I'm new to this site & welcome any & all informative discussions on here. From my first hand experience, I drive a '98 ZRT 800 & currently run iPone 2T in it & have no complaints. When I purchased the sled, it had Arctic Cat APV Synthetic 2T oil in it, & while likely excellent oil, it had a very strong smell & would sting my eyes something fierce, let alone the riders behind me. I find the iPone not nearly as bad & the "strawberry" smell not over powering. I also ran it in my '97 ZRT 600. Previously I ran Legend ZX-2SR, but my distributor here near Toronto, no longer sells it. I also found the Legend oil to be excellent as well & it does smell like dryer sheets. Both the iPone & Legend are petroleum/synthetic blends & were very clean burning for me. The spark plug colours on my current ZRT 800 are perfect with a nice tan colour after a WOT run & piston wash is good. Carbs & oil injection pump seem set properly. My ZRT 600 oil pump was set more on the rich side & the carbs were also a bit rich & that led to black carbon deposits on the plugs, but that's more of a set up issue rather than an "oil" problem.

As for cost/price.......the 3.78litre (1 US gallon equivalent) Legend was $65Cdn & last year was able to find 5litre (1.32 US gallon equivalent) iPone for $51Cdn. With all that being said, back in the day, I ran regular Castrol 2T dino oil & beat the beans out of the sleds, with zero issues & you can still get a 4litre (1.06 US gallon equivelant) for $29Cdn. Some may remember Produmax Oil back in the early '90's, also ran that & was excellent. I believe Legend bought them out & with some tweeks, is their oil. That's why there are different choices out there. Too each his own. Proper sled maintenance/set up goes a long way for longevity with minimal breakdowns or engine issues.

What I am certain of, I am the only rider of my group that still drives a 2 stroke with the rest of them driving boosted 4 stroke turbos, & no matter what oil I'm running, when they are behind me, they hate it. When I get home after a ride, my jacket, pants, clothes in general.....stink. I have to sometimes put them in a separate room! When I'm behind them, the 4 stroke turbo does smell quite a bit different, "sweeter" perhaps.

Thx, Alex.

 

I'm new to this site & welcome any & all informative discussions on here. From my first hand experience, I drive a '98 ZRT 800 & currently run iPone 2T in it & have no complaints. When I purchased the sled, it had Arctic Cat APV Synthetic 2T oil in it, & while likely excellent oil, it had a very strong smell & would sting my eyes something fierce, let alone the riders behind me. I find the iPone not nearly as bad & the "strawberry" smell not over powering. I also ran it in my '97 ZRT 600. Previously I ran Legend ZX-2SR, but my distributor here near Toronto, no longer sells it. I also found the Legend oil to be excellent as well & it does smell like dryer sheets. Both the iPone & Legend are petroleum/synthetic blends.

As for cost/price.......the 3.78litre (1 US gallon equivalent) Legend was $65Cdn & last year was able to find 5litre (1.32 US gallon equivalent) iPone for $51Cdn. With all that being said, back in the day, I ran regular Castrol 2T dino oil & beat the beans out of the sleds, with zero issues & you can still get a 4litre (1.06 US gallon equivelant) for $29Cdn. Ohhh......some may remember Produmax Oil back in the early '90's, also ran that & was excellent. I believe Legend bought them out & with some tweeks, is their oil. That's why there are different choices out there. Too each his own. Proper sled maintenance/set up goes a long way for longevity with minimal breakdowns or engine issues.

I am the only rider of my group that still drives a 2 stroke with the rest of them driving 4 stroke turbos, & no matter what oil I'm running, when they are behind me, they hate it. When I get home after a ride, my jacket, pants, clothes in general.....stink. I have to sometimes put them in a separate room! When I'm behind them, the 4 stroke turbo does smell quite a bit different, "sweeter" perhaps.

Thx, Alex.

Welcome to the site! Well, for one, I wouldn’t worry myself about the smell people are experiencing that ride behind you. I personally like the smell....although race gas can be a bit much....and so can klotz!

 

Burp,

 

Tasteless !! Haha. Remind me not to accept a shooter from that guy!

 

too slow.....can't attest to Produmax as a mosquito repellent, but it may well have!....lol. It seemed to work well in my 1993 Ski Doo Formula Plus EFI, which was a Rotax 583 Rotary Valve engine. Back then it was nearly the same price at the Castrol 2T dino oil at around $15Cdn for 4litres, so I tried it. No issues. When I found out it was the basis for Legend ZX2, I decided to try it again. Since I can't get it around here any more & with the price point of iPone, while still not cheap but more readily available, that's what I went with. Alex.

 

Ipone is good oil, some of the guys i rode with used it in their valved 600-800 sleds. As far as the produmax oil....when your miles away from any civilization and out of oil, you stop at the nearest outfitters, and use their outboard 2stroke motor oil. I never had engine issues running the stuff, but the exhaust valves on my 600 motor looked like needing a nuclear blast when it came time to clean them. The days are gone when you could run any crappy 2 stroke oil in your motor, and not care.

 

Yaaa too slow.......I have to agree with you. Given the choices & technology advances in oils over the years, it's not worth the chance when you have a $5k, $10, $15, $20k, or more snowmobile. Even I don't want to chance it with my 22yr year old sled, worth around $2,500 (in Canada), let alone a new one with the prices these days. An oil related engine problem/failure is an unwelcome fix regardless of year of sled.

It appears to come down to the price of 2 stroke oil over the years & what one is willing to pay. You can likely get any oil you want, whether it be in store or online, but at what price? As I mentioned previously, for me.....the iPone was $51 (5ltrs), Legend $65 (3.78ltrs), Castrol $29 (4ltrs), Redline $80 (3.78ltrs), Amsoil $65 (4ltrs), Cat APV $65 (3.78ltrs), Liquimoly $64 (4ltrs), Maxima $76 (4ltrs), Motul $76 (4 ltrs), BelRay $100 (4ltrs), & that's just a few I looked at.....before taxes! I realize some are straight mineral bases, mineral/synthetic blends, straight synthetic, or even castor based. It's up to the rider to do his/her own homework & educate themselves on price, oil ratings/testing, convenience of getting it, quality opinions, & frankly, just what has worked for them. Alex.

 

Yaaa too slow.......I have to agree with you. Given the choices & technology advances in oils over the years, it's not worth the chance when you have a $5k, $10, $15, $20k, or more snowmobile. Even I don't want to chance it with my 22yr year old sled, worth around $2,500 (in Canada), let alone a new one with the prices theses days. An oil related engine problem/failure is an unwelcome fix regardless of year of sled.

It appears to come down to the price of 2 stroke oil over the years & what one is willing to pay. You can likely get any oil you want, whether it be in store or online, but at what price? As I mentioned previously, for me.....the iPone was $51 (5ltrs), Legend $65 (3.78ltrs), Castrol $29 (4ltrs), Redline $80 (3.78ltrs), Amsoil $65 (4ltrs), Cat APV $65 (3.78ltrs), Liquimoly $64 (4ltrs), Maxima $76 (4ltrs), Motul $76 (4 ltrs), BelRay $100 (4ltrs), & that's just a few I looked at.....before taxes! I realize some are straight mineral bases, mineral/synthetic blends, straight synthetic, or even castor based. It's up to the rider to do his/her own homework & educate themselves on price, oil ratings/testing, convenience of getting it, quality opinions, & frankly, just what has worked for them. Alex.

Back when the polaris ves liberty engines came about i used the polaris ves oils....that oil sucked, didn't flow well in cold temps, and left heavy carbon deposits. Went back to see our service manager at the polaris dealership about this...he has heard the same from others and recommended trying spectro syn-sno. Been running it ever since. We have a bunch of guys here using it so we get a drum of it every year. I even run the stuff in my echo and stihl power equipment.

 

I'm pretty sure Marc Ziac (Legend Oil) bought out the old Produmax formula. Wasn't Produmax considered a real good oil back in the day?

 

Only produmax oil i remember using was the 2 stroke outboard motor kind they supplied at outfitters that did fishing. Believe me that stuff was nothing to write home about.

 

Oil going thru carb jets/orifices or injectors takes place of fuel. More oil, less fuel. Air remains same. So, leaner.

If more oil is put thru oil injection system, fuel remains same, = same sir/fuel ratio pretty much.

Issue, oil can cause pre-ignition. More oil can cause more, or more likely pre-igntion.

Other issue, 2 stroke oils use solvents to make mixing with fuel eadier. Be it in fuel dupply or airstream itself. Solvents also make the oil thinner to help it flow and ‘fling’ easier.

I just made up ‘fling.’ Speaking of which, this is actually one of the main reasons for varying rpms during break in. Every rpm change will slightly change the ‘pattern’ of oil and fuel (not many new sleds have fuel down here anymore )flying/flinging around in the crankcase and combustion chamber. Crankcase more inportsnt of course. Roller bearings, piston skirts, piston pins, under piston tops (cooling ), etc,etc

 

https://www.dootalk.com/forums/topic/166503-the-great-oil-debate/

 

Spectro was always a good oil, big in motocross and best of all produced right there in your home state...

 

Yeah, use to have some support sponsorship back in the day when racing motocross and hare scrambles. I had those plastic bottles of golden spectro up the ying-yang.

 

Mystik is pleasant smelling and priced right!

 

VES Gold Synthetic gives me a headache when i ride behind a sled using it.

 

That stuff use to give me a headache when having to clean the valves on friends sleds.

 

BRP XPS full syn always gave me a headache...