Putting a 3-cylinder, 2-stroke snowmobile engine in the back of a Yugo is, in theory, an inspired idea. However, bolting the entire engine, exhaust and CVT transmission directly to a solid rear axle — as elegant in its simplicity as it may be — can’t bode well for the ride and handling.
Last Call indicates the end of the Hooniverse broadcast day. It’s meant to be an open forum for anyone and anything. Thread jacking is not only accepted, it’s encouraged.
By Peter Tanshanomi
Tanshanomi is Japanese [単車のみ] for "motorcycle(s) only." Though primarily tasked with creating two-wheel oriented content for Hooniverse, Pete is a lover of all sorts of motorized vehicles.
Jeff Glucker
Looks like it is not going to take much suspension travel before the last plug lead smashes on the body
When your life includes
A snowmobile busted up badly enough to make it better to yank the engine rather than fix the thing,
A old Yugo laying around in your
frontback yard,And enough free time to figure out how to combine the two, you have bigger problems than unsprung weight.
I…I want to drive this…
Is that the Suzuki three cylinder? Apparently the suzuki snowmobile engines are a common upgrade for Cappucinos.
Cappucino update – having gearbox issues, but as I bought it from a classic dealer, I’m not too worried, he should sort something out for me. 24 year old kei car, bound to have gremlins.
I wouldn’t have guessed the Capp was that old. Pretty timeless looks on that one.
Yes, I believe Arctic Cat used Suzuki engines through 2013.
So, I got home from two weeks in New Zealand a couple days ago, and I’ll likely be errantly hitting the windshield wipers when I want to turn for at least another week. I only had a couple hours worth of prior experience driving on the wrong side of the road, but I don’t know why that’s the hardest bit for me to adjust to (also, parking lots).
In switching between LHD and RHD my most persistent problem is remembering in which direction to glance for the center rear-view mirror.
From NZ, have driven in the US a couple of times… I know the challenges you face. Half the battle is won if you rent a Euro spec car over here – then at least the indicators are on the correct side of the steering column for you… The steering wheel is still on the other side… 😉
We have to paint big arrows on the roads in tourist hot spots to stop travellers killing themselves (and us). https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/27c47f01611153b8891b32cc262bfc4b80bbb38f59169dfff2fe2f7332b8c31f.png
Oh yes, saw plenty of those, plenty of road signs to drive on the left too (although I didn’t need those like I need the London reminders of which way to prioritize looking when crossing the road). I think my wife and I each only tried to get in the wrong side of the vehicle a couple times each.
https://myinkyfingers.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/look-left-2.jpg?w=341&h=255
Did anything ever bode well for ride and handling in a Yugo?
Yugo or you walk.
“you go or you walk” sounds like the title to the following song, after a couple trips through google translate.
Seems like going with an IRS would have been the better solution, but I’m sure it’d be tricky to find something that would fit. (Though an E30 IRS may have worked.)
The answer is always Miata
http://hooniverse.info/2014/01/21/video-deafen-yourself-with-a-racing-two-stroke-miata/
Pretty much the setup for most gasoline engined golf carts. My old one was a 2 stroker and to put it in reverse you used a big switch to change the polarity of the starter/generator and it would start the motor backwards. Fun stuff. This would make a very fast golf cart!
Having spent far too much time in the last few weeks under my Volvo 66 GL working on its Variomatic, including changing both belts, my main response to this photo is to stare longingly at the easy access to this CVT.
This particular Yugo did make an earlier appearance here:
http://hooniverse.info/2014/11/05/ebay-snowmobile-powered-yugo-gv-project-is-the-best-yugo-project/
So it has. Leave it to you to remember.
A confluence of a three-cylinder, two-stroke engine, a CVT, and a Yugo does speak to some of my interests, after all.