Speedster vs. Sportster 150 over the years

[Jeff d]

From all I've seen so far Sea Doo had a real identity crisis with the 150 boats. It seems like some years they called them all Sportsters and other years they called them all Speedsters while some years they may have used the name to differentiate between the normally aspirated and supercharged boats. In the two stroke days it seemed like the single engine boats were Sportsters and the twin engines were Speedsters. I can't figure it out on the 4-Tec boats though. Sometimes there are 155 hp 150s that they call Speedsters, then there are 215 Hp 150s they call Sporsters and then vice versa on other years. I haven't noticed any 255 hp Sportsters (all I've seen have been branded as Speedsters) but maybe those exist too.

Were there any hull changes during the 4-Tec era? All of the 150 hulls appear to be identical up through 2012 with only minor interior and gauge cluster changes over the years.

Is there a breakdown anywhere of what they offered for various years in the 4-Tec 150 boats?

 

[devonte007]

I don't know too much about history of the 2-stroke boats, but as far as the sportster/speedster 4-tec boats I will try to help you out. This is to the best of my knowledge and may be off by a year or so...

2003-2004
The sportster 4-tec debuted in year 2003 and it was offered in 155hp N/A version only with a new hull different from the 2-stroke boats. At this time they were still selling the 2-stroke version of the boat as well with the older hull style. I think the only real option on the 4-tec boat was a wake tower and/or bimini top. 2-stroke version of the sportster ended in 2004 I believe (could be wrong on that though).

2005-2006
Introduced the supercharged version of the sportster with 215hp. You could now get the 4-tec with either 155hp N/A engine, or supercharged intercooled 215 hp. Options of wake tower and bimini top existed as well.

2007-2008
Seadoo changed the name of the sportster to 'Speedster 150'. Same options as previous years, 155hp or 215hp.

2009-2012
They offered a new 3rd engine choice with a higher output supercharged intercooled 255hp. You could now get the boat in three engine choices 155hp, 215hp, 255hp. Seadoo stopped selling boats in 2013.

2014 - future
Scarab has partnered with seadoo to make jet boats similar to what seadoo used to offer. Scarab uses Seadoo 4-tec engine and propulsion system for all their new jet boats. They offer a small sportster/speedster 150 size boat all the way up to 21' boats. Really nice looking. Glastron and possibly one other boat manufacturer (that I can't think of) will also be using the seadoo setup.

The hulls on the sportster/speedster 150's were exactly the same from 2003 to 2013 for all the 4-tec powered boats. There were minor changes to the instrument clusters, colors, redesigned hatches, etc. It is confusing that they changed names mid-cycle and changed the engine offerings a bit, but they are all virtually the same boat.

I don't know of any internet source for a good breakdown of what boats were offered for what years. I have used (www.nadaguides.com) before to look up what years certain boats were offered and have found it to be fairly accurate.

Hope this helps clarify things a bit for you. If you have any other specific questions about these boats just post back. Are you in the market for one of these?

 

[Jeff d]

I already bought a 2005 Sportster 150, 215 HP for my mom. With her money of course, I'm a good son but not that good. I was pretty sure it was safe to just ignore the speedster vs. sportster name and just evaluate them based on condition, maintenance, and optional equipment.

 

[devonte007]

Ok, I remember reading that post. You ended up with a really nice boat that I'm sure will bring years of enjoyment:thumbsup:

 

[Brian J]

I usually pride myself in knowing a lot about a specific line of boats but I don't even try to figure out the Sportster, Speedster and Challenger naming convention from the mid 90s to the early 2000s.

 

[rgardner928]

I know this is an old thread. But based On what I read, as Im a new Seadoo Speedster owner. In 2003 is when they went from 2 stroke to 4 stroke, right?

And did they still do them in dual engines for that year?

I have a 97..but whats the newest year speedster I can buy that's got dual engines and still a 2 stroke?

 

[jskillz28]

I believe 99 was the last year of twin 2 stroke engines.

 

[rgardner928]

Do they still do twin engines?

 

[JPass]

Do they still do twin engines?

Not on the 150s