X4 enthusiasts rejoice!
Long at last Sea-Doo has heard our cries! With the latest addition to the Sea-Doo lineup, 2014 will bring us the most revolutionary PWC design since the introduction of the 4-stroke.
Introducing the 2014 Sea-Doo Spark.
The Spark is a completely fresh design from Sea-Doo to produce a light weight, affordable and fun PWC that brings back that thrill from the 90s. They started with the X4 hull, added design changes from lessons learned over the years, included a 4-stroke, kept the weight within 20 lbs of the X4 and all at an affordable price.
This past week, Sea-Doo held an event for media outlets on the lakes of Windermere, Florida, and I was in attendance. We had no idea what was in store for us, but the excitement level was incredibly high. What they unveiled did not disappoint. The Sea-Doo Spark, dollar for dollar, is the most fun PWC on the market by far. You’ll hear a lot of hype over the next few days and let me tell you that it lives up to it all.
The Hull:
As I said, they started with the X4 hull. 10” was added to the bow above the waterline to incorporate a splash guard and give a drier ride when cruising around casually. You can still get plenty wet if you throw it around, and with a weight of 405 lbs it is very easy to influence and control this PWC.
An active shear line was also added to the hull. In aggressive turning, the hull line acts as an additional sponson for more control and stability. That said, you can still spin the Spark on demand, but it will also grab nicely when you corner at high speed. A higher hull line gives more slow speed stability, and you can feel confident with 2 or 3 up.
The entire craft is made out of a new material called Polytec. This replaces the traditional fiberglass manufacturing process, but allowed designers to engineer further innovation and keep the price point low. Using a reinforced injection process, a closed mold is used to manufacture the top and bottom shells. The two shells are bolted together instead of glued. This is a significant departure from previous techniques, but brings with it huge benefits. By removing the bolts, in about 5 minutes you can fully remove the top deck for completely unobstructed access to the engine. An added benefit was also the ability to fit a much thinner seat and plenty of storage.
The Driveline:
For the past few years, I’ve thought the E-Tec line of clean 2-stroke engines produced by Evinrude would be perfect to put into a smaller PWC. The expense and weight of the 4-Tec just wouldn’t be appropriate in a light and nimble PWC. Well, it seems my hypotheses were partially correct: the 4-Tec would not be the basis of a light weight ski. Instead of an E-Tec, however, Sea-Doo was still able to work a 4-stroke engine into the design. There are numerous advantages to 4 stroke engines, including reduced emissions, greater reliability, and massive torque.
BRP brought in an entirely new engine to Sea-Doo, the Rotax 900 Ace. This engine, however, was already proven and matured in the Ski-Doo line of snowmobiles. Two varients are available for the Spark: the 60hp Rotax 900 Ace, and 90hp Rotax 900 HO Ace. Both rev up to 8,000 rpm, feature 900cc of displacement and 3 valves per cylinder. Furthermore, the engine is extremely fuel efficient! Averaged riding is 1.94 GPH and 2.4 GPH for the 900 Ace and 900 HO Ace, respectively.
I was very pleased with the performance of new engine. They have the torque to plane the Spark very quickly, and make wave jumping just a throttle blip away. One very impressive aspect was the throaty sound from these engines; the Rotax 900 Ace sounds GREAT. The Spark uses Sea-Doo’s D-Sea-Bel sound reduction system. You only hear the water hitting the hull from shore, but while on the Spark the exhaust is just the right volume and perfect pitch.
To round out the new driveline, Sea-Doo created a new 140mm pump. The biggest significance to this pump is ease of maintenance. The wear ring is easily accessible and changes are simple and fast. No more wives asking why there are parts in the freezer!
The Experience:
Sea-Doo brought out their entire 2014 lineup and tossed us the lanyards. They had Sea-Doo Wakes, RXT-X 260s, and the ever impressive RXP-X 260. The whole time, however, I found myself riding the Spark. It was simple, light….it was FUN. I could jump my own wake or carve up the buoy course. I could do high speed spinouts at will, and I felt confident on it from the moment I sat down. The Spark made this small lake feel large and was an absolute blast. The smaller engine was perfect for the light weight of the Spark and the entire experience was memorable. Dollar for dollar, in 2014 it will be the best PWC on the market by far.
The Price:
So how much does this Spark cost? First a comparison: The 2013 Sea-Doo GTS 130 starts at $8,399 and is the least expensive in the line. The VX Sport by Yamaha is $7,999. Sea-Doo’s goal from the beginning was to keep the price affordable without sacrificing the fun and performance of their new entry PWC. They nailed the fun factor and the Spark performs beautifully. Ownership is eased by simplifying maintenance, and the low weight makes towing possible for a whole new segment of small cars. But how much does it cost?
The starting MSRP for the brand new 2014 Sea-Doo Spark: $4,999
Spark Videos:
[youtube]UKwJ7RqSY1Y[/youtube]
[youtube]cdvcqFZLHBU[/youtube]
[youtube]JIOHWlYuBYE[/youtube]
[youtube]s_JoRwJLbHI[/youtube]
[youtube]JQOan27XDtA[/youtube]
Long at last Sea-Doo has heard our cries! With the latest addition to the Sea-Doo lineup, 2014 will bring us the most revolutionary PWC design since the introduction of the 4-stroke.
Introducing the 2014 Sea-Doo Spark.
The Spark is a completely fresh design from Sea-Doo to produce a light weight, affordable and fun PWC that brings back that thrill from the 90s. They started with the X4 hull, added design changes from lessons learned over the years, included a 4-stroke, kept the weight within 20 lbs of the X4 and all at an affordable price.
This past week, Sea-Doo held an event for media outlets on the lakes of Windermere, Florida, and I was in attendance. We had no idea what was in store for us, but the excitement level was incredibly high. What they unveiled did not disappoint. The Sea-Doo Spark, dollar for dollar, is the most fun PWC on the market by far. You’ll hear a lot of hype over the next few days and let me tell you that it lives up to it all.
The Hull:
As I said, they started with the X4 hull. 10” was added to the bow above the waterline to incorporate a splash guard and give a drier ride when cruising around casually. You can still get plenty wet if you throw it around, and with a weight of 405 lbs it is very easy to influence and control this PWC.
An active shear line was also added to the hull. In aggressive turning, the hull line acts as an additional sponson for more control and stability. That said, you can still spin the Spark on demand, but it will also grab nicely when you corner at high speed. A higher hull line gives more slow speed stability, and you can feel confident with 2 or 3 up.
The entire craft is made out of a new material called Polytec. This replaces the traditional fiberglass manufacturing process, but allowed designers to engineer further innovation and keep the price point low. Using a reinforced injection process, a closed mold is used to manufacture the top and bottom shells. The two shells are bolted together instead of glued. This is a significant departure from previous techniques, but brings with it huge benefits. By removing the bolts, in about 5 minutes you can fully remove the top deck for completely unobstructed access to the engine. An added benefit was also the ability to fit a much thinner seat and plenty of storage.
The Driveline:
For the past few years, I’ve thought the E-Tec line of clean 2-stroke engines produced by Evinrude would be perfect to put into a smaller PWC. The expense and weight of the 4-Tec just wouldn’t be appropriate in a light and nimble PWC. Well, it seems my hypotheses were partially correct: the 4-Tec would not be the basis of a light weight ski. Instead of an E-Tec, however, Sea-Doo was still able to work a 4-stroke engine into the design. There are numerous advantages to 4 stroke engines, including reduced emissions, greater reliability, and massive torque.
BRP brought in an entirely new engine to Sea-Doo, the Rotax 900 Ace. This engine, however, was already proven and matured in the Ski-Doo line of snowmobiles. Two varients are available for the Spark: the 60hp Rotax 900 Ace, and 90hp Rotax 900 HO Ace. Both rev up to 8,000 rpm, feature 900cc of displacement and 3 valves per cylinder. Furthermore, the engine is extremely fuel efficient! Averaged riding is 1.94 GPH and 2.4 GPH for the 900 Ace and 900 HO Ace, respectively.
I was very pleased with the performance of new engine. They have the torque to plane the Spark very quickly, and make wave jumping just a throttle blip away. One very impressive aspect was the throaty sound from these engines; the Rotax 900 Ace sounds GREAT. The Spark uses Sea-Doo’s D-Sea-Bel sound reduction system. You only hear the water hitting the hull from shore, but while on the Spark the exhaust is just the right volume and perfect pitch.
To round out the new driveline, Sea-Doo created a new 140mm pump. The biggest significance to this pump is ease of maintenance. The wear ring is easily accessible and changes are simple and fast. No more wives asking why there are parts in the freezer!
The Experience:
Sea-Doo brought out their entire 2014 lineup and tossed us the lanyards. They had Sea-Doo Wakes, RXT-X 260s, and the ever impressive RXP-X 260. The whole time, however, I found myself riding the Spark. It was simple, light….it was FUN. I could jump my own wake or carve up the buoy course. I could do high speed spinouts at will, and I felt confident on it from the moment I sat down. The Spark made this small lake feel large and was an absolute blast. The smaller engine was perfect for the light weight of the Spark and the entire experience was memorable. Dollar for dollar, in 2014 it will be the best PWC on the market by far.
The Price:
So how much does this Spark cost? First a comparison: The 2013 Sea-Doo GTS 130 starts at $8,399 and is the least expensive in the line. The VX Sport by Yamaha is $7,999. Sea-Doo’s goal from the beginning was to keep the price affordable without sacrificing the fun and performance of their new entry PWC. They nailed the fun factor and the Spark performs beautifully. Ownership is eased by simplifying maintenance, and the low weight makes towing possible for a whole new segment of small cars. But how much does it cost?
The starting MSRP for the brand new 2014 Sea-Doo Spark: $4,999
Spark Videos:
[youtube]UKwJ7RqSY1Y[/youtube]
[youtube]cdvcqFZLHBU[/youtube]
[youtube]JIOHWlYuBYE[/youtube]
[youtube]s_JoRwJLbHI[/youtube]
[youtube]JQOan27XDtA[/youtube]
