Doo or cat

cookgio

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Looking at buying either a 09 summit x 800 163 900 km or a 11 m8 162 snow pro 400 km. Both are really good sleds not looking to bash anything just want good info leaning towards m8 cause my dealer is cat and is awesome. Are there any known issues with either sled that I should look at first or they have.

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SaskSummit

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I cant speak for the cat but I have an 09 xp in my fleet. Engine is out of it now but good sled. Just ordered a shortblock for it. XP will need a top end between 4-5000 k other then that pull the cord and ride. My .02.
 

tantrumpipeline

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My 11 is a great sled, I did the diamond drive bearing upgrade at 500km for good measure it's 32$ for the bearing $18 for the gasket and $12 for the fluid and prevents a potential $1000 replacement case if it fails, I'm at 2500km now and pulled it apart this season and it looks new still, easy job to do yourself, otherwise I've added gas and oil, still have the original belt as a backup I changed around 1500km for good measure, and it's been handed down to the gf now, know of a bunch of 800ho cats with over 7000km on them before doing anything and if you read on here you'll hear of similar stories with the 800ptek but the doo mechanics in GP told me they haven't seen any make it that high until the etec came into play, have replaced the chaincase on 2of5 09 xp's in our group from chain failure resulting in case damage as well around the 2500and4000km mark. The handling is night and day different as well
 

cdnredneck_t3

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What type of riding will you be doing primarily? The Cat is the best in the hills hands down. The Doo is better on the trails. If you only want do some mountain riding go with the Doo. If you want to primarily ride the mountains go with the Cat.
 

adamg

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I ride a Skidoo, but my choice would be the m8, hands down, don't even have to think twice.
 

Polarissleds6

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It depends for me, like the other person said it depends on what you ride. The cats are amazing in the hills and the skidoos enjoy riding the trails but will go in the hills.

Artic cat m8 is what I'de go with, so reliable.


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trench

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I agree with the rest of the group, the Cat is a great deep snow mountain sled, the Doo XP is a great trail sled with a long track!
 

tantrumpipeline

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What are you currently riding and where do you spend most of your time? The xp is definitely more trail friendly but if you can get used to the xp they are a more modern sled than the cat, way more rider forward, 16wide gets better traction stock than the stock 15wide powerclaw on the cat, another weak point on the xp is rails but for $75 and 15min you can put stiffners in and lower the risk of bending, both have terrible running boards stock but modrods makes good inserts for $175 or so and the xp is the easier to install on, the stock xp skis actually work fairly well and the cats suck as do the new ones but you can pick up a set of Polaris grabbers used for around $200 that will fix that right up. You have to take a lot into account when choosing to ensure you're getting the right fit.
 

finndoo

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I am a Skidoo guy but out of those two choices the M8 would be a better pick. The 09 doo does not have any of the real updates that made the xp a good sled. Lousy ported track, wide ski stance, steering geometry etc. Unless the xp is an 11 or newer I would take the M8. The M8 of that year is a good sled with a pretty good reliability record, especially if you update the diamond drive like someone said.
 

milton

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What type of riding will you be doing primarily? The Cat is the best in the hills hands down. The Doo is better on the trails. If you only want do some mountain riding go with the Doo. If you want to primarily ride the mountains go with the Cat.
That is hilarious. Majority of the sleds ridden in the mountains are doos.
 

tantrumpipeline

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That is hilarious. Majority of the sleds ridden in the mountains are doos.
Hard to buy anything else new when you have the option of four year warranty on snow checks, my groups 90% updated for this season and outta 10-15 who ride together a lot I'm the only new cat with one guy on a 2010, 3 pro rmk's, 2xp's one an 880, and the rear are xm's, only reason the rest of us strayed was the cost and/or being too late to snowcheck
 

High Velocity

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That is hilarious. Majority of the sleds ridden in the mountains are doos.

That's funny, considering the best selling mountain sled is the Pro. Out of the two choices the O.P. mentioned, there is no doubt the M8 is the better sled. The XP's are like riding a sheet of plywood. Worst handling chassis on the mountain.


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bj_lucky

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If you wanna boondock, side hill, tree ride, with some sick down hill descents on the a-arms... Go with the cat.


If you wanna hill climb and beat your buddies that have m8's..... Go with the doo.


All depends what kinda riding you wanna do.
 

347strokin

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If you wanna boondock, side hill, tree ride, with some sick down hill descents on the a-arms... Go with the cat.


If you wanna hill climb and beat your buddies that have m8's..... Go with the doo.


All depends what kinda riding you wanna do.

X2...
 
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