This is awesome news. Who said that 2-strokes could never be cleaner than 4-strokes? LONG LIVE THE 2-STROKES!!!

CSU wins snowmobile emissions contest
By Associated Press
March 28, 2002

JACKSON, Wyo. -- Colorado State University won the emissions contest of the third annual Clean Snowmobile Challenge after developing a cleaner-burning two-stroke engine that organizers said could dramatically reduce snowmobile pollution.

"It's a pretty neat engine with a good power-to-weight ratio," said Lori Fussell, co-founder of the contest that attracts hundreds of college students from some of the nation's top engineering schools.

Two-stroke engines, the mainstay of the outdoor recreation industry and used in many power tools, are simpler to construct and lighter because they don't have valves.

They are also more powerful than four-stroke engines, which run nearly every car and truck on the road. However, two-stroke engines wear out faster, produce more pollution and are not as fuel efficient.

That is, until now.

Fussell said it was the first time in the contest's history that a two-stroke engine has produced lower emissions than four-stroke engines.

She said the CSU students were able to use a direct fuel injection system that enabled them to reduce carbon monoxide emissions by 99.4 percent and unburned hydrocarbons by 89 percent.

CSU faculty have been approached by countries from India to West Africa seeking ways to adapt the cleaner engines to the millions of two-stroke engines that fill the streets and power small shops of the Third World, Fussell said.

"This is very exciting," she said from the desk of Flagg Ranch Resort north of Jackson on Wednesday. "Given the incredible air pollution by cities in the Third World, CSU could have a major impact on improving the air and the health of people throughout the Third World."

The CSU students said the idea came from two sources: natural gas compressor engines and Ski-Doo personal watercraft.

Senior mechanical engineering students like Tim Bauer, of Boise, Idaho, and Nathan Lorenz, of San Acacio, Colo., realized that natural gas compressors ran fairly clean, CSU faculty adviser Bryan Willson said.

The plan was to the injection technology used by Ski-Doo and Orbital Engine Corp. of Australia. While the Orbital system is expensive, the CSU design adds just $500 in equipment to a standard snowmobile, he said.

Lorenz said the implications are enormous for the snowmobile industry and Third World economies because they are already designed to mass-produce two-stroke engines and would not have to retool to build four-stroke models.

Producing a good power-to-weight ratio is important for safety, Fussell said, "because a light engine like a two-stroker enables the snowmobile to travel in deep powder, where a heavier four-stroke-powered machine would get stuck."

The emissions contest is just one part of the Clean Snowmobile Challenge, which also includes fuel economy, acceleration, noise, handling and oral presentations.

Seventeen teams are competing, the largest field ever.

The Society of Automotive Engineers sponsors the weeklong event.

 

Where can I read this press release for myself? I would like to know the specifics in the design...

 

Honda made a desert bike 2-3 years back with direct injection and very low emmisions, I wonder if this is the same design? The Honda setup was almost like a deisel in that it didn'te use a spark to ignate fuel, but pressure, which was regulated by a Computer controlled system.

 

http://www.thedailycamera.com/news/s...t/29lsnow.html

 

250rampage...

The dirtbike which you are refering to was called the EXP-2, I believe. The engine used a combination of direct-injection and Active Radical Combustion (ARC). Honda has a patent on ARC and they use it on their CRM? models in Japan. It doesn't work like a diesel engine. In layman's terms, a diesel engine ignites the fuel/air mixture from extremely high pressure while ARC ignites the fuel/air mixture from burning fuel particles left over from the previous engine stroke. It is a very ingenious method and it works kind of like a power-valve in operation. Somewhere on the web there is an article, not sure where. It was a 400cc-displacement, and this was chosen for the high piston speeds and large combustion volume. It wasn't that Honda was considering developing this displacement of engine for production, Honda did it because it was the most difficult combination of bore and stroke to solve for when it came to a clean burning two-stroke motorcycle engine. Simply put, high-end R&D by the top motorcycle manufacturer. I'm sure that Honda is still developing this technology, regardless of what it's PR and Marketing departments say...

 

Here is a link to Honda's ARC. Honda EXP
Take note that there is a ride review near the bottom of the page. At one point the reviewer says he thinks Honda will have a production model by the year 2000!!! Guess it didn't happen.

 

Ski-Doo has just introduced the Rotax 2-TEC engines for some of their snowmobiles for 2003. These motors are semi-direct injection, and they increase fuel efficiency by 25% and reduce emissions by %50 with no loss of power. These motors meet emissions standards for 2010.
The two stroke is not dead yet.

 

Yep.. I told you guys! Mark my words dont be suprised if you start seeing 2 stroke sport ATV's coming back to the line-up vary soon. Its all about supply and demand!

 

HELL YEAH 2 STROKES RULE !!!