Head I.XRC 1200 SW (2007)

First I bought some Head XRC 800's. I thought those were just OK, but was not really blown away by the performance of the 800. I thought the 800's felt a little like riding a Snowboard, and the turn shapes could be schizoid at times. 
 
Two weeks after I bought the XRC 800s I came across a pair of the XRC 1200s and proceeded to swap the bindings. Mine are 177 cm but dont feel long at all when skiing. Long radius turns, short radius turns(and everything in between) are no problem on the 1200. The 1200s are a very pure ski, and very closely related to Heads race department skis aside from the built in railflex binding risers. I found these to be a delight to ski... very smooth, fast, damp and stable without sacrificing liveliness. Highly recommended for advanced and expert skiers looking for race ski feel and performance, except without the physical demand or strength required to pilot todays race skis.

Same reviewer as above here... I liked the 177's so much that I bought some slightly used cm 163's. The 163 cm is very playful and quicker to execute short radius turns. You can get in a very nice rhythm in sr fall line turns. The 1200 in 163 also remains stable at speed in bomber turns as well- (these feel fast and behaved for a short length/if not maybe a little stiffer than the long ones). In any length(for me personally) I think these may make the sweetest turns and arcs of any ski, and have the feel of those classic skis you loved from years gone by.  
 
...also for comparison...a Much smoother and classier feeling ski than some Atomic ST7 skis I resold earlier this year. The 1200s feel like it has more substance than just a chunk of fiberglass under the hood. Real wood cores here if I am correct, with inteligent fiber and liquid metal jacket to help em rip. 
 
These should be as popular the top Fischer RX models, but I dont mind if I can keep catching great street prices on the newer Head 1200s....Both reviews are for the 06-07 model as listed in the header. Its the same ski for 08' with arguably an even more unpretty shade of green. But dont let the colors deter you from buying these skis. Plus the tops do seem to be better quality than earlier Head 1100/1200 variants. 
 
I also can not qualify these as a race ski yet, although I may use the 177 for NASTAR next season. These skis feel a little too smooth to race despite being very fast... so I'm not certain you can tell for sure if you would be going really fast on course....