Driving down the east end of the 2000-acre Gunsite Academy facility, we dropped into a dry river bed that cut its way through the sandy terrain just outside of Chino Valley 30 miles north of Prescott, AZ. We had been testing the all-new 2014 Yamaha Viking in the rocky terrain where the rolling hills meet the grassy rangeland of the valley. But now we were in the river wash racing through a combination of deep sand bars and gravel beds.
Mike Moore, a retired police officer from Louisiana, and now one of the firearms instructors at the Gunsite Academy, was sitting in the passenger seat of the three-seat Viking. He was just taking a break from instructing a group of journalists on firearm safety and tactical shooting. The publisher of Dirt Toys magazine was behind the wheel, testing the Viking’s handling capabilities in the various types of terrain located on this high mountain desert.
Bringing the Viking to a stop, the driver turned toward the 15-foot embankment that represented thousands of years of erosion from the river bed. There definitely was an easier way out … but that wouldn’t be nearly as much of a challenge. Still, not wanting to startle the Gunsite instructor (after all, he was carrying a gun), the driver slowly approached what looked to be an unclimbable wall, and smoothly accelerated up the embankment. The front wheels crested the top and quickly tried to grab dirt and assist the rest of the side-by-side out of the embankment. But it was obvious that the Viking wasn’t carrying enough momentum to overcome the slope … and slowly it spun down and rolled backward into the river bed.
Both driver and passenger sat silently for a moment, staring at the steep wall. Then the driver uttered the words “That was close.” Moore, now with the blood finely returning to his face, turned to the driver and replied “Yeah, real close.”
Then, both men smiled as the Dirt Toys publisher threw the Viking back into drive, stomped on the throttle and blasted into the embankment. This time there was plenty of momentum to launch the side-by-side well past the top of the embankment and out into the sagebrush that lined the river bed.
This is what off-trail riding is all about.
This past spring Yamaha invited a group of journalists to experience its new side-by-side, the all-new Viking, near the Chino Valley in Arizona.
Farm And Mountains
The Viking is a unique three-person multi-purpose vehicle with unsurpassed off-road capabilities packed in a utility vehicle. This thing can work on the farm, in the mountains or basically over any kind of terrain. It features an impressive 686cc SOHC liquid-cooled 4-stroke (proven and adapted from the Yamaha Grizzly).
Dirt Toys took the opportunity to put it to the test is some fairly nasty terrain over a three-day period this spring. The Viking was formally introduced to the public in June of 2013 and has been drawing a lot of attention with its unique features.
First off, although the powerplant originated with Yamaha’s Grizzly four-wheeler, it’s been modified to serve the unique requirements of a side-by-side. Most notably would be in the intake and exhaust layout, as well as the fuel-injection mapping.
“The real key that makes [the Viking] different than the Grizzly is it’s a side-by-side vehicle, not an ATV,” explained Patrick Biolsi, testing supervisor for Yamaha. “We have a lot more room for our intake and we can make it much larger.”
Taking It All In
Since an ATV has only a limited amount of space due to the nature of the vehicle, the intake can only be a certain size. But with a side-by-side, there is much more room to design something that is capable of holding a greater volume of air.
“With the Viking, we were able to make the intake drastically larger,” Biolsi said. “It's a very big intake and it's got a lot of intake track length and with engines being basically air pumps, we can get a lot more air in and out so it actually is the strongest, most powerful 686 cc engine we've ever made.”
When you match up the power increase with Yamaha’s Ultramatic transmission, you have a vehicle that can flat-out perform.
“One of Yamaha's core technologies is the Ultramatic transmission,” Biolsi said. By matching the CVT system to the size of the Viking, Yamaha has created a side-by-side that can perform on the trails (up to 50 mph) while still pulling or hauling that heavy load (bed capacity of 600 lbs.).
Biolsi said customer research showed the need of a utility vehicle that can carry a payload while still delivering a great ride on the trail. Although it is not designed to compete in the “sport” segment of the side-by-side market (in other words, you don’t buy it to spend your time exclusively going fast and jumping at the sand dunes), it has been designed to be an all-around work and play side-by-side.
“We probably don't use the word sport utility, even though of course it could be driven in a sporty way and in a fun way,” Biolsi said. “It really was utility first, but we definitely focused on terrain ability and certainly people could take it out on the sand dunes. I have and it's a lot of fun as well, but that wasn't its main purpose.”
So Yamaha maintains that the Viking is a utility vehicle. But don’t be fooled. The same things that make it the perfect workhorse tend to be the same things that make it perfect for “after hours” recreation.
Electric Power Steering
Let’s start with electric power steering.
Since a side-by-side is a much heavier vehicle that an ATV, you’re going to have more resistance in turning the steering wheel just due to the mass of the vehicle. So you’re going to want some assistance at times (EPS), but not so much that you could literally over-steer your vehicle.
“It's a much heavier vehicle and the steering geometry is different (than a four-wheeler),” Biolsi said. “But the real key again is the balance of positive feedback and negative feedback. We want it to be really predictable on the steering wheel. When you give it 90 degrees of turn, we want that feedback to be really intuitive and match what your mind expects.”
Biolsi said another key thing is to match the steering to the U-joint angle on the steering shaft and down to the rack-and-pinion system. “Having really flat U-joint angles helped us during development to maintain a linear feel. So by flattening those U-joint angles out, that gave us that predictable and linear feel we were looking for.”
When riding the Viking on the typical western trail where the road surface varies from dirt to rock to dust and ruts, your vehicle can slide in and out of the rutted tire tracks, which will cause your vehicle to pitch from side to side—both on and off camber. When you add high speeds and power slides to the mix, you need a suspension that will keep you level even when the terrain dictates otherwise.
The Viking does that.
Longer Wheel Base
“A lot of that is the steering geometry but a lot of it is suspension setting as well and wheel based,” Biolsi said. “The longer wheel base really has great straight-line stability. But the suspension—that vehicle has nitrogen gas-charged shocks—has more than eight inches of travel. But the real work that went into it was the setting. The damping curve and the spring rates were really well-matched to that vehicle, so they handled those types of [conditions]. We really balanced that body-roll feeling. Of course you want it plush and comfortable. We don't want a lot of body roll feeling, so we really balanced that and I think, as you noticed, it has a really good balance of comfort but then also it stays flat when you corner it.”
Perhaps the most notable feature to the Viking is its three-rider seating. And we’re not talking about the type of seating where everyone is squished together in the cab. There was one ride when the three riders in the Viking probably averaged more than 200 lbs. each. Yet there still seemed plenty of room … and the driver’s mobility wasn’t compromised in the least.
The Viking offers three bucket seats, rather than a bench seat offered by some of the competition. Each seat has a three-point seat belt and dedicated foot rests that have great traction and a natural foot angle. You’re not competing for space. And you’re not interfering with the driver. The cab was designed to accommodate, not to just make due. The middle seat is tilted 5 degrees back to provide shoulder clearance for the middle passenger.
“On some of the other vehicles, your feet go straight down and it's really tough to support yourself, especially when you get into rougher terrain,” Biolsi said. But really a key [with having your unique space], is that you can use your feet to support your body and kind of give you that secure feeling that lets you relax your upper body. You can drive in the vehicle or be a passenger in the vehicle all day with no arm fatigue. You're not holding yourself in with your arms. The three bucket seats, the three-point seat belts, the dedicated foot rest, the adjustable hand holds and the shoulder bolster really help give you that confident, secure and comfortable feeling.”
Whether it be driving down a river bed in Arizona or exploring a jeep trail in the Rocky Mountains, the Yamaha Viking is the perfect vehicle to challenge the terrain. And the nice thing about it is you can bring along a friend or two to experience the adventure.
