Arctic Cat, Polaris Snowmobiles Certified

Four-stroke snowmobiles for 2005 manufactured by Arctic Cat, Thief River Falls, Minn., and Polaris Industries, Medina, Minn., have been certified by the by the U.S. Department of the Interior as meeting Best Available Technology (BAT) standards required for snowmobiles operated in select National Parks. Arctic’s turbo T660 was certified, as was Polaris’ Frontier Touring model.
Snowmobiles must be BAT-certified to meet new, more-stringent noise and pollution requirements that take effect this winter in Yellowstone National Park. BAT certification probably will be required for snowmobiles operated in Grand Teton National Park and the John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway. When compared to snowmobiles powered by traditional carbureted 2-stroke engines, the approved Arctic and Polaris models with 4-stroke engines reduce hydrocarbon emissions by at least 90%. They also reduce carbon monoxide emissions by 70% and produce sound levels at full throttle of no more than 73 decibels.