A Closer Look at PWC Fuel Efficiency

How much fuel are you burning?

Last summer, as fuel costs reached — then passed — the $4/gallon mark, some interesting articles appeared in newspapers around the country. More than one noted the trend toward boaters dumping their fuel-guzzling boats in favor of one, or even a pair, of personal watercraft.

As PWC engines likewise hit – then passed – the 250hp mark, attention also focused on just how fuel-efficient these little boats really were. Items like superchargers and intercoolers are known to increase fuel consumption. Yet models like the introductory Yamaha VX series openly touted its miserly thirst for gasoline.

I wanted to see for myself what was reality and what was hype. I also wanted to confirm at what price came our newfound performance. So when the opportunity presented itself over the past two years, I hooked up an industry-standard fuel flow meter to various boats and recorded the results. As you might expect, the introductory models fared relatively well, while on the high end, you pay to play if you’re heavy on the throttle.

All in all, however, PWC prove to be a pretty good bargain at the pump.

Meet The Sippers

Yamaha’s 110hp VX burned fuel at a miserly 4.1 gph at a 35 mph cruising speed.

Yamaha touts the fuel savings of its VX line, and as the numbers indicate, rightly so. The 110hp VX burns only about 4.1 gallons per hour (gph) at a comfortable 35 mph cruising speed, the current best in the industry. Yes, that industry-lowest horsepower is part of the reason, but the VX can nonetheless reach top speeds around 53 mph. And at that speed it still burns less than 7 gph. That’s miserly.

The surprise finisher is Kawasaki’s STX-15F. At 160 hp and 1,498cc, it features both the highest horsepower and largest displacement of the entry-level offerings. Speeds, around 61-62 mph, also easily outdistance the pack. Yet, the engine’s fuel consumption at my designated 35 mph cruising speed was only 5.4 gph.

Sea-Doo’s GTI SE 130, with a claimed 130 hp, surprised me by claiming the highest fuel consumption, although to be fair its 6.4 gph at 35 mph is far from gas guzzling. Still, as you’ll see in the next section, Sea-Doo’s higher-end offerings can be surprisingly thrifty, so the results were unexpected.

Chugging Contest

With the throttle pinned Kawasaki’s Ultra 250X drinks down fuel at 24 gph.

It’s no real surprise that the highest horsepower, turbo and supercharged engines are by far the biggest consumers of fuel. Performance has its price, and in this case part of that price is the added amount of fuel you’ll run through their engines. Making things slightly worse is the fact that almost all of the high-end motors require premium fuel. Only Yamaha engines are designed to run on standard 87-octane.

The Kawasaki Ultra 250X gulps down the most per hour, 24 gallons at its top speed of 66.5 mph. I have yet to fuel test the 260X, although I think it’s safe to say it will burn even more. As is the situation with all of the boats in this category, that’s more than the fuel tank even holds, meaning if you plan to pin the throttle all day you’d better be close to a fuel stop.

Yamaha’s FX SHO is only slightly behind, averaging 21.7 gph at a nearly identical top speed.

The Sea-Doo RXT-X has the best fuel numbers of the high-horsepower set.

As previously noted, the 255hp Sea-Doo RXT-X finished the best of the trio in terms of fuel consumption at about 20.5 gph at a speed in excess of 67 mph. It’s worth noting that the engine is likely closer to 230hp, as Sea-Doo uses a marketing allowance to get their 255 designation. Still, the best speed and lowest fuel consumption is a good combination to have.

I have yet to fuel-flow test Honda’s F-15X, but expect it to finish with similar results to the average.

All of this brings up the question: does the high-performance customer even care? Probably not the true speed-junkie. All three craft are close in terms of both performance and consumption, so I doubt an extra gallon or two is going to sway anyone from their favorite craft. We want what we want, and we’re willing the pay the price.

A Reality Check

You’ll get much better fuel economy out of any PWC than you would from a standard boat with similar horsepower.

It’s important to note that few of us — even the performance junkie — will actually run our boats at full speed for extended periods. We may think we do, but slowing for a corner, or navigating a short no-wake zone will quickly alter the consumption in the consumer’s favor.

In fact, these so-called “thirstiest” of boats quickly drop in terms of thirst when you consider the cruising speed of 35 mph used earlier. At that speed, all three boats fall within a close range, from 6.8-7.8 gph. Again, they follow the same pattern as before, with Sea-Doo at 6.8 gph, Yamaha at 7.7 gph, and Kawasaki at 7.8 gph. At these speeds, that’s not far from their introductory counterparts.

It’s also well ahead of the mainstream boating market. Those looking for a comparison will be pleased to note a Yamaha 250 four-stroke outboard burns around 15 gph at 35 mph; a 260hp MerCruiser sterndrive about over 10 gph at 35 mph.

In that regard, all personal watercraft fare pretty well.