An Approach to Clean Snowmobile Design: Implementation of a 4-Cycle Low Emission Vehicle Engine

The purpose of this document is to give the reader brief insight into the basic concepts, principles, and reasoning as applied to environmentally sensitive snowmobile design. Although a snowmobile is a conglomeration of multiple systems and components, the focus of this article shall be upon the design of components that form the foundation for a successful Clean Snowmobile Challenge entry-the powerplant. This paper briefly covers the conceptual design process, and a rationalized powerplant solution for a clean, quiet snowmobile. In addition, a detailed description of a four-stroke, three-cylinder powerplant implementation and the required modifications to an Arctic Cat snowmobile chassis are included. The results of the modified snowmobile's performance at the Clean Snowmobile Challenge 2001 are visited. In general, the overall performance of the modified snowmobile was satisfactory; its strengths are: reliability, robust construction, aesthetic appearance, and noise suppression. The article concludes with an explanation of strategies for maintaining snowmobile performance, reducing noise and exhaust emissions, improving fuel economy and analyzing durability with the LEV engine solution. The information presented herein is derived from the knowledge, experience and rationale of the 2001 University of Alaska Clean Snowmobile Challenge Team, a sub-part of the University of Alaska Society of Automotive Engineers (UAFSAE).