I promised a report a while ago, and I've been procrastinating, so here goes ... let me apologize in advance to you die-hard Cat guys who think I'm a traitor!

First of all, I have less than 400 miles on the Dragon thus far despite some very good conditions out there right now. As I get older, and the kids start getting into more activities, I lose out on my opportunities to ride so I can't brag about 400 miles. Regardless, it's enough to say the sled is broken in, and I do have several trips coming up in the next weeks to add to the odometer. Other than an issue with my chaincase cover needing to be replaced, the sled has been all I can ask for, and quite honestly I think it's one of the best sleds I've ever owned. Let me try to break it down into three categories: ride, performance, and economy

The Ride
Coming off a 2007 F8, and the Twin Spar chassis, it didn't matter what my next sled was going to be ... my next sled would have big shoes to fill in the ride department. The engineering crew in Thief River Falls hit a homerun with the Twin Spar for the guys that like to rack up miles through the trails. Having some prior experience on the IQ with fellow riding buddies, I knew Polaris was right up there in the quality of ride. I can honestly say my Dragon is every bit as good as my F8 ever was, with the exception of heavier steering (more effort). It sucks up the bumps extremely well, and has a very stable feel through the various conditions. To top it off, it brings back that "fun factor" I had missed with my F7. You can force yourself to get inside ski lift and ride on that one ski for a while, and you can also throw the sled around again. That was never the case with my F8. It's not a knock to the F8 either, it's just something I enjoy every now and then and puts the fun back into the ride.

A lot of guys have been reporting the rear suspension not being set stiff enough for them. I'm not seeing that problem at all. I'm no small guy (250lbs + geared up) and even when I've pushed the sled hard through the moguls the rear skid has held up well. I've got the adjuster blocks all the way on the stiffest setting, and my shocks are also set with a bit more preload. The Walker Evans shocks are a couple clicks from the highest setting, and all I can say is I'm happy. I had a problem with pushing in the corners early on, but after setting my front shock springs correctly, and pulling up the limiter strap a little, this thing is able to carve beautifully. Keep in mind I'm also running USI VX301's with 7.5 Shaper bars and 144 studs down the center (1.40" Extreme Max). I can sit back and cruise, or I can scoot up and really get into the corners aggressively, or transition to standing with little effort. It truly is a great riding sled. One of the things I'm a little nervous about is the new skid Polaris put in this model. There's no grease zerks at all. The bushings are some sort of urethane bushing that's supposed to hold up to wear extremely well, and not need lubrication. (I'm still keeping my fingers crossed on that.)

I miss the wider running boards on my previous Cats, but that's not to say the Dragon has narrow running boards. It may only be a half inch, or maybe a bit more, but I can tell the difference & it's something I obviously took for granted. One thing I don't miss is the ice build up on the running boards! I remember I had an ice rink on my F8 after a day's ride, and on the Dragon there's no sign of ice build up at all.

The seat is also a nice change. Going from the F7 and the narrow tunnel/track, back to a traditional 15" wide track & tunnel, you could tell the seat was obviously wider. It was almost like you felt you were bow-legged going back to that setup. On the Dragon, the seat is tapered a bit to give that narrow feel again. However, the comfort is not compromised ... the seat is perfectly comfortable for me. I do miss having a trunk, or some kind of storage area though. The "raw" look of the Dragon is fine, but the lack of storage kind of sucks because you can't even care an extra set of gloves or a bottle of isopropyl. Oh well, I can live with that minor flaw!

Overall, I would give the ride a 9 out of 10. The steering effort is really the only thing that's holding me back from a perfect 10 rating.

The Performance
People can ridicule Polaris and laugh at the "over hyped" Dragon horsepower all they want. It was advertised as a 154HP sled, and it was delivered at 10HP less (sometimes more). Was I mad at this? Yeah - for about 2 seconds - and that's the God Honest Truth. How many sleds have been over hyped in our lifetime, and the HP coming in lower than advertised? I know my F7 was touted as a 140HP 700, but it came in at about 133 to 134 ponies. I guess if I were into racing only I'd be pissed, but I'm not and I wasn't. Bear in mind, I did add a fuel controller, but that's another story!

So, let me get back on track here with the performance aspect of the Dragon. First and foremost, I'm back on a 800cc sled that feels like an 800cc sled! Where my F8 would sound like it wanted to get up and go, the Dragon DOES get up and go. It's that fun factor thing again I mentioned earlier. I never had that feeling on my F8 where I could line up against another sled in the same class and feel like I have a chance. The Dragon brings back the F7 mentality, minus the top end of my F7. Out of the hole, this thing will leave you in the crouching position if you're not holding on tight. It launches out of the hole and pulls hard all the way up to about 90mph. From there it takes a little bit, but it still pulls on up into the triple digits. I haven't had a chance to run it on the track up north, but I'm confident it will see 110mph or more.

As a comparison to my F8 - some of you heard me talk about my riding buddy's 2007 Dragon 700. That sled would destroy my F8 everytime we lined up. He'd launch out of the hole and just keep on trucking. Even from a roll he would walk my sled & literally embarrass me. Now? Not quite the same story. The D8 will pull the D7 off the line and keep on pulling it to the extent of 3 or 4 sled lengths up to 90mph. My F8 would be done before the race even started. Those of you with good running F8's ... I would love to hear what you're seeing for results against other 800cc sleds and F7's?

Trail performance is OK in stock form, but there's a really bad stumble with the Polaris fuel map this year. I personally have a horrible stumble when getting off the gas, and it's not something that Polaris looks to be fixing anytime soon. I opted to buy a Power Commander 3 (PCIII) fuel controller to help out with this problem, and it's probably the best $350 purchase I've made outside clutch kits. The adjustability of these things is awesome, and I think we finally have a map to get the sled to perform the way it should have out of the box. The icing on the cake is, with the fuel controller taking away the pig rich top end fuel delivery, I have that 154HP sled that was advertised!

I'm heading up north this weekend to try this latest map, and I'm hoping that will be the last time I need to attach my laptop to my sled this season. With the sled potentially being where I expect it to be, I feel like I'm going to have the old "point and shoot" ride again from a few years back on the F7 (with a better overall ride).

Overall, I give the performance a 9 out of 10. Fix the mapping, and maybe add a little weight to the clutching, and you have a 10.

The Economy
Well, here's where I have a less than stellar review. Comparing my F8's fuel economy, the Dragon is lacking. I'm pulling about 10mpg from what I've calculated thus far vs. my F8 pulling anywhere from 12mpg to 14mpg. It's not a show stopper by any means, but the fuel economy could be much better. There's guys reporting less than 7mpg out there so something is obviously wrong. Oil consumption, on the other hand, has been a pleasant surprise. I'm going to calculate my ratio again this weekend, but my initial calc after running pre-mix was 45:1. That's WAY better than my F8 was out of the box. I'm still running the Amsoil Interceptor brand for those wondering what oil I'm using.

Comparing the Polaris 800 to Cat or Doo 800's and the overall economy, I'm going to give the Poo a 7 out of 10. Double digits fuel economy is acceptable in my opinion, but knowing the other makes can get low to mid teens (and higher) economy, there's room for improvement.

Overall, the sled as a whole I'm going to give it a 9 out of 10. I don't think any brand has a perfect 10 out there, but this machine ranks right up there. For all the negative stuff people are reading on the Internet, just remember 2002 when our Firecats came out. Every one of them were claimed to be a pile of junk & we all know that was not the case. A few bad ones gave the rest of them a bad name, and that's what I think is happening this year too with the Dragon.

Am I converted to Polaris now? I don't think I'd call myself a die-hard, but I will consider them again come purchase time in another couple years. After I go on the Polaris 2010 preview ride next month I'll know more on that option!

Happy Trails everyone ... enjoy the season!

9 out of 10 ... that's pretty good. But, I wonder if you would say those things if you had not done all that work to it. With the poor setup from the factory on the injection and all the tuning you had to do would the 9 out of 10 still hold ? Sounds like the power delivery is good with the fuel controller but again the factory blew it out of the box. Something that is amazing to me for a sled (again) that costs 10g's.
Sounds like your happy with the end result though and that's what counts.

Steve

Excellent point Steve, you're absolutely right. First and foremost, let's agree the rating is arbitrary. No sled is 100% perfect since it's the opinion of the rider/owner. But I do think you have a very good point on what my feeling would be on the sled out of the box, stock.

I only put about 30 miles on the sled without the PCIII, and half of that was with my 5-year old riding with me. I know I felt a slight stumble, but nothing as bad as some have reported on other forums. Suspension setup is key on any sled so I don't consider that extra work, and studding to me is a necessity so that also doesn't play into my thought process since I won't even ride a sled I own w/o studs. Well, not if I don't have to anyway (too many icy conditions in my neck of the woods).

Honestly, even with the little bit of a stumble I felt early on, I'd still give the sled a 7.5 or 8 out of 10. Maybe if I ran it longer, and had a trip under my belt where I put a couple hundred miles on it without the PCIII, I would have a different opinion. But quite honestly, this sled was delivered pretty much as promised & I was very happy with it right out of the box. Now it's just that much better with what I put into it.

What I would really like right now is, someone with a 2009 F8 to meet up with and swap sleds just to compare. I know my 2007 wasn't even in the same league as the 2008 F8, so I'm really interested in the 2009 models. I am very confident the ride is still one of the best in the business - I'm more interested now in how they improved in straight line performance.

Nice review.

I looked at that sled early on this season. It seems to be built as a durable sled. I did not feel that was the case while looking at the Doo. Seems like so much of the talk is about the first 500 miles on a sled. I always wonder about the 5,000 mile mark. That would be a much better indicator of a true testament.

Buy a tunnel bag for your storage. Never hurts to have a few tools. I always consider in a sort of insurance.

Thats is about the most honest reveiw I have heard from anybody about a sled in general,better that Snow Trax. I have the 05 RMK 900 and absolutly love it. I am a big guy to about 260lbs and have a 03 F7 love it too but this RMK is so comfy to ride I really like it. Was up agaist a buddy 07 M1000 2 weeks ago and fiared pretty good,pulled him out of the hole but he came around me at about 750 feet,not by a great deal. When snow check comes around I am going to do a Dragon 800. Thanks very much for the reveiw and Happy sledding. Be nice to see a couple pictures of your D8.

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LabonteF8 on a Poo...say it ain't so

What can I say Marc ... at least I'm staying within the state, and buying domestic right?

Trust me...I'm just messin' with ya. Right Wicked

a POLARIS you have got to be kidding me. . . POLARIS . . .
I forgot they even still attempted to make a sled. . . POLARIS POLARIS SNOWMOBILES . . .

Ok Ok enough I'm sure its a fine machine. . .But i wouldn't want to own one. . .But i'll gladly help yea Fix it i don't mind mind towing late modle polaris's with my 33 years old Arctic cat econo sled

Mikey

Here's some pics from my most recent trip in Northern MN. The ZR you see without the windshield is a lesson to those of you who follow too close when there's a lot of snow dust! Luckily nobody was hurt, other than a few guys' pride.

Pics

Oops on the ZR,Nice Dragon....What was the Doo that was losing?

That's my buddy's 2008 XP 800. He got me once, and I got him twice.

Nice right up on the Dragon, can't wait till you've tried the Rush.

Is that a 13.5 track on the lowered profile ZR with custom vented hood?

His track had actually come off the rear wheels when he rolled it. He didn't realize his mag side adjuster bolt was really loose (almost to the point it was backed out all the way). So the pictures you see make it look like a narrow track because it had zero tread on the rear wheel (left/pto side) and about 3 or 4 inches of overlap on the right side.

LabonteF8,what are your thoughts on that new Rush? I was on the site yesterday and total rear end off of a dirt bike. Looks pretty smooth,my dealer here in Canada says may have a problem getting them,huge intrest.

I'm not 100% sold on it yet. I'm sure the ride is going to be second to none, but I'm not sure about that rear design. I'm very excited to try it out in a couple of weeks and see what it's like & how it performs. The rumor is only 3000 to 3500 units being produced so it looks like the only way a person will get one is through the Snow Check program. I guarantee you I won't be snow checking anything for 2010.

Glad you like your new SQUEEEEZE....