Ridden: Ski-Doo's 2024 Grand Touring Sport Could Be the Best Snowmobile for Novice Riders

As an introductory vehicle to the marvelous world of trail/sport trail snowmobiles, the Ski-Doo's Grand Touring might be one of the best on the market today. As a slightly more upscale take on an ostensibly very affordable trail sled, the Grand Touring provides one or two more layers of refinement over its brethren, the MXZ and Renegade, all with the option to bring a passenger in the rear seat if you choose. Though not the flagship snow-based vehicle for Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP), the Grand Touring Sport gave us as many smiles per gallon as a Prius gives MPG.

The sky was so magnificent as we walked to the front lot at the Nova Guides snowmobile trail that the only thing keeping everyone from going snowblind was the blue-tinted visors on our helmets. But once we'd been given the gear needed to melt our eyeballs, we were gifted a first-hand look at what at least subjectively looks like a pretty wicked snowmobile. Though most sleds tend to look basically the same if you're not already intimately familiar with the hobby, the funky two-tone yellow and black combination fitted to our rides that day gave the vibe of the Bumblebee Camaro always a nice touch.

With dimensions of 123.1 inches (3,127 mm) long and 47.9 inches (1,217 mm) in width and a track measuring 137 x 15 x 1.25 inches, a sled like this is decently approachable to someone whose only experience with snowmobiles is the old Arctic Thunder arcade cabinet from the mid-2000s. With a dry weight of 509 lbs (230.9 kg), it's also not inconceivable to wiggle your way out from underneath this rig if you inevitably don't give it enough throttle over some deep powder and go toppling over. All in all, there are some pretty novice-friendly numbers surrounding the Grand Touring Sport.

At least as far as the entry-level Sport model we tested, the controls and dash were fairly easy to understand. The model comes without the fancy 10.25-inch touch-screen infotainment suite available on the range-topping LE with the Luxury Package. But what you do get is a small but readable LCD display for your speedometer, a simple thumb-operated throttle with a hand brake on the opposite handlebar, and three-way adjustable heated handlebars to ensure your hands don't become icicles out on the trail. But be warned; trail staff pointed out that these bars nearly get hot enough to melt your gloves on occasion.

Mounting the Grand Touring Sport wasn't an issue, and the soft-touch lining of the seat gave good support. All the necessary controls were well within reach of the driver, with a bare minimum of attention taken away from the act of steering. If coming to grips with the controls gives you anxiety as a first-time sled rider, chances are that the setup implemented by Ski-Doo will put your mind at ease. This sled is started by pulling upwards on a battery kill switch and pressing a button underneath the left-side handlebar. From there, the Grand Touring Sport's engine roars to life.

The motor in question is a 600 cc two-cylinder, four-stroke V-Twin from Rotax, a subsidiary of BRP widely known for cornering the ultra-light aircraft engine market as well as a strong showing in powersports, and dubbed the 600 ACE. The engine sports dual overhead cams and jets 62 horsepower to the tracks, and it's linked to the rear track via Ski-Doo's patented eDrive clutch and a 1.43-inch drive sprocket. That might not sound like much to the average automotive-inclined person. But trust us when we tell you that the level of power in a vehicle that weighs so little is a recipe for a fun and accessible riding experience.

From the moment you give a slight blip of throttle, power is delivered in an abrupt yet undeniably controllable manner, which urges a rider to give it the beans at every opportunity without instilling a fear you'll be thrown off it like a bucking bronco. If maiming yourself horribly is something that keeps you from trying out snowmobiling, rest assured the power levels of this one are much more suited for the first-timer than more expensive, more powerful sleds with larger engine displacements.

Through compact, tightly packed trail snow with good traction, the Grand Touring Sport was nothing short of a dream to ride thanks to its RAS X front suspension with upwards of ten mm of suspension travel Pilot 5.7 SL skis. The KYB 36 rear gas shock is equally capable, never once feeling crashy or too stiff out on the trail. Acceleration is brisk but insufficient to rip your arms off when you hit the throttle. Braking is also more than adequate, although we got the impression the brake didn't give as much tactile feedback as you might expect from a motorcycle, an e-bike, or something of the sort.

Even so, we didn't find ourselves in any scenario, uphill or downhill, where the Brembo brakes felt insufficient for the job. Add everything together, and you'd have to be acting especially like a nutjob to get into life or limb-altering trouble behind the handlebars of this little Ski-Doo. Turning in during hard cornering was as easy or complicated as you care to make it. By leaning in hard to the intended direction of travel, even a total newb can throw the Ski-Doo Grand Touring with enough grace to not embarrass you your first time out.

Across uneven terrain with dips that look harmless but wind up giving you some air, there was very little out there in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains that phased this little sled. And thanks to the four-stroke engine with electronic fuel injection, you won't leave the trail at the end of the day smelling like the essence of internal combustion. Of course, being a snowmobile, the Grand Touring Sport is still a pretty noisy machine. But thanks to Ski-Doo's proprietary SilentDrive design philosophy, the track design and suspension geometry are explicitly designed to reduce noticeable vehicle vibrations by up to 70 percent compared to older models, at least so says Ski-Doo.

But, of course, most snowmobiles are at least passable on trails; what about this Ski-Doo's performance out on freshly laid deep powder? Well, we'd love to be able to tell you. But it's not easy for a novice to maintain their balance while standing up, transferring weight from one side to the other over some genuine deep powder. Safe to say, our group, full of more than a few first-timers, wound up finding it difficult to full-throttle their way through the deep powder without getting timid halfway through. Predictably, this led to our guides and photographer having to come to our rescue more than a few times.

But with someone halfway competent at the controls, we can say with confidence the Grand Touring Sport carves powder like a sled with twice the power it does. Frankly, the way our guides danced around their sleds like ballerinas while the rest of us struggled not to have coronary episodes, keeping us right-side-up, must have been a kick for them. It's worth mentioning that we didn't notice the fuel gauge readout going down at all after what felt like a two-hour jaunt up the side of a snowy mountain and right back down again. As a tool with which to dip your toes into the world of snowmobiles in general, the Ski-Doo Grand Touring Sport was nothing short of exemplary in its abilities.

But is it enough to compete with vehicles in its market segment from other brands like the Polaris Indy or the Yamaha SX Venom? Well, we can't speak for either of those yet, as we haven't ridden them yet. But what we can say with some certainty is that any sled in the trail market segment has to at least be better than what Ski-Doo presented for us here in Colorado. Without a checkered and eclectic background driving sleds from all sorts of manufacturers, we can't say definitively how the Ski-Doo Grand Touring Sport stacks up to its rivals. But what we can say is it's easy enough to ride for a total buffoon to ride but also capable enough for the Wiley veterans to have their fun.

Sometimes, that's all you can really expect from a powersports vehicle. But what could you expect to pay for a Ski-Doo kitted out in this fashion? Well, a starting MRSP of $11,199 before taxes and fees for the entry-level Grand Touring Sport isn't the most outrageous asking price we've ever seen. We can only imagine how nice the fully-kitted Grand Touring LE with the Luxury Package rides for $5,500 more, but that could be a story for another time. For now, a score of 4.5 out of five stars is more than appropriate.