For any snowmobilers out there: the 2013 Ski-doo MXZX 800 etec

[packbuckbrew]

I bought my first Ski-doo this year after riding many many miles on Arctic Cats. Because of the Spyder, I have been in many BRP dealers and could not help but notice the Ski-doos in the show room. Well, this led to me buying a 2013 Ski-Doo MXZX 800 etec. I traded in my 2007 Arctic Cat F8 for the MXZX. This was a spring release sled that someone did not want. It has the orange body work and the fully adjustable rear suspension. I now have 800 miles on it in many different riding conditions. Overall this sled is an excellent performance trail sled.

Power: In this genre of sleds, power is obviously a big thing. This sled pulls impressively through the entire power band, it may lack a little at the top end (I think the AC 800 H.O. has a little more top end), but it is a very respectable top end trail sled with respect to power. Top speed I have had on the speedo is 111 mph. I installed my Garmin 660 from my spyder on it and it registered 106 mph. I am riding it bone stock except for 84 studs and carbides. By the way, 84 studs is not close to enough for this monster, I will be going to 144 before next season for sure, it does not hook up at all and the braking is, lets just say, interesting. I was talked into 84 by my dealer, mistake.

Efficiency: This thing gets amazing mpg, I have not calculated it yet, but in my riding group the only sleds doing better on fuel are the 600 etec's. It does not use much oil either.

Handling: The dealer set the sled up for me with my weight and riding style and despite having every adjustable gadget you can buy for a sled, I have not touched a thing. The thing is like riding on rails, point the skis where you want it to go and it goes there. Sometimes it almost has too much bite, I dumped it once on a hard packed road when the carbide cut and she just laid over.

Ergo: This took some getting used to from my 2007 AC F8, but the rev XS chassis is really comfortable and I just wish I would have switched earlier

Fit/Finish: The sled is well put together, tons of smart design features and sharp lines. The windshield is ridiculously small, but actually provides a reasonable amount of wind protection

Bottom line, if you want a powerful yet nimble trail sled, this may be your ride.

 

[Bob Denman]

The top-end ought to come into it's own once you get it loosened up a bit; you didn't say how many miles you had piled on it.
Thanks for the write-up! :thumbup:
I've heard that the new chassis doesn't offer much protection from the wind... What do you think?

 

[packbuckbrew]

I have 800 miles on it. I think the XS has better wind protection than the XP's I have ridden. I could see getting a bigger windshield in the future, but we were riding in the U.P. last weekend in single digits and it wasn't too bad.

 

[Bob Denman]

Thanks! :thumbup:

What kind of studding are you using on that beast?

 

[packbuckbrew]

84 using the premarked track. I don't think it is a pattern issue, it is a numbers issue. The 800 etec makes 162 hp, that is 2 hp per stud, this simply is not enough, it spins the track like crazy and coming into turns hot it just doesn't stop like I am used to with 144 stud tracks. I will definitely be adding studs, not sure how this will effect the front end, but I will add more carbide if I have to.

 

[packbuckbrew]

Bob, what do you ride?

 

[Jimmy Neutron]

I bought my first Ski-doo this year after riding many many miles on Arctic Cats. Because of the Spyder, I have been in many BRP dealers and could not help but notice the Ski-doos in the show room. Well, this led to me buying a 2013 Ski-Doo MXZX 800 etec. I traded in my 2007 Arctic Cat F8 for the MXZX. This was a spring release sled that someone did not want. It has the orange body work and the fully adjustable rear suspension. I now have 800 miles on it in many different riding conditions. Overall this sled is an excellent performance trail sled.

Power: In this genre of sleds, power is obviously a big thing. This sled pulls impressively through the entire power band, it may lack a little at the top end (I think the AC 800 H.O. has a little more top end), but it is a very respectable top end trail sled with respect to power. Top speed I have had on the speedo is 111 mph. I installed my Garmin 660 from my spyder on it and it registered 106 mph. I am riding it bone stock except for 84 studs and carbides. By the way, 84 studs is not close to enough for this monster, I will be going to 144 before next season for sure, it does not hook up at all and the braking is, lets just say, interesting. I was talked into 84 by my dealer, mistake.

Efficiency: This thing gets amazing mpg, I have not calculated it yet, but in my riding group the only sleds doing better on fuel are the 600 etec's. It does not use much oil either.

Handling: The dealer set the sled up for me with my weight and riding style and despite having every adjustable gadget you can buy for a sled, I have not touched a thing. The thing is like riding on rails, point the skis where you want it to go and it goes there. Sometimes it almost has too much bite, I dumped it once on a hard packed road when the carbide cut and she just laid over.

Ergo: This took some getting used to from my 2007 AC F8, but the rev XS chassis is really comfortable and I just wish I would have switched earlier

Fit/Finish: The sled is well put together, tons of smart design features and sharp lines. The windshield is ridiculously small, but actually provides a reasonable amount of wind protection

Bottom line, if you want a powerful yet nimble trail sled, this may be your ride.
View attachment 62324

FYI. Whatever you do only put studs down the middle of the track and make sure you use the proper ones.. These tracks are not like what you had and ones on out side of track will rip out rather easy,,

 

[ARtraveler]

:congrats: on the new sled. Very good write up.

 

[Bob Denman]

144 won't cut the mustard with that many ponies hitched up... :shocked:
216 (3 per panel) would probably hook it up...
Oh! I forgot! pps: What are you rding on? Lake ice or packed snow?
216 will work on lake ice like magic! packed snow... :dontknow:

Are you dropping rpm as you reach your top-end? That would indicate that you need some clutch tinkering done to hold the engine within it's powerband as the load increases.
If it's revving higher as the speed increases; you need more flyweight to make it pull harder.

 

[Marker]

:congrats: Nice sled and love the color. If BRP is still using break in program Your sled will come to life once the break in program is done. I owned a an E-Tec outboard motor and loved it sipped oil and fuel all day

 

[spydaman60]

I bought my first Ski-doo this year after riding many many miles on Arctic Cats. Because of the Spyder, I have been in many BRP dealers and could not help but notice the Ski-doos in the show room. Well, this led to me buying a 2013 Ski-Doo MXZX 800 etec. I traded in my 2007 Arctic Cat F8 for the MXZX. This was a spring release sled that someone did not want. It has the orange body work and the fully adjustable rear suspension. I now have 800 miles on it in many different riding conditions. Overall this sled is an excellent performance trail sled.

Power: In this genre of sleds, power is obviously a big thing. This sled pulls impressively through the entire power band, it may lack a little at the top end (I think the AC 800 H.O. has a little more top end), but it is a very respectable top end trail sled with respect to power. Top speed I have had on the speedo is 111 mph. I installed my Garmin 660 from my spyder on it and it registered 106 mph. I am riding it bone stock except for 84 studs and carbides. By the way, 84 studs is not close to enough for this monster, I will be going to 144 before next season for sure, it does not hook up at all and the braking is, lets just say, interesting. I was talked into 84 by my dealer, mistake.

Efficiency: This thing gets amazing mpg, I have not calculated it yet, but in my riding group the only sleds doing better on fuel are the 600 etec's. It does not use much oil either.

Handling: The dealer set the sled up for me with my weight and riding style and despite having every adjustable gadget you can buy for a sled, I have not touched a thing. The thing is like riding on rails, point the skis where you want it to go and it goes there. Sometimes it almost has too much bite, I dumped it once on a hard packed road when the carbide cut and she just laid over.

Ergo: This took some getting used to from my 2007 AC F8, but the rev XS chassis is really comfortable and I just wish I would have switched earlier

Fit/Finish: The sled is well put together, tons of smart design features and sharp lines. The windshield is ridiculously small, but actually provides a reasonable amount of wind protection

Bottom line, if you want a powerful yet nimble trail sled, this may be your ride.
View attachment 62324

nice looking sled.:clap: I have a 2010 600 etec renegade (white and red) with about 4000 miles on it. once the sled hit 1000 to 1100 miles, the speed went up and the mileage as well. I go 260 poundsnojoke and i'm getting 114mph :yikesut of the 600. i also average 21 to 23 mpg depending on how hard we ride. i'm sure you will see more than the 111 out of yours. all I have done is add the v force reed valves and that's about it!:thumbup:

 

[grumpybob]

We ride a Yamaha 4 stroke. Nan was having problems getting sick from the oil fumes on our ski doo 600 2 stroke.

That is quite the sled. A couple friends ride one.


Let the SpYder conversion try to keep up with it!!

 

[otter28169]

The single ply tracks on these new ski-doos are not holding up to well to the studding. We ride like responsible adults on a pair of 800R MX-Zs and replace a track once a year. The good thing about that is that Ski-Doo warranties the track for 2 years if you use their stud pattern.

 

[rnet]

Although more studding might be the answer, I'm convinced that is has more to do with the suspension setup. I,ve had sleds with 144, 192, 120, and nothing has hooked up better than the one I am currently riding and it has 88 up the middle. Got tired of replacing tracks at 3500 miles when they tear on the outside. Ran this sled a year before I did stud, cause I do some mountain riding and the hills can be slipery. Still have yet to be beat by another stock sled in drag races, lake or trail.

 

[Bob Denman]

Single-ply tracks are kind of like disposable diapers; use them about once, and you're done with them! :gaah:

 

[otter28169]

Although more studding might be the answer, I'm convinced that is has more to do with the suspension setup. I,ve had sleds with 144, 192, 120, and nothing has hooked up better than the one I am currently riding and it has 88 up the middle. Got tired of replacing tracks at 3500 miles when they tear on the outside. Ran this sled a year before I did stud, cause I do some mountain riding and the hills can be slipery. Still have yet to be beat by another stock sled in drag races, lake or trail.

I use studs to ensure that I can stop. On glare ice or low snow areas the studs will give you better hook-up. Other than that they are usless. I always did like to be able to come to a stop when I intend on doing it. :yes:

 

[Bob Denman]

Down here; it was about the lake ice! :2thumbs:
We just never seemed to have enough snow for a decent riding season. :gaah:
So we dug into the toolboxes, and learned about clutches, weight transfer, and studding...

 

[vtrider]

Nice sled! I like the Skidoo Etec's. My son has a 2009 TNT 600 Etec, which has been a great sled. I have a TNT 1200 four stroke, which has all the power that I need.