DRIVING : Different Strokes for Clean-Air Folks

A little gasoline engine that could has arrived from Down Under, and its developers say the Australian product might short-circuit California’s need for electric cars.

They also claim their two-stroke will function as an atmospheric vacuum cleaner, sucking up Los Angeles smog as part of the air-fuel combustion process then exhausting it with fewer pollutants.

“Ambient air in Los Angeles contains non-methane hydrocarbons at a rate of 5 parts per million,” explains Kim Schlunke, chief executive officer of Orbital Engine Corp. of Perth. “Our engine puts it back into the air with 2.7 PPM, so essentially you have a clean-up condition.”

Two-stroke engines have long been associated with lawn mowers and Eastern European mini-cars. After 20 years and $100 million spent on tinkering with timing, fuel injection and exhaust management, Orbital has produced a two-stroker said to be 40% lighter, 8% faster and 20% cheaper to build than a comparable four-stroker.

More importantly, it burns 34% less fuel and meets California’s 1998 standard for Ultra-Low Emission Vehicles.

At a Hollywood Park demonstration of a Ford Fiesta with the new engine, Schlunke said General Motors, Ford and Fiat have signed licensing agreements with Orbital. Test fleets of Orbital-Fords are used as delivery vehicles in Germany and as police cars in England.

“We are happy to announce we have just picked up our first Porsche for speeding at 160 kilometers (100 miles) per hour,” reported Schlunke.