Many Snowmobile Choices for 2014

Not long ago, we stopped into our local snowmobile dealership to get his view of how the sled season had gone. As you might expect, he was much more upbeat than he had been this time a year ago. Back then he was taking orders on new motorcycles and lawn equipment and not really thinking about sleds at all.

Still, though, he seemed put off by all the new models the snowmobile manufacturers had come up with. He seemed to think it was altogether way too many. As he saw it, if he were to have one of each new model on his showroom floor, he’d have to enlarge his operation almost two-fold and remove all of his non-snowmobile products to house them. Well, naturally we thought he must have been exaggerating. After all what we saw being introduced for 2014 didn’t seem all that much. But, with a bit of time on our hands, we decided to actually count up all the various models. You know what? He was right!

As our local dealer carries two brands, for him to display one of each new model variant from each of those sled makers, he’d have to make floor space available for 120 individual snowmobiles!

Model Options for 2014

Arctic Cat • 7 Models • 85 Variations • 7 Engine Options     Polaris • 6 Models • 30 Variations • 4 Engine Options   Ski-Doo • 9 Models • 68 Variations • 7 Engine Options   Yamaha • 7 Models • 35 Variations • 5 Engine Options

Our calculations weren’t terribly difficult to gather. We merely called up each sled maker’s online site and counted up the total number of snowmobiles that will be available for 2014. Well, sort of! We didn’t get too carried away with the special early order options, after all most of those deals either have or are about to expire. Counting them in could really rock the numbers.

As it was, our tabulations gave us a total of 218 new sled choices for model year 2014. We found that the four snowmobile manufacturers accounted for four brands – Arctic Cat, Polaris, Ski-Doo and Yamaha. That led to 29 separate models. That’s not even the half of it. We found that there were 29 engine choices, and we didn’t count the kid sleds with the single cylinder 120cc engines. If you add in color and track options, we arrived at 218 total choices.

There is a reason for consumer confusion when it comes to buying a new sled. That’s a lot of choices.

Before we started our discovery process, we smugly assumed that Polaris would be the big winner with the most models. In years past at one test ride and photo session of the newest models, Polaris had dragged out 100 – Yes! We do mean 100 actual units! – for us to ride and evaluate. And the truly amazing fact is that most of the sleds were actually trailing arm Indys or its variants. Amazing!

However, our research found that Polaris, at least in model year 2014 and disallowing the bulk of special pre-season options, had the fewest variations. Despite the appearance of a fleet of new for 2014 Indy models, Polaris brings about 30 new sled variations for us all to consider heading into next season. That’s not to say that you didn’t have more choices if you participated in an early season purchase.

VIEW: Read about the 2014 Polaris snowmobiles

We were stunned by how many variations Arctic Cat offers for next year. We counted seven model categories from ZR to M-series. Within that framework we found 85 variants – and that doesn’t account for some early season options. With the advent of adding Yamaha and Arctic Cat power to some sleds, we expected an uptick in the number of sled models.

Arctic Cat gives you seven engine choices. There are the Suzuki choices with the turbo and non-turbo 1056cc four-stroke twins, plus the two-stroke power options that include the 800cc twin, the 499cc twin and a fan-cooled 570. To those Arctic Cat adds its own 600cc direct fuel injection two-stroke twin and the 1049cc Yamaha triple. So, you got a good options list in powerplants alone.

VIEW: Read about the 2014 Arctic Cat snowmobiles

Arctic Cat is also very good at offering three different levels of trim. There’s the Sno Pro trim level for the sports rider. The LXR suits the rider wanting more on-trail comfort and “goodies.” For the rider wanting it all, well, Arctic Cat does a combination platter with its Limited version, which brings added amenities to the Sno Pro performance set up. Hey, and that doesn’t even include the color and graphics options for each of these units. No wonder Arctic Cat dealers think carefully before signing their order sheets.

As expected, Ski-Doo brings its own version of choice to the mix with everything from high performance trail runners to super wide track utility models. With a choice of seven different engine options, Ski-Doo gives you 68 variations among nine distinct series of sleds.

VIEW: Read about the 2014 Ski-Doo snowmobiles

Yamaha gives you five engine options – all four-strokes, of course – that run from the single cylinder 120 in its kid model SRX to a Phazer 499cc twin to the Nytro/Viper 1049cc triple and up to its unique four-cylinder Apex powerhouse. Among those engine choices are the 973cc carbureted triple and two versions of the 1049cc triple, one for the Vector and Venture models and the more potent version for the new Vipers.

Of the sled makers, Yamaha models are the most divergent as little is shared in chassis and suspension development between the lightweight Phazer and the high performance quad-zilla engined Apex.

VIEW: Read about the 2014 Yamaha snowmobiles

When you look at just how many choices you have in selecting a new sled for 2014, is it any wonder that you feel a bit confused? Still, when we attended one of the many traveling snowmobile shows last month, we couldn’t help but stifle a chuckle as we heard consumers asking manufacturers’ reps for sleds with special features. Is it any wonder that snowmobile designers sometimes get a little batty. Just when they figured they’d created a sled for every need, some one comes up with a request for something else. And our nearby friendly dealership will need to be enlarged once again. Guess that means 218 variations for 2014 will be 219, 220, 221 and counting.