Thorunn Howatt
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Jan 23/02) - There are only 50 of them in Canada but Yellowknife's Force One has one of them, the new four-stroke Polaris that is.

"We're not selling it. We're keeping it as a demo," said the recreational vehicle's owner Doug Witty.

Veiled by a dark green tarp, the newest technology in snowmobiling waited for Witty to uncloak it at a special function last week.

"The four-stroke is cleaner and gets two times the fuel economy," said Witty, referring to other snow machines that are limited to a travel radius of 100 kilometres. "This lengthens it to 200 kilometres. It's obviously the direction things are going to go."

But Polaris isn't the only company promoting the four-stroke engine in its snow machines.

Arctic Cat cleans up

"It's not really new technology. The four strokes have been out for years on ATVs," said Yellowknife Chrysler's Wayne Braun.

One of the primary reasons for the emergence of the four-stroke engine in snowmobiling is its lower pollution levels, said Braun. "There are a bunch of bills in Canada and the U.S. in Congress and Parliament right now that require tighter emissions."

The new engines are also much quieter and fuel-efficient, running two or three times farther on a tank.

Arctic Cat has been making a four-stroke snowmobile engine for three years but only started mass production this year. Braun said the cost of the four-stroke is very comparable to other machines.