Rotax

Rotax is the brand name for a range of internal combustion engines

developed and manufactured by the Austrian company BRP-Rotax BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co KG
GmbH & Co KG[1] (until 2016 BRP-Powertrain GmbH & Co. KG), in turn
owned by the Canadian Bombardier Recreational Products.

Rotax four-stroke and advanced two-stroke engines are used in a wide Type Private company
variety of small land, sea and airborne vehicles. Bombardier Recreational
Industry Mechanical
Products (BRP) use them in their own range of such vehicles.[2] In the engineering
light aircraft class, in 1998 Rotax outsold all other aero engine
Founded 1920
manufacturers combined.[3]
Headquarters Gunskirchen,
Upper Austria,
Austria
Contents Products Internal combustion
History engines

Applications Owner BRP-Powertrain

Snowmobiles Management
GmbH,
Aircraft
BRP Holdings
Motorcycles (Austria) GmbH
Personal watercraft
Parent Bombardier
Off-road vehicles Recreational
Karting Products
Products Website www.rotax.com (htt
Aircraft engines p://www.rotax.com)
Karting engines
OEM
References
External links

History
The company was founded in 1920 in Dresden, Germany, as ROTAX-WERK AG. In 1930, it was taken over by
Fichtel & Sachs and transferred its operations to Schweinfurt, Germany. Operations were moved to Wels,
Austria, in 1943 and finally to Gunskirchen, Austria, in 1947. In 1959, the majority of Rotax shares were taken
over[4] by the Vienna-based Lohner-Werke, a manufacturer of car and railway wagon bodies.

In 1970, Lohner-Rotax was bought by the Canadian Bombardier Inc. The former Bombardier branch,
Bombardier Recreational Products, now an independent company, uses Rotax engines in its ground vehicles,
personal water craft, and snowmobiles.[2]

Applications

Snowmobiles

Ski-Doo snowmobiles from Bombardier Recreational Products are equipped with Rotax engines, including
two-stroke and four-stroke, turbocharged and naturally aspirated, two- and three-cylinder models.[5]
Aircraft

Rotax supplies aircraft engines for ultralight aircraft, light aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles.

Motorcycles

The Can-Am division of Bombardier Inc. developed a line of motorcycles starting in 1971, powered by Rotax
engines. The Can-Am motorcycle operation was outsourced to Armstrong-CCM Motorcycles in 1983, with
production ending in 1987.

Motorcycle manufacturers using Rotax engines, either Rotax-branded or branded for the OEM, include
Aprilia, BMW (F and G series), Buell and KTM.

Can-Am resumed motorcycle production with a series of on-road three-wheel motorcycles, starting with the
Spyder, using Rotax engines. As of 2020, there are three models: the Ryker uses the 2-cylinder 600 ACE and
3-cylinder 900 ACE, the Spyder F3 uses the 3-cylinder 1300 ACE, and the Spyder RT uses the 3-cylinder 1330
ACE.[6]

Personal watercraft

As of 2020, all Sea-Doo brand personal watercraft from Bombardier Recreational Products are equipped with
four-stroke, supercharged and normally aspirated, three-cylinder Rotax engines of the ACE (Advanced
Combustion Efficiency) series.[7]

Off-road vehicles

Can-Am Off-Road vehicles from Bombardier Recreational Products are equipped with Rotax engines.[8]

Karting

The company introduced the Rotax MAX engine for karting in 1998, and started organizing the Rotax Max
Challenge in 2000. It also introduced the Mojo karting tyres in 2006 and the XPS lubricants in 2010.

Products

Aircraft engines

Rotax engines designed specifically for light aircraft include both four-
stroke and two-stroke models.

Current models are:

Rotax 912 series, four-stroke

Rotax 914 series, four-stroke
Rotax 915 series, four-stroke
Rotax 582 UL, two-stroke Rotax 912 installation
 Certified engines[9]

Model 912 A/F 914 F2/F3/F4[10] 912 S/iSc Sport 915 iSc A/B - 916 iSc3 B

Type
25 September 1989 15 May 1996 27 November 1998 14 December 2017
Certification
Configuration 4-stroke, 4 cylinder boxer, spark ignition, liquid cooled heads, ram-air cooled cylinders, dry sump
Aspiration natural turbocharger natural turbocharger+intercooler
Fuel delivery 2× CD carburetors injection, dual channel FADEC
Fuel automotive gasoline or AVGAS
Stroke 61 mm / 2.40 in
Bore 79,5 mm / 3.13 in 84 mm / 3.31 in
Displacement 1211 cm3 / 73.9 cu.in 1352 cm3 / 82.5 cu.in
Compression 9:1 10.8:1 8.2:1
Gear ratio 2,2727:1 / 2,4286:1 2,4286 : 1 2,5454 : 1
Length 590 mm / 23.2 in 665 mm / 26.2 in 596 mm / 23.5 in 657 mm / 25.9 in
Height 375 mm / 14.8 in 531 mm / 20.9 in 398 mm / 15.7 in 398 mm / 15.7 in
Width 576 mm / 22.7 in 578 mm / 22.8 in
57,1-59,8 kg / 125.88- 71,7-74,4 kg / 158- 58,3-64,4 kg / 128.52- 84,6-85,2 kg / 186.4-
Dry Weight
131.8 lb 164 lb 142 lb 187.8 lb
100–117 kW (134–
Take-off Power 59.6 kW (79.9 hp) 84.5 kW (113.3 hp) 73.5 kW (98.6 hp)
157 hp)
Take-off RPM 5800

Historical models no longer in production include:

Rotax 275, two-stroke

Rotax 277, two-stroke
Rotax 377, two-stroke
Rotax 447 UL, two-stroke
Rotax 503 UL, two-stroke
Rotax 532 UL, two-stroke
Rotax 535 certified two-stroke[11]
Rotax 618 UL, two-stroke

Karting engines Rotax 503

The Rotax MAX engine karting engine is a 2-stroke engine series,

launched in 1997.[12]

OEM

The company also produces unbranded engines, parts and complete powertrains for Original Equipment
Manufacturers (OEM).[13] Uses include motor bikes and scooters, with complete engines including the Rotax
122 and Rotax 804.[14]

References
1. BRP-Powertrain GmbH & Co. KG (2014). "Company profile at brp-powertrain.com" (http://www.brp-power
train.com/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-166/309_read-255/). Retrieved 1 September 2014.
 2. "Bombardier Recreational Products & Vehicles - BRP USA" (https://web.archive.org/web/2012061416093
0/http://corp.brp.com/). brp.com. Archived from the original (http://corp.brp.com) on 14 June 2012.
Retrieved 24 September 2015.
3. Gunston, W.; "World Encyclopaedia of Aero Engines", 4th Edition, Patrick Stephens Ltd, 1998, Page 170.
4. "Company history up to 1969" (http://www.brp-powertrain.com/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-191).
Retrieved 14 February 2012.
5. "Rotax Snowmobile engines" (https://www.ski-doo.com/technologies/rotax-engines.html). Retrieved
26 October 2020.
6. "2021 Models" (https://can-am.brp.com/on-road/ca/en/models.html). Retrieved 26 October 2020.
7. "Rotax engines - High performance engine for Sea-Doo Watercraft" (https://www.sea-doo.com/ca/en/sea-
doo-life/sea-doo-technologies/rotax-engines.html). Retrieved 26 October 2020.
8. "2021 Off-Road models: Side-by-Side and ATV models" (https://can-am.brp.com/off-road/ca/en/models.ht
ml). Retrieved 26 October 2020.
9. "Type Certificate Data Sheets for Rotax 912 series" (https://www.easa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/dfu/TC
DS_E%20121_Issue13_20200915.pdf) (PDF). EASA. 15 September 2020.
10. "Type Certificate Data Sheets for Rotax 914" (https://www.easa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/dfu/TCDS_
E%20122_Issue06_20160509_1.0.pdf) (PDF). EASA. 5 September 2016.
11. "The Glaser-Dirks DG500M" (http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/1993/January/1/The-Glaser-
Dirks-DG500M). aopa.org. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
12. Gschossmann Dominik. "Kart Engine Business of BRP-Powertrain" (http://www.rotax-kart.com/About-us/
Rotax-Karting). rotax-kart.com. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
13. Gschossmann Dominik. "we build your engine - Home" (http://www.rotax-oem.com/). rotax-oem.com.
Retrieved 24 September 2015.
14. "Startseite" (http://www.brp-powertrain.com/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-202/361_read-329/). BRP-
Rotax. Retrieved 24 September 2015.

External links
Official Website (http://www.rotax.com/en/) External video
Rotax Aircraft Engines (http://www.rotax-aircraft-engines.com/) How Rotax Builds Aircraft
List of Rotax engines applied to new-build aircraft (http://www.airfra Engines on AVweb (http://www.avw
mer.com/direct_detail.html?company=121719) eb.com/videos/Video-How-Rotax-Bu
ilds-Aircraft-Engines223144-1.html)

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This page was last edited on 19 June 2022, at 05:13 (UTC).

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