When the Wildcat Sport was introduced it focused on bringing narrower track width riding back to the trail while not letting go of the longer travel suspension features of the big Cat in the family.
Sure, Arctic Cat has the Trail at 50 inches wide and the long travel vehicle with a 64-inch width, but maybe a little middle ground could be covered for those looking to get something in between.
It has been many months since I first rode in the sporty middle Cat and many adventures later we are looking at one of our last rides to find out just what we could determine might be our final thoughts on this machine. So I headed into the mountains near Mackay, ID, to get one more good ride in before we have to give up our machine to the folks at Arctic Cat.
Let’s set the scene before we get into the specifics of the machine’s performance during our ride. The mountains in central Idaho hide many great riding locations and for the last long getaway we decided to head toward the small town of Mackay. The elevation changes along our route up and over Antelope Pass and then down into the Copper Basin and on to Wildhorse Canyon would really press the machine’s ability to stand tall, as every inch of the drivetrain would be tested there.
The weather was cooperating when we rolled out of the trailer and would be a nice cool 50-65 degrees most of the day with the chilly temps finding us at the peaks of the mountains. Our elevations ranged between 5,906 to nearly 9,000 feet over the mountain passes. For example, we unloaded near Antelope Guard Station at 6,514 feet. We went up and over Bear Creek Pass (7,500 feet), then up and over Antelope Pass (8,934 feet), through Copper Basin (7,832 feet) and on to Wildhorse Canyon and the waterfalls on Wildhorse Creek (elevation about 7,754 feet). Later in the day we trailered to Mackay (elevation 5,906 feet), unloaded and went on the Mackay Mine Hill tour. This was a great test for the Wildcat.
Seeing The Similarities
Sitting inside the Arctic Cat Wildcat Sport you will immediately notice the similarities between it and the wider Cats. The high back seating is comfortable and with our three point belts fastened, we were ready to get moving. I did like the full doors on our Wildcat and it does give the driver as well as passenger much more protection from the tree limbs and trail items flinging up off the trail. Checking our digital gauge for fuel level just before heading out also reminded us to set the trip meter on the gauge for future reference. After one more check of our gear we fired the Arctic Cat up, slid the gearshift lever between the seats to high and stepped out into the backcountry near Mackay.
For those who may not know, the power for the new WC Sport is a 60-horsepower 700cc four-stroke powerplant hooked into an automatic belt-driven Team Industries tuned transmission that seems to be a good combination. Obviously this engine is fuel-injected and with the type of altitudes we would see over the course of our ride, this machine felt as if it had plenty to give the adventurous looking for a good time on the trails.
The power of the 700cc engine is very smooth and seemed to have plenty in reserve when pressed at speed. We found that the Wildcat would roll on out the smooth sections of the roadbed pretty well. Power is not an issue in this machine. The Team Industries Rapid Response clutch gave the pulling power and seemed to really work well in the nasty rocks and steep climbs during our ride. If there is ever any trouble with the clutching on the trail it is really easy to investigate as the clutch cover as well as its components are easy to access. This is a huge plus for folks who love to wrench on their machines.
Our Wildcat Sport had the Elka Stage 5 shocks that gave us plenty of adjustments such as dual speed compression and rebound adjustability. But if you need another choice there were the JRI ECX-1 shocks with full compression adjustability as well. This variety of adjustments help each and every driver get a good feeling and comfortable ride in their own personal trail riding styles. It was also our goal to tweak the adjustments along the way to find any setting we might have missed in rides past. It is not hard to simply allow the factory settings be the rule, but with a slight unnerving chassis roll and seemingly softer settings than we were accustomed to, it was time to make a few adjustments to the compression on our shocks.
Adjusting To Our Liking
There is a grand possibility that the shocks had been tweaked a bit before we actually had a chance to ride, but my point is that there are plenty of adjustments for each driver’s particular style and this is a good thing. The additional compression clicks helped stabilize the chassis in the corners and it sure made my passenger happy.
With the handling now performing more to our liking, we focused on the overall comfort of the machine. I would have to say that at a few hours into the climb up past Middle Mountain and Telephone Gulch I began to remember the seating issue I had on our previous rides.
I think if the seat had a 3-inch roll or Bolster, as they refer to it in the industry, right on the front of the seat where your legs drop off into the floor, it could be a lot more comfortable. It seemed I was always sliding down toward the back of the seat and with little to no grip on the floor in a wet floorboard area this was wearing on me pretty quickly. It seemed to be even worse on our steep descents into Copper Basin. There are two platforms, one on each side of the forward floor area, but having some kind of no-slip right in front of the seat would be my preference.
Taking on really rocky sections of the road over Antelope Pass as well as up the last stretch of Wildhorse Canyon allowed us to see just how controlled the steering in the Wildcat Sport is. The rig will drive where you point it and with the help of the electronic power steering, guiding the wheels was a cinch. I have always been pro power steering as it’s just one of those things that you don’t know how much you have missed until it is not there and especially when precision control is needed. We had many very rocky ledges and plenty of huge rocks to contend with once we reached the trail just past Wildhorse Campground.wwThe assist comes not only when steering the machine but the EPS unit also helps absorbs the really tough jarring hits from the big rocks and ruts while keeping the wheel in your hands. That’s a plus in my book any day.
One thing we noticed once we were off the main road was the chatter that seems to engulf the cab of the Wildcat Sport. I am not sure if every machine rattles this much, and it actually could have been the sheer amount of roughness from the rocky trail, but it seemed as if everything was squeaking and rattling. One thing was for certain and that was that we were not going to sneak up on anyone.
So you may think that we are just picking on the newest Wildcat, but we actually did enjoy our ride in the machine and the capabilities are endless. It does everything Arctic Cat professed that it would and maybe with just a little personal preference tweaking this machine can become even better.
