Mountain snowmobiles: technical characteristics, reviews

In many countries of the world snow lies in winter. And from the mountain peaks, he never leaves at all. At all times, people have invented devices that help to move on the snow cover, without falling through deeply. The crown of such adaptations are special machines - snowmobiles. They allow a person not only to walk through the snow, but also to do it quickly and effortlessly. A special place is occupied by mountain snowmobiles. This technique is designed primarily for entertainment, but most innovative solutions are developed on it. Therefore, the so-called "hills" - the most technological and expensive, and riding them - the lot of the strong and brave.

Snowmobile structure

Mountain snowmobiles from their counterparts are distinguished by the ability to move at a large angle over loose and deep snow. So only light vehicle (up to 250 kg) can move, in which a small weight is achieved, including by reducing comfort.

The caterpillar of a mountain snowmobile is long (144-163 inches) and wide, with large grooves. This design allows you to wade through any snowdrifts, but complicates the management of the snowmobile. Therefore, on mountain machines set not too wide skis. As for the caterpillar, the wider it is, the steadier and more passable the apparatus. Ultra-wide caterpillar on a mountain snowmobile makes it equal in terms of indicators with two-tracked vehicles.

The engine on a mountain snowmobile must be powerful, with a volume of at least 600 cubic meters. Cm, or even a liter, and, as a rule (again, in the struggle for weight reduction), two-stroke. And the power units are adjusted for operation in the conditions of rarefied air, in loose snow the cooling system is not so necessary, so the radiators are very small.

Suspension for a softer movement is equipped with a pneumatic shock absorber.

And, alas, to ride a passenger on the mountain paths will not be able to - single-seat snowmobile.

Crossover snowmobiles are very close to the mountaineers, but they have wider skis, more efficient, but also a heavier cooling system, more energy-intensive shock absorbers and, therefore, significantly more weight.

Manufacturers of snowmobiles

Mountain snowmobiles are produced by many manufacturers of such equipment. For the championship in the market are fighting brands: Canadian Ski-Doo, Asian Yamaha and American Polaris and Arctic Cat.

Mountain machines of the Canadian brand Ski-Doo are equipped with two-stroke engines using E-Tec technology, which allows injecting fuel under huge pressure directly into the combustion chamber. The camera itself has a device that allows burning fuel evenly and layer by layer, as in diesel engines. In addition, on Canadian machines, the platform provides a comfortable driver's seat and high controllability due to displacement closer to the pilot of the center of gravity, and the seat - forward. This device allows you to manage the snowmobile while standing.

The distinctive features of Yamaha snowmobiles are breathtaking speed and reliability, controllability and lightness. In engines, the company's engineers use not only aluminum, but also titanium and magnesium alloys.

Snowmobiles Polaris Rush easily enter into turns, are dispersed to the big speeds, are reliable and possess excellent quality. Adjustable suspension is adjusted to the weight of a particular pilot.

Winter cars Arctic Cat - it's endurance and strong character. Chassis Twin Spar, developed by the company, increases the patency of snowmobiles, the rear suspension Fas Track with increased durability can withstand even strong shocks.

Reliability is a distinctive feature of winter machines of leading foreign manufacturers. The most demanded spare parts for snowmobiles are consumables and parts that need to be replaced during routine maintenance.

Russian manufacturers OAO Russian Company, Velomotors and other smaller enterprises produce mainly utilitarian snowmobiles, reliable and inexpensive, capable of transporting not only passengers but also cargoes on snowy roads.

Snowmobiles for the mountains Ski-Doo

In 2015, the best mountain snowmobile was recognized Ski-Doo T3 Summit.

In two new models the caterpillars of firm width in 16 inches have three-inch ridges.

Specially for this machine a new caterpillar design was developed, providing the required rigidity and facilitating high-speed movement along a gentle slope.

The new front suspension bracket Response Angle Suspension differs from the analogs with longer than 10 mm forged spindles. They did not add weight to the snowmobile, but keep his nose on the ground and facilitate the controllability of the long chassis in turns.

Changed and rear suspension tMotion, and skis. The new Pilot DS3 skis have enlarged ledges and a ribbed top made of lightweight materials.

The light canister of the muffler, lightweight tension wheels and pulleys have shifted from the models of past years.

Mountain snowmobiles variants X163 and X174 differ in the length of the caterpillar: 4.14 and 4.5 m respectively.

Ski-Doo: Reviews

Testing a new machine with the longest caterpillar, the pilots once again paid tribute to the 163-liter Rotax 800 engine. from. For the smoothness of the set speed, the absence of smoke and stink, which for two-stroke is uncharacteristic.

Those who were lucky enough to ride a novelty with a nearly five-meter caterpillar were not very happy. We noted that to fully reveal the potential of a snowmobile, there is so much snow that there are only a few places in Russia that satisfy this condition, and there are not many more around the world. This is the first, it can not be said to be a drawback, but ... the residue remains.

The second not very pleasant moment, tightly connected with the first, is that the long caterpillar, despite the remarkable technical solutions, still reduces the controllability of the model. If you get on a snowmobile on a hard or heavy wet snow, then the management of it becomes effective only for the athlete, weightlifter. And he buries into the snow, if less, then not much, than the "fellow" with a shorter ski.

How much are these snowmobiles? The prices are as follows: 1.2 million rubles. Will have to pay for the model X163 and 1.3 million rubles. - for the year X174 of the year of issue. The novelty of the X174 as of 2016 costs 1.6 million rubles.

Snowmobiles for the Polaris Mountains

Polaris 800 RMK Pro Terrain Dominator 2015 years of release in the name of the most advanced. By the number of upgrades in one model, he is leading in his class. One trouble - released in a limited series, it means that not all lovers of extreme descents from steep snow peaks.

The whole range of snowmobiles Polaris RMK Pro is very light, less than 200 kg, because its design uses aluminum and composite materials.

Model Polaris 800 Switchback Assault - crossover, but with a mountain caterpillar Series 4.0 can successfully conquer the mountain peaks. In contrast to the classic hills, it has a chain drive with a strong chain and asterisks. In the rear suspension there is a caterpillar with a length of 144 inches, which provides good passability in deep loose snow.

The handlebar with the curved handles is lower, the seat is wider and slightly longer than the mountain models, the wide footboards of the Hybrid do not prevent the crossover from feeling confident on the mountain slopes (even with a difficult terrain of varying degrees of steepness) and on shallow even snow.

Reviews about the Polaris snowmobile

Polaris 800 Switchback Assault with a 154 hp engine. With., Judging by the reviews, behaves like a real mountain snowmobile. He, after being accelerated in a small area, takes steep climbs, holds tenaciously thanks to an elongated track over the slope, even with transverse movement. The machine is able to maneuver actively and even quite a long time to move on one caterpillar with raised skis and jumps remarkably, confirming the data of the official presentation.

The minus experienced pilots consider only a fairly large dry weight. Even a surplus of 10 kg, compared to really mountain models, affects the handling of the snowmobile. But the model with a powerful engine and the ability to jump and maneuver initially was not intended for beginners. But it is universal and can give pleasure to the owner and in the mountains, and on the rolled winter road.

Arctic Cat technique

Model Arctic Cat M7000 Sno Pro 153 is called the best for beginners mountain pilots. A caterpillar of 153 inches - and this is an average length - makes the snowmobile quite manoeuvrable and at the same time manageable even on slopes with a steepness of up to 80 °.

The engine in this four-stroke model, it at the sea level gives a power of 135 liters. from. Manufacturer - Yamaha. Snowmobile, a 600-cc engine which is taken directly from the Arctic Cat, is capable of producing 114 liters. from. ProClimb M6000 Sno Pro is the closest competitor to this model.

The chassis in the M7000 is not new, the Yamaha engines have already been installed on Arctic Cat snowmobiles, but the design is new. The PowerClaw caterpillar is equipped with 2.6-inch clamps. Rear suspension with a pneumatic shock absorber FOX Float 3 rear and Arctic Cat IFP in front. Front - Arctic Cat Race Front Suspension, in its design used lightweight spindles and widely spaced A-shaped levers. The fact that this model is the best suited for beginners, they say positive, not to say warm, reviews about it.

For hard races on mountain slopes, another updated model is proposed - the Arctic Cat HCR 8000. It is equipped with a 800cc two-stroke Suzuki engine. Cm by 163 liters. from.

In this model, the distance between the skis is 1016-1041 mm, on the rails and slugs on each ledge there are protective tips protecting the caterpillar from damage if suddenly there is an icy area on the race track. In order not to increase the mass, the designers opted for a vertical steering column with a fixed standard height of 139 mm, but provided for the possibility of replacing it with racks of different heights. They are in the manufacturer's catalog.

The Arctic Cat ProClimb chassis is not new. It has already been tested on other models.

Rigid shock absorbers combined with an uncontrolled rudder and narrow ski racks, a caterpillar with high crests and hardness of 85 Shore, and even an easy racing seat are all aimed at winning races in hard-to-reach snow in the mountains.

Yamaha

All snowmobiles of the Japanese company are equipped with four-stroke engines. They are powerful, but quite heavy. The exception is the Yamaha 540 Viking snowmobile, in which a light two-stroke engine is installed, but this model is utilitarian, despite the relatively small weight and wide caterpillar.

The long-track modification of the Phazer M-TX with a Genesis 80FI power plant with a capacity of 0.5 liter and 80 liters capacity. from. At first glance is not suitable for overcoming mountain trails. But the machine is light, since the rigid frame is made of aluminum, as, indeed, many other components and parts, including a double-piston caliper disc brake, and agile, responsive to control. And most importantly - reliable, like all the Yamaha snowmobiles.

The characteristics of the Yamaha MTX 153 MPI Turbo snowmobile with a manoeuvrable chassis, PowerClaw caterpillar with high ground clamps and remarkable high-pressure shock absorbers on the front and rear suspension allow this model to be placed on a par with the best machines of recognized leaders in the production of snowmobiles for the mountains, which are Polaris and Ski- Doo.

Yamaha snowmobile: reviews

According to the pilots, the low-power Phazer snowmobile engine is the only disadvantage of the car, which manifests itself only on very loose and deep snow.

But the immediate reaction to the steering wheel shift and confident entry into the turns, which demonstrates "Phaser", for long-track snowmobiles are unusual.

It is inherent and one more advantage - the ability to easily transfer the landing of any rigidity after jumping, which is characterized by cross-country snowmobiles "Yamaha".

The characteristics of this model, of course, are much worse than those of today's serious miners. But the suspension, which has a large margin of safety, reliable and, most importantly, unpretentious engine, as well as a very democratic price - a good start for a beginner.

Snowmobile "Ermak"

Russian pilots with ten or more years of experience remember the lack of choice in those distant times, when the only available pleasure was the Buran, a heavy two-seater intended for work and dragging cargo in the northern regions.

Today the connoisseurs and experts are presented with a new Russian snowmobile "Ermak" from the company Velomotors ", designed to replace the obsolete" Buran ". But it is not sporty, and even not mountainous - it is an ordinary worker of utilitarian purpose. Although in one of the two modifications longer caterpillars are provided, there are two in this car, and one ski. A two-cylinder engine with a volume of less than 600 cc with air cooling produces only 50 liters. from. It is possible to install an 800-cubic-meter liquid-cooled engine, but it is four-stroke.

In general, to call this snowmobile is not something that is mountainous, even a sport will not turn its tongue.

And for today this is the only novelty of Russian manufacturers. Still, they do not bet on entertaining expensive equipment, preferring to produce budgetary, in extreme cases, tourist models of snowmobiles. And lovers of extreme sports on snowy peaks still need to choose - at significantly higher prices - from well-known foreign brands these mountain snowmobiles.

Snowmobile prices

Summit SP 600HO E-TEC 146 release in 2014, the price of which is 950 thousand rubles, is considered the cheapest device of the Canadian company Ski-Doo. Its most expensive snowmobile is the new SUMMIT XT3 174 800R E-TEC worth 1.6 million rubles.

From the company Polaris snowmobile 600 PRO-RMK 155 (2014) with a 125 hp engine. from. Can be purchased for 760 thousand rubles. For today it is the cheapest model from "Polaris". The most expensive is the 800 PRO-RMK 163 3 inches (2016) with a 154-horsepower engine. It can be purchased for 1.33 million rubles.

A mountain snowmobile, whose 500-cc engine develops a comparatively low power (in 80 hp) - Yamaha Phazer M-TX (2015) - can be purchased for 700 thousand rubles, and the new SR Viper X-TX (2015) with a four-stroke engine Volume of more than a thousand cubes - for 1.1 million rubles.

The price for the Arctic Cat miners ranges from 650 thousand rubles for M 8000 153 HCR (2015) with a 800-cubic-mile engine for 160 liters. from. Up to 780 thousand rubles. For M 8000 162 SNO PRO (2015).

So, mountain snowmobiles on the Russian market today are not uncommon, even though domestic producers are focused on the production of cars for everyday operation on the boundless snowy expanses of Siberia and the Far North. Prices for specific equipment are high enough, but mountain extreme - entertainment is not for everyone. But spare parts for snowmobiles are available, dealers are polite, and models are updated almost every year.