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CUSTOMISING THE CAR
We’ve chosen this Nissan because it’s one of the few vehicles that you can get which is still a very basic vehicle.
It has no electronics in it – it has wind-up windows, naturally aspirated 4.2 litre diesel engine – so it’s got masses of power
under the bonnet. Being able to keep the occupants in the vehicle safely heated at minus 50 degrees, and equally being
able to keep the engine running at an operating temperature, is going to be a big challenge for us.
So what we’ve done is we’ve chosen a Webasto heater which is a great big diesel powered heater which runs independently
of the engine – and that’s going to give us extra heat into the engine through the cooling system.
The roof lining has been pulled out, the side panels have been pulled out, and we’ve stuffed it full of insulation. On the floors
we’ve actually taken the whole mat up and we’ve put foil down – and felt, which is 30mm thick – to give us a huge amount of
insulation. And in order to get this vehicle really, really safe, we’ve fitted a custom-built roll cage. So we’re going to upgrade the
suspension, stronger springs, better shock absorbers – and lastly, the most important thing is the grip on the road –
and the only way we’re going to achieve that is by putting specialised snow tyres on.
We’ve insulated the battery – this is a gel battery. The fuel system has got a heater on it – so this will warm the fuel as
it comes in – and if we leave the engine running all night we’ve got a warning system over here; if the engine should cut out,
we’ll be able to hear this buzzer.
You lose most of the heat coming out through the top of the engine as it rises up so we’ll put this thick, felt blanket across
the engine – literally like you cover yourself with a duvet – we’re going to trap the heat from escaping. Simple but very effective.
Something we’ve had to do here in Yakutsk is to double-glaze the windscreens – and these guys are amazing the way they do it;
they took another windscreen, some insulation to give an air gap, and then it gets stuck on the windscreen. Never have I
seen this done anywhere else.
I think it’s okay – 4-wheel-drive and good tyres – it goes anywhere.
That works. Yeah, that works.