Thanks LabonteF8 for excellent reports. I just joined this forum today because of my frustration with the top end performance of my new F8LXR. My experiences with the performance of this sled are identical to yours.
I previously owned an '03 F7 and several ZL600 EFi's in the past. I also own an '05 Skidoo GSX800. (My misplaced infatuation with the Rev Chassis after previously owning 9 Cats.) I'm sure the old Firecat I sold with 4500mi. on it would smoke my new F8. The 600's would run right with it. The GSX800 is considerably faster.
My sled is stock except for a new Camoplast Ice Ripper track I had installed as soon as the sled arrived.
First let me tell you that I now have over 1100mi on the sled this year in 3 trips to the UP and some local riding, the most recent UP trip last weekend. From the beginning, I had engine warning light codes that indicated "Knock Sensor Failure" as soon as I hit 80-85mph. The sled would not go over 90mph at that point. 2 trips to dealers later, no one at Arctic Cat could explain what the problem was that was causing the warning. It was explained to me that the Knock Sensor was retarding the timing when the warning lights went on, which explained (We hoped!) the lack of top end. Finally, my original dealer put a new knock sensor on the sled. Off I went with high hopes of seeing at least 105 on the speedo on some of the lakes and roads in the UP (The first year on the Firecat the speedo hit 119 on one of these same roads). Well, we lost the engine warning light, but still very little top end improvement, hit about 98mph.
I went back to the dealer and they adjusted belt deflection, but that provided no change. After about 550mi, we put a new belt on and headed out for the last trip.
The low end is pretty good, with the Ice Ripper giving pretty good hook up. Mid range is pretty strong, but at about 75-85mph, it has very little acceleration. Nowhere near the punch a good 800 should have. The best I've seen on an icy road is 98 and that required a very long run to get there.
I love the new chassis's handling and it's the most comfortable riding sled I've ever owned, (Way superior to the leg cramping GSX!) but I feel like I've paid 800 money for 600 performance---and that's not a good feeling!! I'm also a little reluctant to start paying for mods to get the performance that this machine should have stock.
I'm not as technically knowlegeable as a lot of you guys. I just like to ride--a lot. My guess is the performance eating gremlin is the new ACT Drive.
Anyway, If and when anyone finds out what's going on with these sleds and what fixes there are, please let me know.
I previously owned an '03 F7 and several ZL600 EFi's in the past. I also own an '05 Skidoo GSX800. (My misplaced infatuation with the Rev Chassis after previously owning 9 Cats.) I'm sure the old Firecat I sold with 4500mi. on it would smoke my new F8. The 600's would run right with it. The GSX800 is considerably faster.
My sled is stock except for a new Camoplast Ice Ripper track I had installed as soon as the sled arrived.
First let me tell you that I now have over 1100mi on the sled this year in 3 trips to the UP and some local riding, the most recent UP trip last weekend. From the beginning, I had engine warning light codes that indicated "Knock Sensor Failure" as soon as I hit 80-85mph. The sled would not go over 90mph at that point. 2 trips to dealers later, no one at Arctic Cat could explain what the problem was that was causing the warning. It was explained to me that the Knock Sensor was retarding the timing when the warning lights went on, which explained (We hoped!) the lack of top end. Finally, my original dealer put a new knock sensor on the sled. Off I went with high hopes of seeing at least 105 on the speedo on some of the lakes and roads in the UP (The first year on the Firecat the speedo hit 119 on one of these same roads). Well, we lost the engine warning light, but still very little top end improvement, hit about 98mph.
I went back to the dealer and they adjusted belt deflection, but that provided no change. After about 550mi, we put a new belt on and headed out for the last trip.
The low end is pretty good, with the Ice Ripper giving pretty good hook up. Mid range is pretty strong, but at about 75-85mph, it has very little acceleration. Nowhere near the punch a good 800 should have. The best I've seen on an icy road is 98 and that required a very long run to get there.
I love the new chassis's handling and it's the most comfortable riding sled I've ever owned, (Way superior to the leg cramping GSX!) but I feel like I've paid 800 money for 600 performance---and that's not a good feeling!! I'm also a little reluctant to start paying for mods to get the performance that this machine should have stock.
I'm not as technically knowlegeable as a lot of you guys. I just like to ride--a lot. My guess is the performance eating gremlin is the new ACT Drive.
Anyway, If and when anyone finds out what's going on with these sleds and what fixes there are, please let me know.