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Surprisingly, Arctic Cat, Ski-Doo and Yamaha all continued to build twin cylinder engines with Arctic building a 650cc Wildcat in 1988.

The first liquid triple was offered in the 1979 Centurion 500 which would morph into the Indy 600 and Indy 650 of the 80’s and 90’s. There first production triple was offered for sale in 1972 with the 502cc triple free air in the TX 500 LTD. Polaris was synonymous with three cylinder engines starting in 1970 powering the TX race sleds.

How could an engine that put Polaris at the top of the sales charts for two decades in the 80’s and 90’s suddenly become yesterday’s news and disappear after the 2003 model year? The answer at the end of the day comes down to you, the consumer. The demise of the three cylinder two stroke is still a sore spot with many sledders today. The only thing in common today with the XCR 800 sold 16 years ago is the XCR name and the P85 drive clutch, and the fact they both still have a track and two skis. The XCR 800 of 2003 was built for the rider that wanted to be first across the lake and loved the triple pipe exhaust note that only a triple piped triple can produce. This engine is today offered in the 2019 XCR, but back in 2003 the XCR was built around a 794cc three cylinder Fuji engine. Today if you’re a Polaris diehard, the motor everyone is talking about is the new 850 Patriot. (Originally published in the December 2018 issue of SnowTech)