cat. I can't believe how easy and flickable that M8 is over anything else. Last spring i rode back to back a 2011 pro, 2011 summit SP with the 800r and mine. I found the pro to be very similar to my cat but the summit had more power and that narrowed ski stance made it way easyier to boondock with, still more effort than the other 2 but night and day compared to the old xp wide front end.
hey we have a 2008 m 800 pro all stock low klm new condition 5800.00 153 " track by 2 " not a scratch barely ridden
crossfire879
Active VIP Member
The diamond drive issues with the cats can be handled with routine maintenance. Pull it apart and change the bearing with the bdx double roller kit then just change the oil regularly.
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Riverjet
Active VIP Member
2 year old thread!
crossfire879
Active VIP Member
Haha so it is.
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