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Mars is a tricky fellow to observe. Just this week I had the chance to view it through a C11 (an 11" SCT). Making out details was just a pain. Yet a few years back, same planet but this time using a much smaller C5 (a 5" SCT), detail wad certainly not lacking! No filter either. BOTH polar caps were visible, with one bigger than the other, a detailed green boarder tracing their edges, and a lot of surface features.
Three things affect seeing of detail on Mars:
1, atmospheric conditions making seeing good. Mars is tiny, so punching magnification when the atmosphere is turbulent is a no win situation, regardless of the scope you have.
2, its position in its orbit. Mars' orbit is a little more elliptical than Earth's. As a result at its opposition it can vary greatly in how close it gets to us. Right now it is as bad as it gets. In another 6 or 7 years it will be as good as it gets, but only by a small amount (remember it isn't a big object)
3, Dust storms! Yes, dust storms can rage over the planet, TOTALLY obliterating any surface detail. These also affect the performance of the surface probes that have landed on Mars, from Viking to today's rovers. From the observational reports I'm reading this week, this might be the case. I'll do some more poking around for this.
Filters can help, but you need at least point 1 above to be in your favour. After that it's just plain aperture grunt.
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