Can you name any motorized industry thats locked in a more intense fight for power supremacy?
The side-x-side business is in battle mode with an epic confrontation in full swing between four of the top players, namely: Polaris, Textron Off Road, Can-Am and Yamaha.
Maybe Textron hasnt introduced any new motors yet following its acquisition of Arctic Cats offroad lineup, but Vice President of Textron Specialized Vehicles John Collins did make it clear that the Wildcat XX boasting a 125 horsepower 998cc Triple will be available in spring of 2018.
Right now the real meat of the battle is between the Polaris and Can-Am camps. Mere days after the introduction of Can-Ams Maverick X3 Turbo boasting a claimed 153-horsepower, Polaris replied with its 2017 RZR Turbo churning out 168 stallions.
Now back to Textron for a moment. Arctic Cat already had in place a very productive engine supply agreement with Yamaha on its snowmobile side, which produces a very hearty 180-horsepower 3-cylinder turbocharged mill used in the lines legendary Thundercat snowmobile.
Would it be much of a stretch for Yamaha to configure this engine for use in a side-x-side? Better yet, if Yamaha did such a thing wouldnt it make sense for the company to use this very same engine in the YXZ1000R?
