BRP reveals a new style of outboard, Rotax powered, horizontal crankshaft....

[racerone]

So the air intake is well looked after.----These folks are not dummies I think.

 

[redneck joe]

its snorkled to the boat

View attachment 373245

beat me to it I was looking for this when you posted. Makes sense. Have air scoops up top?

Seems like you could design in a mid boat configuration as well like a straight inboard. You would have the cover in the middle of the boat but can design around that.

Remember when Sea Ray put outboards on a cruiser?

 

[redneck joe]

here is a pretty good write up. About halfway down it shows on an alumacraft then it talks more about the air intake.

Quintrex’s new Rotax outboard engine: What we know

UPDATED: Details of the new Rotax outboard engine that will power new Quintrex models are slowly emerging

www.boatsales.com.au

 

[redneck joe]

and a recent write up

Clearing the Deck

Bombardier Recreational Products unveiled the Rotax outboard with Stealth Technology in August

www.tradeonlytoday.com

 

[MattFL]

its snorkled to the boat

View attachment 373245

Cool, that makes all the difference. I'm interested to see how they do.

 

[racerone]

Some people can afford to buy these things.----Enjoy till it is time to buy something new again.

 

[chris.olson]

Has anybody inspected one to see where the air intake is ???

It's not available even for pre-order yet, as far as I can tell, not even for dealer showroom stock or demo. And I think the thing is, in the outboard industry the vast majority of sales are re-powers, not new boats. If they can't enter the re-power market with it, I doubt their sales are going to be very strong. Sure, it's the same three-cylinder two-stroke powerhead they've used all along on the Evinrude outboards, so the tooling and machinery already exists to build that. But the rest of it obviously requires new tooling to manufacture. Which is a big investment if you don't sell many units.

So basically, this new outboard, and the reasons for it, remains a mystery. It doesn't accomplish anything that I/O's don't accomplish as far as rear deck space. And what's kind of disappointing is that they discontinued the Evinrude Etec's, which were and are actually very good outboards, and we waited two years for this?

 

[redneck joe]

in regards to nothing more than and i/o can do - way more interior space since no chevy block taking up room, no transom taking up room and no big hole in the transom just one small one above the waterline.

 

[Scott Danforth]

It's not available even for pre-order yet, as far as I can tell, not even for dealer showroom stock or demo. And I think the thing is, in the outboard industry the vast majority of sales are re-powers, not new boats. If they can't enter the re-power market with it, I doubt their sales are going to be very strong. Sure, it's the same three-cylinder two-stroke powerhead they've used all along on the Evinrude outboards, so the tooling and machinery already exists to build that. But the rest of it obviously requires new tooling to manufacture. Which is a big investment if you don't sell many units.

So basically, this new outboard, and the reasons for it, remains a mystery. It doesn't accomplish anything that I/O's don't accomplish as far as rear deck space. And what's kind of disappointing is that they discontinued the Evinrude Etec's, which were and are actually very good outboards, and we waited two years for this?

Not sure where you get your sales info, butt it's 98% new builds and only 2% repower

The power head is not from the outboard line, however from the Sea-Doo line

The former e-tec line is being revamped to make electric outboards

 

[redneck joe]

The former e-tec line is being revamped to make electric outboards

thats gonna be a whole new (fun!) thread!

 

[chris.olson]

Not sure where you get your sales info, butt it's 98% new builds and only 2% repower

The power head is not from the outboard line, however from the Sea-Doo line

Marina. According to them, 70% of their E-tec sales were repower, not new boats.

The powerhead in the Rotax "Ghost" outboard is the identical 1.9L 3-cylinder two-stroke used in the 115 HO, 140 and 150 E-tec G2's. Complete with the E-tec 150 having RAVE exhaust valves. Not sure if they were put in Sea-Doo's or not, but every Sea-Doo I've seen has the ACE engines in them. And they are four-stroke, not two-stroke, they are based on the Rotax 1503.

So I think you got, like, bad information.

 

[Scott Danforth]

NMMA data is much different than your local dealer

 

[chris.olson]

NMMA data is much different than your local dealer

I think you're missing the point. Repower was Evinrude's main business and they even ran sales promotions for it:

BRP announces Evinrude E-TEC G2 Time to Repower event | Boating Industry

STURTEVANT, Wis., -- BRP announced the Time to Repower Sales Event where qualified consumers can take advantage of special incentives that make repowering

boatingindustry.com

The marketshare distribution hasn't changed except Mercury (for the most part) took over what Evinrude used to sell when they dropped out of the business, especially in the sub-150hp class where pontoons are the most popular repower targets. The local dealer who used to sell Evinrude has been repowering with new Mercs for the last two years. BRP lost that business and they're not gonna get it back with this "Ghost" contraption they came up with. If they're counting on new boat sales to move "Ghost" outboard units, boat sales are fickle and depend on the economy and how much money people have to spend.

Meanwhile, repower sales worldwide far outnumber new boat sales for everything from commercial fisherman to tour boats and guide fisherman to recreation and rentals. And the sub-40hp class is the bread and butter of the outboard industry.

Mercury Dockline | Small Outboards are of Big Importance | Mercury Marine | Mercury Marine

While high-horsepower models usually grab headlines in the world of outboard engines, it’s small outboards that make much of the boating world go around. | Stay-in tune with boating how-to's, gear and tech and other great information at Mercury Dockline today!

www.mercurymarine.com

Upon re-analysis of what BRP is doing here, IMO they are screwed and tried to re-invent the wheel for something that's got a flat tire out of the gate. The company has never been known to make wise marketing decisions, and it's actually a shame that they acquired Alumacraft. There's many potential boat buyers who will no longer even look at an Alumacraft boat because of it and will buy a Lund instead - built in the same state of Minnesota, just a few miles northwest of St. Peter where Alumacraft is.

Alumacraft was always second to none in customer service. After BRP customer service is non-existent at Alumacraft, as I found out recently when I wanted a new transom formed up for a Backtroller 16.

 

[Doh]

Not sure where you get your sales info, butt it's 98% new builds and only 2% repower

The power head is not from the outboard line, however from the Sea-Doo line

The former e-tec line is being revamped to make electric outboards

The Powerhead is from Evinrudes New GT 3Cylinder G2 line that BRP announced just prior to dissolving Evinrude Brand.

Really Fresh Tech in itself

E-TEC G2 Full Specs | Evinrude US

e-tec-g2-full-specs

www.evinrude.com

 

[Doh]

in regards to nothing more than and i/o can do - way more interior space since no chevy block taking up room, no transom taking up room and no big hole in the transom just one small one above the waterline.

Yes but much like OMC's Quiet Rider project, that failed miserably, it take many of the Bad Points of Stern Drives, and adds more Bad Points from Outboards, and even worse than Quiet Rider experiment, lowers the Powerhead Under the Waterline.

 

[racerone]

Why is powerhead below waterline a bad idea ??----I think it is a bad idea for people to go up in an airliner.------Peope do not have wings and it is too cold up there.-----Yet millions of people accept the engineering in these airliners.-----So why not this BRP engine concept ?

 

[chris.olson]

Why is powerhead below waterline a bad idea ??----I think it is a bad idea for people to go up in an airliner.------Peope do not have wings and it is too cold up there.-----Yet millions of people accept the engineering in these airliners.-----So why not this BRP engine concept ?

Because it's not an airliner that can't fly without meeting airworthiness directives and regular inspections. It's a boat engine, and they haven't even managed to keep water out of lower units because seals go bad, much less engine cowlings.

 

[briangcc]

Why is powerhead below waterline a bad idea ??----I think it is a bad idea for people to go up in an airliner.------Peope do not have wings and it is too cold up there.-----Yet millions of people accept the engineering in these airliners.-----So why not this BRP engine concept ?

What happens when the seal fails and the sump takes a nose dive? Engine is going to be completely submerged. Now the question becomes is that intake duct running into the boat sealed well enough to keep water out?

Too many what ifs and without something to actually look at I wouldn't be the first in line for one.

 

[racerone]

???-----People are lining up to buy electric cars and trucks made by factories that did not exist 4 years ( ? ) ago.----Not going to get my beer tokens for one of those.----What happens when those products take a nose dive ?------How do they keep water out of azimuthing drive units on the big modern cruise ships ?

 

[briangcc]

???-----People are lining up to buy electric cars and trucks made by factories that did not exist 4 years ( ? ) ago.----Not going to get my beer tokens for one of those.----What happens when those products take a nose dive ?------How do they keep water out of azimuthing drive units on the big modern cruise ships ?

Not sure what the EV market has to do with this thread? Let's return to topic....

Don't like my first analogy? OK....seal fails on the BRP and its sucking in water. You're DOA in the water getting a tow back to port with a head/block/engine replacement in your future. This could happen at any time under normal usage.

In order to have that same scenario occur with a traditional outboard - Honda, Merc, Yamaha, etc - you have to have taken a rogue wave over the back of the transom OR swamped the boat at which point you have bigger things to worry about then the power head sucking in water. In other words, very unlikely to occur during normal use.