Sea-Doo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sea-Doo is the brand name of Bombardier Recreational Products' popular line of personal watercraft (PWC). The name is derived from Bombardier's Ski-Doo snowmobile line.
The term Sea-Doo is also used regionally as a genericized trademark for any type of sit-down PWC. Use of the term is strongest in Canada in general and particularly in Quebec where BRP is based. They also have 50.3% market share in the US.
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[edit] History and use of Rotax engines
Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP) has been producing personal watercraft since 1988 and celebrated its 20th year in business in 2008. Sea-Doo produced the first commercially available PWC in 1968. However, due to limitations on engine technology at the time, they abandoned the product in 1969 and did not produce another model until almost 20 years later. Sport Boats were introduced to their product line in 1994 and used the same Rotax two-stroke engines used in their PWCs. In 2002, BRP began to use four-stroke Rotax engines which were all fuel injected, and now, in certain models, are supercharged and intercooled to increase performance. The last Sea-Doo to use a two-stroke engine was the 3D-DI stand-up, while the rest of the line-up were utilizing the more modern and efficient 4-stroke technology. Sea-Doo is currently the industry leader in engine output, with their RXP-X and RXT-X producing 255 horsepower (190 kW) and boasting acceleration of 0-50 mph in less than 3 seconds.
[edit] The RXP: the first 215hp personal watercraft
When the RXP was introduced in 2004, it was the fastest and most powerful four-stroke two-person PWC ever, producing 215 horsepower (160 kW) and capable of reaching approximately 70 mph (110 km/h). When the RXT was introduced in 2005, it was the most powerful 3-seater on the water with the same engine as the RXP and was capable of reaching the same speeds.[citation needed] In 2007, all Sport Boats except the 150 Speedster and the 180 Challenger were offered with either two 155 hp (116 kW) engines to make 310 hp (231 kW), or two of the same engines supercharged and intercooled, each one producing 215 hp (160 kW) for a combined total of 430 hp (321 kW). In 2008, RXP and RXT models were introduced offering an "X" package that increased the power of the engines to 255 hp (190 kW) in order to compete with the 250 hp (186 kW) Kawasaki Ultra 250X.
[edit] Use of Mercury marine jet drives
In 2000-2004, the entire Sea-Doo Sport Boat line-up except the 200 Speedster which was powered by two Rotax 4-tec engines in 2004 and the Speedster LE which used a direct-injected 951 cc two-stroke engine, used jet drives made by Mercury instead of Rotax, because the Mercury engines produced up to 250 from a single engine instead of needing at least two Rotax two-strokes to make the same amount of power.
