Sea-Doo Fuel Consumption: How Much Gas do You Need?
However, it’s not a negligible amount of money, especially if you choose a higher performance model! Some of these powerful models can burn 20-25 gallons of gas every hour! On the other hand, you can find models in Sea-Doo’s fleet with less performance, which can run on much less gas.
Beyond the Sea-Doo’s performance, there are several factors that can affect fuel consumption, like weather conditions, your speed and riding style, or even the curb weight of the Sea-Doo.In this post we’ll take a deeper look into these factors as well as compare some popular Sea-Doo’s fuel consumption specs!
What Does a Sea-Doo’s Fuel Consumption Depend On?
From the beginning, we need to clarify that it’s not possible to give exact fuel consumption numbers for any Sea-Doo models. Are you wondering why?As we’ve mentioned, the final fuel consumption depends on several factors; the first is how Sea-Doos are used.
You sometimes ride them slowly, i.e. around the docks and in the “no-wake” zones; other times you ride them at full throttle or do many aggressive accelerations and tricks. The harder you ride – the more gas you’ll burn!
Beyond your riding style and speeds, weather conditions, temperature, waves, or wind all affect fuel consumption. As these factors are changing continuously, you always have to keep in mind the 1/3-1/3 fuel management rule if you go for a longer trip.
This means that you should use only one-third of the gas for the way there, and another third for the return trip. This way, you still have a third of the gas in your tank for unforeseen situations like bad weather or navigation failures.
Additionally, don’t forget that more weight on you means higher curb weight, which again leads to higher gas consumption. Always keep in mind this factor if you take passengers with you or before you fill your Sea-Doo up with tons of gear!
How Much Fuel Does a Sea-Doo Use?
A you can see, the fuel consumption is dependent on several circumstances, but the main factor is still the engines’ displacement and performance.When it comes to gas-powered engines, the rule of thumb is that more performance means more gas – especially at higher speeds.
Sea-Doo breaks down its models into clear categories by their performance, so it’s wise to check and compare these groups!
Rec-Lite Sea-Doo’s Fuel Consumption
If you are looking for the most fuel-efficient Sea-Doo models on the market, the Sea-Doo Spark family is for you. These models are powered by an 899cc, 4-stroke, 3-cylinder Rotax (closed loop cooled) engine which is available in two versions; the 60 HP and the 90 HP depending on the model.
The 60 HP Sea-Doo Spark burns only around 2 gallons per hour, while the 90 HP versions use slightly higher, cca. 2.4 gallons in an hour if you ride them at full speed. If you don’t ride them so hard, you can expect even less fuel consumption.
Recreation Sea-Doo’s Fuel Consumption
If you’re looking for a bigger Sea-Doo with a more stable hull and capacities, you should check out the Sea-Doo GTI models.
The entry-level 90 HP GTI is powered by an 899cc engine just like the more powerful Spark, so it means you can expect more or less the same fuel consumption on this model as well. But due to its more bulky and heavier hull, it will definitely burn somewhat more gas.
The higher-performance GIT models are all powered with 1630cc, 4-stroke, 3-cylinder, non-supercharged Rotax engines. This power source produces 130 or even 170 HP.
Based on user’s experiences, the Sea-Doo GTI 130 can burn 10-11 gallons every hour, if you go at full speed. But again, you will definitely use less gas, as riding at full speed is more than tiring!
When it comes to the 170 HP engine version, it’s good to know that this is a brand new engine option from Sea-Doo, so it means there aren’t real-world tests and results for these models’ fuel consumption.
These models are the new GTI SE 170, GTX 170, as well as the 2020 Fish Pro and the entry-level Sea-Doo for wakeboarding, the Sea-Doo Wake 170.Based on the other models’ performance and fuel consumption specs, we can make a guess about these engine’s fuel consumption; it may be somewhere around 12-13 gallons per hour at full speed.
Again, these are just estimated numbers, but as soon as real test results are available, we will update this post immediately.
Performance/Touring Sea-Doo’s Gas Consumption
When it comes to the Performance and Touring Sea-Doo’s fuel consumption, it’s safe to say that these models burn the most fuel in the Sea-Doo’s fleet.
These models are available with supercharged engines, which means they offer 230-300 HP performance!
If you don’t ride these powerful Sea-Doos hard, they can burn surprisingly little gas. It means it’s not uncommon that they can run around 4-5 gallons per hour if you ride them carefully (with best cruise speed).
The only problem is that you probably won’t ride them carefully! Rather, you will ride them really hard, as this is the typical way to use a supercharged Sea-Doo!
Once you’ve experienced how powerful these amazing PWCs are, you will hardly release the throttle on your rides. Any drawbacks? Beyond the much higher ownership costs, supercharged Sea-Doos’ fuel consumption could be shocking at full speed.
These Sea-Doos can burn around 20-25 gallons every hour if you ride them hard, which means you can dry your tank in less than an hour!
However, it seems like a lot of gas for a first look, so don’t forget that you when get extreme performance, it unfortunately comes with extreme gas consumption as well.
Sea-Doo Fuel Consumption History
You may wondering, do Sea-Doos always consume so much gas? The answer is of course, no.In the past, personal watercrafts were much smaller and less powerful as well; thus they burned much less fuel. For evidence, we’ve gathered the flagship Sea-Doo’s fuel consumption and performance specs into one chart.
| Year | Model | GPH at WOT | HP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 - 2020 | RXT-X 300 | 25 | 300 |
| 2010 - 2015 | RXT-X 260 | 20.6 | 260 |
| 2008 - 2009 | RXT-X 255 | 20.2 | 255 |
| 2005 - 2007 | RXT 215 | 18.2 | 215 |
| 2003 -2004 | GTX SC | 16.4 | 185 |
| 1997 - 2002 | XP | 11,7 | 130 |
| 1995 - 1996 | XP | 8.2 | 110 |
| 1994 | XP | 8.8 | 80 |
| 1993 | XP | 7.2 | 70 |
Conclusion
How much fuel does a Sea-Doo use?Sea-Doo’s fuel consumption always depends on several factors. As a rule of thumb, more performance means higher gas consumption, so it means the lowest-performance Sea-Doos use around 2 -10 gallons, while the high-end supercharged Sea-Doos use somewhere between 5-25 gallons of gas every single hour.Beyond these hard numbers, always keep in mind that your actual fuel consumption may vary from one moment to the next.
Consumption is affected by many factors like your riding style, or even the weather conditions. Riding in harsh weather always means more gas usage, so if you go offshore, always follow the 1/3-1/3 fuel management rule when you are planning your trip.
If you are curious you can discover Yamaha WaveRunner’s fuel consumption specs here, or you can learn and compare all current PWCs’ fuel economy here.____________Related Articles:Jet Ski vs. Sea-Doo vs. WaveRunner Fuel Consumption Specs in One ChartJet Ski vs. Sea-Doo vs. WaveRunner Horsepower Chart [2020]All 2020 Jet Ski, Sea-Doo, Krash and WaveRunner Prices