Textron/Arctic Cat Wildcat Trail Long Term Owner Review

#wildcattrail #arcticcat #textron
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[@phastphil100]

I think this is the most complete and best review I have seen on any sxs . Great job !

[@pureblood9514]

Everyone is always losing their minds at what this lil bastard can do. Fun machine.

[@120rain4]

I'm sure that's the best review I've seen on a product, great job.

[@Ken-wu2bf]

Great video, I think you hit all the points. I love my wildcat sport, a lot of fun.

[@bmwsjt]

Great job Jay! I've been looking for a replacement for my P500 as I need more power and speed, this video opens another door for me!

[@timma0175]

Such an amazing machine. Been pushing the limits with mine for 4 years.

[@Carcajoo121]

After I purchased my 2014 with 6200 km on it I added a full cabin enclosure fir cold weather riding …bigger tires “ 27x11x12 and mes 12 inch rims and a 26 inch Biss Bluetooth soundbar

[@hoytwilliams2826]

You nailed the review on the door quality. I ride forest trails in middle GA. and had my passenger door pop open as I passed a solid pine tree and torn I completely off!

[@h.i.mcdunnough9401]

Agreed with your final thoughts! AC does need to do a little redesigning and roll it back out!

[@Carcajoo121]

I got my used 2014 in Aug this year and have thrown a lot of $$$ in upgrades …goodies and repairs , however, I still get maximum thrills from pushing this little tank to its limits …the cat is a real blast bon the woods where I ride mountain roads …I hope they bring it back soon as I’ll be the 1st in one to snatch one up !

[@AppalachianMountainRiders]

Make sure you also let me know what you liked about the review and/or what more you would like to see. I plan on doing a lot more machine reviews in the future so any feedback is welcome!

[@georgem9554]

I liked how you timed it pulling the trailer and without it to see the difference.

[@Jetdoc001]

We got our 2016 Trail with 400 miles. It has never let us down and always impressed my fellow ATV riders. As mentioned, a few modifications makes this a GREAT machine. We had a similar door issue, after adjusted the door catch (which was installed upside down) the door closes easily and stays closed. Great videos! We are now looking at a Wolverine X4 which you have covered. Thank you!

[@trevorwhite8477]

Love the videos brother

[@mikeyerke3920]

Great job on the video!

[@matthewperry8173]

My 15 is a Machine!! I’ve rolled it , I beat it but I do clean and maintain it. Great Unit! I have 06 650 H 1 Cat best Machines Arctic ever built !🇺🇸 Both units are U S A made with some global companies involved. Definitely from a guy who turns wrenches every day and attended a Vocational High school, Arctic cat will Always get my money! Neither machine has EVER not Started or left me stranded. S X S bought second hand from friend and H1 new in 06! Never a doubt!🇺🇸

[@camaro69green31]

Down right an awesome review. Well done. I love these machines. As far as Cat discontinuing this model they have been doing this with many of there atv and sxs offerings for the last 7 years. It is an attempt to allow dealers to sell non current inventory as most dealers of all brands have had too much stock in the last many years.... up until this year of course. Sometimes they bring them back.

[@gasNmudtv]

I love my sport version of the wildcat 700cc.

[@trailbruizer4194]

I bought a 2015 trail limited earlier this summer as my wife wanted a sxs. The cat was a bargain compared to other brands and had under 1,000 miles. I've really enjoyed it and have been impressed with its performance when compared to other much more powerful and suspended machines. I'm toying with the idea of upgrading, but am struggling because this little machine has been so fun and cheap. I think some of that is in part with how simple and basic it is. There are no worries, just get in and ride. I hope you keep the machine as I've enjoyed the content from it!

[@brianj123458]

It looks like a fun machine but I would not buy an artic cat just because, I'm not sure there gonna be around much longer would be my worry. Thanks for sharing with us have great day

[@17suekay]

Flip the latches around and the doors will close. Same happened to me now they work great

[@tommyparks1995]

Great machine! I love mine

[@magwamagwa45110]

I absolutely love my Trail 700 XT you gave it a very very fair review I have been in the others and still look forward to taking mine out for a 300 mile weekend camping driving trip in the mountains Of Idaho

[@jimmymax2554]

where you at in idaho?

[@magwamagwa45110]

@@jimmymax2554 near the town of lenore 20 miles east of Lewiston

[@superguy6125]

The door latch is an easy fix it you flip the piece that's mounted to the body. I would say a lot of vibration at idle and a jerky clutch engagement gives it an unrefined feel. Also the turning radii sucks.

[@rugby3874]

Trail and sport and wildcat are no longer made. BUT! Textron has Wildcat xx which is a great machine. I have the the Tracker XTR 1000 and I'm glad I bought it.

[@tph318]

My cousin has one that I put bushings in the front and fixed the door that flew open. Lol ! He had problems with the primary clutch and Arctic Cat sent him a new free of charge. His is a 2016. I think that it would be a good budget machine if they would fix it's shortcomings and maybe a little stretch to fit 6'1 tall guys.😀

[@thehonestmechanic]

Ad for the doors. I had to flip the striker plate to make everything line up nice. Closes perfectly now

[@brucesizemore739]

Thinking of replacing my 660 rhino. I believe this may be a good replacement for it. I am in need of more trail comfort because of my bad back. Thanks for the insight. I liked the review format you used and as always you were very straightforward and through with the details. Great job.

[@gasNmudtv]

If you can manage a 60 inch side by side i would advise you to get the sport version over the trail. I love mine, my dad has a bad back with compressed disc's and he loves riding in my wildcat

[@squibbert]

Thanks for the complete review. I owned a 2014 Trail. I liked it because I could fit it in the bed of my truck. It ran good, but with 7000 miles on it, the bushing were all shot. I now have a 2016 Wildcat Sport. It is 60 inch, so I have to trailer it, which is not a huge deal, but it one more thing to deal with. The sport only has 700 miles and the ride is suspension travel is much better. I don't understand why they don't have put grease zerts on the suspension parts. Other manufactures do. Seems like parts would last longer.

[@joeyholthusen6495]

Arctic cat insider, in thief river falls mn, we have a machine shop called northern crank shaft. If you want to join let's say 2 -1000cc 2-stroke snowmobile engine's together call them. There in the phone book. Yes it's been done.... image getting almost 2,000cc and almost 400hp natural aspirated on 87 octane fuel. Lol. No turbo needed

[@hughortner291]

i love my wild cat trail. i bought my 2015 limited for $7,600 with 300 miles and it came with front bumper, wench, roof, ssv roof stereo, under hood compartment, fender flares, light bar, and lower door inserts. now have 2,000 miles and only broke a shifting cable.

[@gasNmudtv]

Shift cables break in these due to the clutches sticking. Have you had issues shifting once the engine is hot??

[@gunsnhammers521]

You touched on the crudeness of the interior in this machine. Some cab heat and noise is expected but pop the seat and you're looking at the engine. They cheaped out on a bunch of plastics, probably why it's lighter too.

[@themidnighttoker100]

When I was in the market for a sxs I seriously considered the wildcat trail I liked the specs an the styling but I needed more utility and got a arctic cat havoc x instead

[@27Zangle]

Awesome video! I almost bought one of these a couple times over the last six years. I should have to be honest. They are perfect for the majority of local trails and can take one of the kiddos or a friend. Edit: Okay, now that I finished the video (disruptions for the kids excited that it is snowing out), I can say Textron needs to up their game with all machines. I know they have the new 600 ATV out and Brandon Price bought the Tracker version. To me, it looks nice though the front end looks cheap and weak, however, he has been fairly abusive to it. I like the way its engine is set up, though I am unsure how that will translate into maintenance in the future. Also, the prices of all new ATVs are insane right now, I do not think this is going to change any time soon.

[@orbit1138]

Problem is the sorry transmission won't change gears. Have seen many KZbin videos about the problem. The dealer won't fix it and the manufacturer won't recall the unit. Many owners break the stick cable trying to force the gear change. Get in a bind on the trail and the transmission tends to clang.

[@glennwood198]

being as it is now, not being able to find stuff. I got a Tracker last year. It is 700 EPS. I don't have a large enough toy hauler to go with SXS Maybe 50 inch type but was not looking for sport model. Looking to camp and haul trailer doing so. Have canoes and kayaks . I am not seeing much good said about tracker, only from the people that deal or sell them. I have not gotten out with mine much at all but most all or good when new. When I get my reverse mortgage done I hope to get out with 4x4 and toy hauler with 4 wheeler. I have ext. warranty so hope to have it awhile

[@johnkaminski646]

agree crazy tippy beast

[@berlin3577]

I have a 2014 or the cat trail XT it has currently 1400 miles on it the only complaint I have with it is it feels like you get a lot of feedback from the steering wheel over choppy rough terrain at speeds top speed is roughly 64 mph then it will start surging on you/limiter it does feel like it could go faster but it won’t allow it to

[@kong3]

I had a rzr and bought 2014 AC WC and it kicked butt. 68 mph at 9 to 10000 ft. Kicked butt. Too bad the company gives screwed up. Have my 2d Mav Trail 1000 recently sold Rzr Really like the Mav,, but WC was serious fun.

[@6767mac]

I have a 17. Your review is 100% spot on. Do you happen to have the link for the wheel bearing greaser insert ?

[@AppalachianMountainRiders]

It was given to me by a subscriber so I don’t have a direct link but I’ll get the part number off the bag for you. I think I still have to he bag it came in....lol

[@berlin3577]

Ok I have a 2014 and it’s been good it has 1800 miles on it now a new problem that has happened is I lost park and have no idea when it happened so there is a small piece in there somewhere and it has cracked my case and I had it fixed not knowing that a piece is still in there so I started looking it up and it’s been a problem just letting you all know don’t use park at all

[@richardbitting9210]

I'm torn between an RMAX 4 or 2 Wildcat sports for the family. Seeing as you have both, what are your thoughts?

[@gasNmudtv]

The full doors are a million times better. I love mine on my sport limited

[@gasNmudtv]

Do not sand your slider towers on your primary clutch!!!! You need to measure and sand the black button style washers that contact the towers. The button washers cost less to replace, where if you sand towers youll need a new clutch faster then not sanding them. My mechanic was one of the first to solve this issue in early 2016

[@gasNmudtv]

If you measure the button washers youll see they are all different sizes from factory

[@theclydesdalerider]

Looking to buy a 2017 with 4300 miles. Think it's a good buy still?

[@grizzlydipper7550]

Wish you would've compared the trailer tow speed to the rmax

[@AppalachianMountainRiders]

That’s coming in my official Rmax review!

[@Carcajoo121]

Definitely needs bigger mud guards

[@1978JWJ]

Artic Cat/Textron/Tracker...whomever owns them, they have destroyed the reputation of this brand. These little units had problems BUT were the most under valued units in the market at their time. Stopping this vehicles production was ANOTHER huge mistake. If these were still produced, loaded out for under $15K, they would be selling them as fast as the dealers could get them.

[@AppalachianMountainRiders]

Agreed. I bet a revamped wildcat trail would outsell the Wildcat XX three to one!

[@1978JWJ]

@@AppalachianMountainRiders easily!

[@orbit1138]

One sorry transmission in that Wildcat Trail. Used to see that complaint on KZbin a lot. The thing won't change gears. Some owners have broken the cable from the stick forcing it. Really surprised anyone endorses these poorly designed/constructed ATV units.

[@johnserrano9689]

Can't believe how pathetic Arctic Cat is now under Textrons control.... Still have my original 2008 1000 ATV and I baby her, very low miles and stored in garage. Had always been devoted Arctic Cat fan, my entire family owned Arctic cats and even some friends who were can am or Polaris fans sold them after all the problems break downs and lack of capability compared to Arctic Cat. Plus I could blow their doors off racing thru the woods with my 05' Arctic Cat 500 manual. She wasn't stock, I tuned the engine, snorkeled and all that but I didn't bother big bore kit. She was powerful but the other makers big bore twins easily blew my doors off in straight runs and the holeshots but I would easily catch up and pass in the woods The worse conditions and terrain grew the better Arctic cats big all American chassis grew. Huge clearance, suspension and overall foot print. Only city boys didn't have the balls to ride them as hard as they were capable of. And being so big they were heavy which helped traction. Arctic cat re-wrote the ATV game not 🚫 not with their American chassis, also with the monster 1000 thundercat ATV, then the prowler XTX 1000 UTV, then the Mudpro first ever lifted running on 28" mud tires from factory, then the Wildcat 1000 left the world behind for a long time, they were and still are fckng awesome, whether blasting thru whoops/jumps it set the bar high. The slow speed crawling was insane and capable of anything. The 1000 v twin in infact excellent engine tho heavy, but Arctic cat shouldve modded it much more than they did. They know it is extremely easily capable of so much more, which retaining reliability. But everything else takes a pounding. Any case I wish Textron would wake the fck up and realize they lost all of us as they seemingly raped our beloved Arctic Cat for every penny possible. They need to make us a real heavy duty 5-6 speed MANUAL transmission, trail crawling/hard wheelin UTV with perhaps updated 951cc twin. Make the bearings, ball joints, tierods and ends, diffs & half shafts directly from a half ton Chevy Truck. They'd make billions off it. Can easily make anything from lift kits, snorkels, exhaust systems & mufflers, wide kits, different set ups beyond count. Can you imagine how much money they'd make man? Be limitless but seems they're too cheap or ran only by City boys who don't know a fckng thing..... So sad to see our ass kicking, little tiny company fighting against huge manufacturers, and actually keeping right up and actually kicking their ass winning a lot of times. Sure would be nice for a fully manual trans UTV built for your and my trail conditions/environments. Imagine a slightly heavier duty Yamaha Rmax4 bred with the YXZ1000, but with lower gear ratio being a bit easier on clutch, and coming with 31" tires standard. Textron is easily one of the most capable companies in the entire world, and they bought the best American outdoor-powersport ATV, UTV, snowmobile Maker and brand. Yet wtf man!?? They e done nothing and their entire line up is a joke. They have no idea what they're doing, what to offer, or even which direction they should go in

[@orbit1138]

The doors on mine close just fine. The transmission is one lousy transmission.