everyone was unhappy about the power. and the clutching. and folks complained about the small details like a bland dash. the early models had a bad engine casting and the majority of them leaked oil. most only a seep that would collect dust. but some actually would drip on the skid plate. the second year they pretty much got rid of the old castings and the oil leaks stopped. the second year they went to TEAM clutches since everyone complained about the clutching being so bad. and realistically i think the TEAM clutch was as bad or worse than the original wet clutch design. the secondary they used is the biggest piece of garbage put on any ATV/SxS on the market. Arctic Cat didnt know better, they just went to TEAM with a price point and TEAM met the budget. Clutching has pretty much always blown in the Wildcats. the power the engine does make cant effectively get to the ground, so its never been great at drag racing, or duning, or rally racing. its pretty much been at the back of the pack in all those categories. everyone blames it on the low power, but really and truly its the clutch. the clutching has always been the biggest hindrance for the wildcat ever since it was first introduced.
i can say without a shadow of a doubt, and i will likely get flamed for this. but the wildcat was, and still has the best suspension on the market. folks that get out of a RZR dont like the power. folks that come from a maverick think its weak, but the suspension on the wildcat is still by far better than any of the others. it will do things that no other machine on the market will do. "if it had more power everyone says" really the newer wildcat X with 90hp is all they ever needed. they needed to do a better clutch setup and they would have been golden. i have a clutch setup for the wildcat that will absolutely un-tame it and make it a brawling beast. turns the wildcat X into an amazing duner, drag racer, and makes its little 90hp out run all of the big dogs. it will absolutely embarass a 110hp RZR1000 in every shape form and fashion after the clutch install. but Arctic cat was too stupid to look past a price point and went with an inferior clutch setup and watered down their beast. everyone wants more power, thinking power is what wins races. but really all they needed was a better clutch setup and the wildcat could have overcome all the stigma about how under powered it was.
the machine is a pretty solid runner. folks didnt like it for various reasons. mainly power and oil leaks. the power was due to the crappy clutching. always has been. the arctic cat has the lowest drivetrain loss of any machine on the market. which means they can actually do more, with less.
i dyno every new machine that comes out to find out where they make peak power and how much power they make. on the dyno a :
RZR900-1000 loses about 28-30% of its advertised crank HP to the tire.
Commander and Maverick lose around 25% of its advertised crank HP to the tire
most arctic cats only lose about 15-18% of their advertised crank HP to the tire.
i cant figure it out. there are just as many gears, same bevel gears everyone else runs, just as many 90degree angles for the power to go thru, yet the arctic cats consistently have more power to the tire, and lose less thru the drivetrain than any other machine on the market. we test on a dyno dynamics dyno, and have seen this pattern over and over. the arctic cats are consistently able to get more of their power to the tire. which means the 75hp wildcat that first came out with the wet clutch, i could do clutch work in it, and make it outrun the RZR900 which at the time had 88hp. the new wildcat X that has 90-91hp can outrun the 110hp RZR1000. i am not talking about just in a drag race with a custom drag setup, i mean with a completely balanced clutch setup, that will out power and out dune and everything. the wildcats needed better clutching from day 1. they have plenty of power to run with the big dogs, arctic cat just had it corked up.
the frame and suspension blows everyone else out of the water. the lowest center of gravity, the best feel for what the machine is doing. when the wildcats first came out andrew buck at Buckshot racing got one. the weak 70hp wet clutch style. he did a few suspension tweaks to his and i went duning with him and a big group of his customers in their big buggies he builds. with that wildcat and its weak motor and terrible clutching, andrew was able to make that wildcat just about outrun all those other guys. in big HP sand rails with 30+" of travel. he could corner that wildcat and get a jump on the guys and leave them for a few seconds. he could blast thru things that no other SxS at the time could follow at the speeds he was taking it all. we rode for a solid afternoon and just absolutely ran the snot out of the machine and there was nothing other than a few of his customers rails that could hang with him duning. just absolutely nuts what the wildcat can do with someone who can drive them. they are by far faster than any of the competition simply because the suspension allows you to push harder, with more confidence.
i will say the new turbo XP with its bitchin shocks is a step in the right direction and yes they will conquer the duning scene for the time. a wildcat has never been the king of the hill because they havent had the power (clutching) to even remotely hang with the big boys.