2017 Arctic Cat Wildcat X with RG Pro Suspension + Video

Arctic Cat has just taken the cover off the new 2017 Wildcat X and it’s got Robby Gordon’s fingerprints all over it. The biggest addition to the new Cat is its RG Pro suspension. RG, as you may suspect, stands for Robby Gordon.

“The trailing arm on the RG Pro suspension is very similar to what we have on the Dakar Hummers and well all know how good those cars were in the dunes and the gravel roads,” says Gordon. “That trailing arm actually allows the vehicle and the tire to trail straight up and down. The wheel trails away from the bumper. That gives it better ride control. Instead of an A-arm that has to hit the bump and move up, this this is trailing away as it’s hitting the bump.

“What we’ve really focussed on was trying to keep the tire patch in the same location. If the tire has to move out to go up, then it’s moving around an arc. That tire has a loaded weight on it that actually makes the vehicle hop around. With the RG Pro, you can hold onto the steering wheel pretty light and just motor straight through the bumps and stay consistent”

“The links of that trailing arm has a lot to do with how the characteristics are with the vehicle handling.  That link was done within a couple of inches of what we had on our Dakar Hummers. And what we learned with it [if] you can find the sweet spot with the ride height, you can actually get the trailing arm from right height up to start cambering in, which when you turn the car and body roll, it actually tilts the tire in and gives you a little bit of a resting platform to set up.”

The new RG Pro suspension controls 17 inches of travel up front and 15.5 inches in the rear. Consumers can dial in the suspension on the King Shocks with dual rate springs.

Other features beefier lower A-arms, die rods that are double the diameter of the old Wildcat, 15-inch aluminum KMC wheels, and new roll cage with V bars up front. Consumers who opt for the Wildcat X Limited will also benefit from full doors. The Wildcat X and Wildcat 4X will are powered by Arctic Cat’s 951cc V-Twin engine.

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