Arctic Cat and Mint 400

Sandman365

Booze Cruzin'
May 24, 2013
219
63
28
Escondido
Looks a lot better than the old Wildcat, but they had a lot of room for improvement. 4 seater sure looks awkward though.
 

kornfed

Active Member
May 13, 2015
153
83
28
53
Costa Mesa
www.tetraracing.com
I don't get this car at all. This car is still a belt driven car. Polaris and Can Am will continue to make huge investments in their platforms and outspend AC. AC cannot compete financially so they should have made a game changer now while Polaris and Can Am have this belt based platform. They have the Yamaha power plant, why not use the transmission. A car set up by RG with a transmission would be something to deal with, this thing is just a slight evolution on the current UTV platform. I don't get it.
 

thunder45

New Member
Dec 7, 2016
3
3
3
47
I don't get this car at all. This car is still a belt driven car. Polaris and Can Am will continue to make huge investments in their platforms and outspend AC. AC cannot compete financially so they should have made a game changer now while Polaris and Can Am have this belt based platform. They have the Yamaha power plant, why not use the transmission. A car set up by RG with a transmission would be something to deal with, this thing is just a slight evolution on the current UTV platform. I don't get it.
AC just sold to Textron who has more capital than BRP and Polaris combined...over 15 billion. The small budget days are behind them.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
 

bluediamond

Active Member
Jun 24, 2015
300
97
28
54
Yep. I was just going to say the same thing. Textron could pay cash for both companies today and not skip a beat. And they are widely known to be big spenders with thier recently aquired companies. With the limited information ive read on this new model Cat possibly went from worst to first in the NA Sport UTV market with this new car so I think they did pretty well.
 
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kornfed

Active Member
May 13, 2015
153
83
28
53
Costa Mesa
www.tetraracing.com
Seriously? They have a market cap of 13 Billion, they do not have 15 billion in cash. That is not how public markets work. Obviously they are a big company, but they are not going to focus their military support engine on AC SXS. Anyway, they had a chance to do something and did nothing. RG actually built a pretty cool little car, but it is not a game changer. It is just another belt driven UTV. When someone builds a platform like the new X3, but makes it transmission based, that will be a game changer...
 
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jajl22

Active Member
Jun 5, 2015
673
185
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Maybe AC is planning on dropping a bit more of the budget into the new SXS line up...could that potentially be why this was such a soft release and why we have not seen any real specs released from the horses mouth on what will be available and how from... AC yet...just a bunch of hearsay from industry insiders and of course RG talking about the Speedcat77 which can or cannot be confirmed as an actual factory vehicle...They are creating a lot of buzz with out actually giving us any facts...I personally like the new version Wildcat XX and think it is definitely a step in the right direction could potentially like it even more if we ever see verified specs...i see some things on that vehicle i wish were on the other big 2 from the factory...but as far as a racing platform is concerned i think the days of actual game changing vehicles are in the past...it will be little suspension refinements and cockpit technology improvements with a splash of HP from here on out...You take the X3/ Speedcat77/ or Race XPT and put a transmission in it and your basically racing Class 10...hell they get there and you might see a large influx of drivers from Class 10 trying to get those factory $$$.
 

kornfed

Active Member
May 13, 2015
153
83
28
53
Costa Mesa
www.tetraracing.com
I am sure they will invest and hopefully one of the manufacturers drops a monster on the market. This is what it will take to get to the next evolution of UTV. Your point about Class 10 is well taken. We thought that we would do UTV for a year and then move to Class 10. We are going all in for UTV. We are basically building the car we wished was in the market as an Unlimited Car. Maybe someday there will be a production car that combines the best of all three designs and sets the new mark. It is only a matter of time.
 

jajl22

Active Member
Jun 5, 2015
673
185
43
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Ya...maybe RG is onto something with the Speedcat77 and the wave of the future for this style utv racing is going to be factories aligning themselves with "motorsports groups" and building super bad ass purpose built race cars with less limitations then a factory spec class...There are so many great companies and talented off road builders out there it would be cool to see what they could come up with that was more unlimited but still had some allure of factory backing and support...i mean look at the vehicles being raced now compared to what comes off the show room floor they have really pushed the envelope to some very cool stuff.
 
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JoeyD23

#utvunderground
Jan 9, 2009
18,569
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North County San Diego
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This Speedcat should not be raced in the production class. 1. It's not available to the public that I can see anywhere. 2. It's NOT a factory machine. It's a partner builder taking a "production" model UTV (that still isn't available to the public) and modifying it. The simple fact that this partner group (RG) is adding a TURBO (aftermarket) that alone forces it into unlimited.
 

Pballistic

Member
Aug 30, 2016
34
13
8
37
This Speedcat should not be raced in the production class. 1. It's not available to the public that I can see anywhere. 2. It's NOT a factory machine. It's a partner builder taking a "production" model UTV (that still isn't available to the public) and modifying it. The simple fact that this partner group (RG) is adding a TURBO (aftermarket) that alone forces it into unlimited.
The Speedcat actually has the 998t motor in it from the Thundercat sled and the XX is using the YXZ motor modified a bit... So the Speedcat isn't just a additional turbo bolted on. It is available to anyone though. I talked to them about it starting before Baja when no one knew it existed
 
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jajl22

Active Member
Jun 5, 2015
673
185
43
41
This Speedcat should not be raced in the production class. 1. It's not available to the public that I can see anywhere. 2. It's NOT a factory machine. It's a partner builder taking a "production" model UTV (that still isn't available to the public) and modifying it. The simple fact that this partner group (RG) is adding a TURBO (aftermarket) that alone forces it into unlimited.
I have to agree with Joey at this time.

with the information that is currently available i don't see how BITD could let the Speedcat into either of the production classes. Go race unlimited...set the world on fire and "show" what it will be able to do in the future when all the factory models are released then RG can build you a Speedcat based off one of those just like any of the big name builders currently do for Polaris RZR and X3 owners.
 
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BiggJim

I Hate Rules - UTVUnderground Approved
Jan 15, 2009
2,079
452
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Bakersfield
Seriously? They have a market cap of 13 Billion, they do not have 15 billion in cash. That is not how public markets work. Obviously they are a big company, but they are not going to focus their military support engine on AC SXS. Anyway, they had a chance to do something and did nothing. RG actually built a pretty cool little car, but it is not a game changer. It is just another belt driven UTV. When someone builds a platform like the new X3, but makes it transmission based, that will be a game changer...
Have you put your hands on the can am x3? Its no game changer. All their Pivot holes are blown out .100 larger than the bolt being used. I was blown away when i seen this.
 

450grl

The First Lady of SXS - UTVUnderground Approved
Mar 15, 2009
917
104
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I have to agree with Joey at this time.

with the information that is currently available i don't see how BITD could let the Speedcat into either of the production classes. Go race unlimited...set the world on fire and "show" what it will be able to do in the future when all the factory models are released then RG can build you a Speedcat based off one of those just like any of the big name builders currently do for Polaris RZR and X3 owners.
I will be blown away if this car is considered a Prod unit....the BITD UTV rules are already the most clusterf***ed set of rules I have ever seen, but this will take the cake if it is allowed.
 
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Pballistic

Member
Aug 30, 2016
34
13
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37
I will be blown away if this car is considered a Prod unit....the BITD UTV rules are already the most clusterf***ed set of rules I have ever seen, but this will take the cake if it is allowed.
What about in TORC? I hear there is a few racing TORC this year
 

jakecarver91

Active Member
Nov 11, 2009
264
125
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I don't get this car at all. This car is still a belt driven car. Polaris and Can Am will continue to make huge investments in their platforms and outspend AC. AC cannot compete financially so they should have made a game changer now while Polaris and Can Am have this belt based platform. They have the Yamaha power plant, why not use the transmission. A car set up by RG with a transmission would be something to deal with, this thing is just a slight evolution on the current UTV platform. I don't get it.
A properly set up cvt system works just fine. Everyone cries about breaking a $200 belt at the dunes. Make a $2k-$4k trans the weak link on these cars and then see how bad everyone cries when that's what they break instead of a belt. Making a game changer would be stupid for an OEM to do anyway. Why not make it a little better each year and keep selling more and more machines rather than jump straight to the top?
 

dnf736

Retired - And Still UTVUNderground Approved!!!!
Jan 15, 2009
1,208
98
48
Alpine, CA
Might as well let the Cat...out of the bag now but we've been working with start up Brentholaris on a new Production 1000 for the Mint, specs are powered by a Nostar Pecotech 2.4 1000cc 5 cilindur engine, mated to a Fortindiola 13 speed sequential transmission with floor mounted paddle shifters and a TEEM Industrial TVC clutch.

FING 6.5 boingers in all for corners and a whopping 9’ of suspension travul utilizing revoulitionary new trailing A-Arm tecnolugy both rear and outback.

It meets all rules in my head and is scheduled to go into production whenever I say to be race legal on Saturday.

Representation of a race car below.

Disclaimer, a statement that denies something, especially responsibility.
Prod 1000.jpg

Seriously though, while Im having fun with this it’s cool to see new stuff come out. Hopefully it actually makes it into production and is not an attempt to skirt the rule book for personal gain.

Good luck everyone racing this weekend.


Pic gently lifted from http://brenthelindustries.com/
 
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