been meaning to post this for a few weeks....at the beginning of April i got a chance to test ride a 2013 ski-doo Renegade at the Pat's Peak Snowmobile Hillclimb event in New Hampshire. 600cc twin cylinder direct injection. Been reading about etecs for several years now and finally i would get the chance to see for myself! Believe me, it didn't disappoint. Started immediately to a smooth, steady idle. A bit like - dare i say it - a 4 stroke. Once underway the thing that struck me was the low end torque, the YANK this thing had from way down low. The mid range was awesome, i kept pulling impromptu wheelies with no effort. The thing would gather speed so quickly that i ran out of room to really test the top end, since we were on a designated test ride trail. But it screams! One thing i had heard was that the etec could never be put on a dirt bike because of the rapid on/off throttling required. I am here to say that is complete ;Dbullshit. The trail i took was totally rutted and i purposely chopped/gassed the throttle many times to see - perfect response, no stumbling. I truly hope this engine (or half of it) gets dropped into a mx'er.
