2007 Ski-Doo Freestyle 550 Park

If the 2007 Ski-Doo Freestyle 550 Park was in junior high, it would be the kid who’s not quite hit his growth spurt. He’s a foot smaller than his friends, and all the girls think he’s cute.

The Park is the newest addition to the Freestyle genre. Ski-Doo bills the sled as trail- and stunt-park ready. We didn’t have anyone pull sick air with it, but the diminutive 410-pounder was easy to whip around on the trails.

The Park looks like a baby snocross sled, complete with handguards and a shorty windshield. It has a Rotax 550F fan-cooled mill, which is new to the Freestyle lineup this year.

The Freestyle Park embraces the mass centralization concept, and most of the weight is in the sled’s middle — including the driver. The stand-up seat and ergos worked well for every rider, especially shorter ones. The hinged seat opened up to reveal storage space. The footwells seemed rather short, and we guess they’re made for snocross boots.

The 2007 Ski-Doo Freestyle 550 Park handled so-so. The skis looked similar to those on the SuperSport, but seemed to perform better on the Park. The ski stance was widened this year to 39 inches, but it still felt tippy, especially in rough corners.

The front suspension was only OK. It didn’t soak up bumps too well, and tended to dart or wander at times. Hit a big bump, and the front end goes wherever it wants. There also didn’t seem to be much connection between the front and rear suspensions.

That said, the rear suspension performed quite well. It uses standard HPG shocks and the SC-4 rear platform, a version of which made its debut in snocross. It did a good job at isolating the bumps. The track has a 1.25-inch lug, the deepest lug of the entry-levelers.

2007 Ski-Doo Freestyle 550 Park

Price = $5,849

Report Card

Ride = B, lightweight but tippy

Handling = C, good rear suspension, poor front suspension

Engine = A, a nice upgrade

Looks = A-, a unique, sporty look but maybe a bit too cute

Reputation:

The Squirt. It’s little, but uses its size to its advantage. Likes to hang out with the older kids, even though it’s obviously smaller.

On its iPod:

Bubble gum pop music from Backstreet Boys, Hilary Duff and ’NSync

Bonus Features: Hooked handlebars,

underseat storage, tach

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