One of the biggest technological advances found on the latest Wildcat is the change to Team Industries’ Rapid Response drive and Tied driven clutches. These clutches function in a completely different manner than the clutches they replace.
The primary clutch that previously came on the Wildcat used a wet clutch similar to that found on many utility ATVs. The Team Rapid Response is a flyweight clutch more like that used on a snowmobile. In addition, the previous primary clutch had round shift weights that have to scrub on both the moveable sheave and the spider to upshift and backshift. This extra friction makes response slower and less predictable. The Rapid Response drive clutch uses flyweights and oversized rollers to minimize this friction.
Team Industries spent a lot of time perfecting the profile of these shift weights to harness the torque of the big Cat twin.
The new Team Industries Tied secondary clutch is a big leap forward in performance as well. The moveable and stationary sheaves in this clutch are “tied” together so that there is no relative rotation between them during upshift and backshift. This means the belt does not get scrubbed as it goes up and down the belt faces of the clutch. Also, the helix runs on rollers to reduce friction and binding. The previous driven clutch was a button-helix non-tied design.
While all this CVT technology sounds good on paper, you really need to drive the new Wildcat to experience what it does to the machine. It responds instantly to on/off throttle situations and when you mash the gas the tach snaps to 7250.
Team Aftermarket will also have components to tune these clutches for the guys who want to turbo or modify this potent machine. For more information, visit www.teamaftermarket.com.
