Development of the New Rotax 1200 4-TEC Powersports Engine: From Concept to Production

BRP, the leading producer of snowmobiles, personal watercrafts and ATVs, have decided to develop and commercialize their first snowmobile performance four stroke engine. A 1.2 liter inline 3-cylinder four-stroke engine layout has been selected to meet the challenge of achieving high performance, low fuel consumption and exhaust and noise emission legislation limits. Through the collaboration with PETRONAS, BRP were able to fast track the development of the Rotax 1200 4-TEC engine. Many front loading development activities, such as Digital Mockup (DMU), simulation and advanced testing of components and systems, were used to achieve the desired results in time. The engine, packaged in the new BRP vehicle platform REV X, producing 130hp was recently released in BRP's 2009 snowmobile lineup with big acceptance from the market.