I agree setup makes so much of a difference - when you have the chance to jump from sled a to b, it is normally quite the difference in trail manners.  Speaking of noises, I finally used music this year while riding, what a difference, been meaning to use it for years and finally did. 

Everyone has their own preferences and it’s good we have choices.  Here’s my take.   - I buy for dependability and reliability.  There is no comparison here. I hear of blown up 2 strokes all the time.  Few and far between to find 4 strokes with motor issues   - I had the chance to jump between my 2019 900 T and a 2024 850 etec last week.  I felt the turbo has more low end torque where I needed it.  The 850 was sluggish until you got it over 50 and got the exhaust valves opened up   - handling has so much to do with setup.  In this instance my 900 handled better than the 850 despite the weight.  Could that be changed with some setup on the 850?  Yes.  But so many ppl don’t spend the time or get the knowledge to make things handle at their capability    Reduced smells and noise are a bonus as well.  Lots of opinions on both sides.  4 stroke is the sled for me.  

Many thanks to Paudash and the other clubs 

We did this out and back run yesterday.  Trails were generally good; a bit rough nr Whitney, awesome around LSP. No significant water cuts. Wow, the club clears a lot of downed trees around Harcourt and south. 

Acceptable would probably be the best way to describe it.  There is stretches of access rd in there that we ran along at 80 - 100 km/h with no real problems.  That said it’s only beat down 6’ wide.  Hasn’t been touched since the last big storm meaning the snow is a foot deep if you get off the beaten path.  That in itself slows you down for every corner you can’t see around hoping you don’t meet someone.  Some moguls starting and some corners bermed up, but not brutal yet.  Was the worst we saw in 4 days of riding.  But that doesn’t say much when everything else was so good.  If you can avoid it do so.  But not sure I’d go 200 kms out of my way to skip it.