Ice Challenger

Ice Challenger ‘Snowbird 6’, was an amphibious vehicle designed and built by Steve Brooks with the aim of setting a new world record by crossing them frozen wastes of the Bering Strait. The vehicle was powered by a 6-cylinder diesel engine, which incorporated an IPU hydraulic starting system.

IPU Starting designed the system so that the team could start the engine at -40ºC and if for any reason the first attempt to start failed, the system could be manually recharged for further start attempts. Previous attempts by Ice Challenger to cross the Strait had been hampered by the use of conventional battery starting, which were totally unsuitable for immersion in seawater and the sub zero temperatures that meant the team faced a two-hour process of starting the diesel engine, having to thaw out the electric starter motor by heating the engine block.

For more information contact a member of our Starting Sales Team on +44 (0) 121 511 0400