CFR – AmSnow is working with Speedwerx and a few other choice aftermarket firms to create a project sled this year, our base being a stock Arctic Cat Crossfire R8.
For this year's project sled, AmSnow hooked up with one of the biggest names in snowmobiling aftermarket parts and accessories, Speedwerx.
The sled chosen for surgery? A 2009 Arctic Cat Crossfire R8. This is the shorter 128-in. tracked Crossfire that is new this year and aimed at the old F7 trail and traditional lake-racing crowd. We chose the 800 version because it's an affordable option for many buyers and has a lot of potential for performance modifications.
What you'll see here is the start of our project. Jeremy Houle from Speedwerx put the sled through numerous dyno tests at each stage of modification to determine exactly how much engine performance changed at each stage of performance add-on. Below are his results.
Stock CFR
In totally stock form, running 87-octane gas, we dynoed this sled at a consistent 142 hp and at 96-97 ft.-lbs. of torque between 7,800-8,000 rpm. Some runs were more and some were less, but we used this as our baseline. We noticed right away that the fuel numbers were on the lean side for a trail sled, but we have seen no problems. We've run it richer as well and it makes the same power really lean or a touch rich as you will see in some of our later, modified runs. We assume Cat sets it up lean for EPA and fuel mileage reasons.
Stage 1:
Speedwerx Y-pipe
Here we were still running 87 octane gas. The Y-pipe bumped us up to 144-144.5 hp and a little torque at the same 7,800-8,000 rpm. The Y-pipe is an easy bolt on setup to gain a little more power. The addition of a timing key only added power if the motor was colder but we will be doing more field-testing once the cold weather really sets in. If we tried anymore timing, we set off the factory detonation sensor. So we would normally only suggest the Y-pipe for this gain. Currently, we don't feel a timing key is worth it.
Stage 2:
Speedwerx Y-pipe, Speedwerx single pipe and BoonDocker fuel controller
Now it becomes necessary to run premium, or 91+ octane fuel. This is the best mod you can make to the 800. We saw 153-154 hp and 104-105 ft.-lbs. of torque on the dyno while still running the same 7,800-8,000 rpm as stock. We had a broad powerband here too.
Stage 3:
Speedwerx trail ported cylinders, Speedwerx Y-pipe, Speedwerx single pipe and BoonDocker fuel controller
Still running premium gas and the power jumps again to 160 hp and 107 ft.-lbs. of torque, and we were still running the same rpm as stock 7,800-8,000 rpm. Fuel numbers were on the safe side too.
Pricing on mods used:
- Y-pipe: $189.95 (comes painted black)
- Single ceramic coated pipe and Y-pipe: $580
- Single pipe separate: $445
- BoonDocker fuel controller: $418
- Speedwerx ported cylinders: $250 ea. (Speedwerx has them on hand for exchange)
- Complete 160-hp kit: $1,498 (any options are extra)
Other mods suggested:
- Speedwerx clutch kit: $115+
- Speedwerx high-flow intake: $59.95-$400
- Speedwerx 925 kit (makes 170+ hp and 115 ft.-lbs. of torque): starts at $2,100
In addition, Jeremy and the crew tell us that they have been running the V-force reeds in other tests but did not show them here because the performance gains do not show well on the dyno. Jeremy said he did notice a significant gain in throttle response in field testing using V-force reeds.
Speedwerx also is testing a few new head setups that will add more power and throttle response as well, but due to the CFR 800's detonation sensor, more testing is needed before they are 100% good to go.
Future testing
We will be radar testing and trail testing this sled at our Real World Shoot-Out against a bone stock CFR 800. We also will be adding a BOSS lightweight seat, Snow Studs aggressive stud package, Curve XS skis and more to make this the baddest trail legal lake-racing 800 sled on the block. Look for more info and data in our Spring 2009 issue.
PROJECT CFR – Jeremy Houle works on the AmSnow project sled at his shop in Minnesota.
DYNO NOTE: All the test runs were done with slow rpm sweeps of 100 rpm a second. This is a good test speed for reliability testing just in case there are any problem areas. The misleading part to doing slow sweeps like this is it shows a huge jump in the power band when the valves open. When accelerating at real world speeds, the power band will look and feel much smoother than shown in these slower sweeps.
More info: www.hotseatperformance.com, www.bossseats.com, www.curvexs.com