Boost Your Snowmobile Performance This Winter Riding Season

Boosting your snowmobile performance doesn’t have to be an unattainable dream. There are a number of things you can do before the season starts to get your machine running quicker and smoother than ever before, whether you’re looking to enhance its power, improve its handling or make it more reliable. Check out these snowmobile performance tips that can help make the winter that much more fun.

Modify Your Intake

The stock intake on your machine is likely fairly restrictive, in an effort to keep noise and costs down. Opening up the amount of air that can enter your engine is a great way to enhance your snowmobile performance. You can do that by simply swapping out your air box for an open element air filter. If you want to go further, you can also try a custom air intake system that will replace the existing setup entirely. Just be aware that there may be some tuning necessary afterwards.

Add an Exhaust System

Once you’ve got more air entering your engine, make sure the exhaust gases that are generated can exit it as quickly and efficiently as possible. It’s a balancing act, of course, so stick with an exhaust and muffler system that improves your snowmobile performance without being so loud that it gets you in trouble out on the trail. There are so many options out there that you can pick and choose to create the solution that’s the best fit for you.

Go Big (Bore)

A more radical snowmobile modification is to bore out your engine cylinders to increase its displacement and help it generation more power. You can sometimes bolt on a new cylinder head that will get the job done, too, without having to visit a machinist, but either way, you’ll have to match your fueling and ignition systems to the new engine size in order to benefit the most from the upgrade. This can be a costly solution if you aim for big power, and it can also void your warranty and dramatically change how your sled feels out in the snow, so keep that in mind when deciding how crazy you want to get in terms of power.

Try a Different Track

You don’t have to stick with the track that came with your machine from the factory. Fans of enhanced snowmobile performance often try a variety of different tracks to sample the varying stiffness, size differences and tread patterns that are available. You might end up back where you started, but chances are you’ll find a track combination that works better than what your snowmobile offered right out of the box.

Next time you get out on the powder, get more performance out of your snowmobile with these suggestions

Check out all the snowmobile and powersport parts available on NAPA Online or trust one of our 17,000 NAPA AutoCare locations for routine maintenance and repairs. For more information on snowmobile performance, chat with a knowledgeable expert at your local NAPA AUTO PARTS store.

Photo courtesy of Morguefile.