2008 Sea-Doo RXP-X Preview

Acceleration and exhilaration abound on this race-inspired PWC

As the horsepower wars continue to heat up among manufacturers of personal watercraft, Sea-Doo fired the biggest salvo in 2008 with its US$12,999 RXP-X model.

Designed to accelerate in a hurry, the RXP-X is loaded with race-inspired technology. The folks at Sea-Doo are eager to point out that its 255-horsepower, supercharged, intercooled, Rotax 4-TEC engine is the largest available this year.

“What we call this is the buoy course blaster. This thing will handle like nothing else on the water,” BRP district sales manager Scott MacWilliam told PersonalWatercraft.com. “It will do zero to 50 miles an hour in 2.9 seconds. Think about that for a minute. That’s faster than any production car out there on the road. If you want acceleration and exhilaration, this is the model for you.”

The RXP-X, which is meant for one or two riders, shares most of its race-inspired features with the three-seat RXT-X, but it’s 23 pounds lighter, a full nine inches shorter in length and nearly an inch smaller in height.

“This will handle a little bit more crisp than the RXT-X,” says MacWilliam. “It’s a little shorter in length, so it will turn on a dime. The G-forces are incredible.”

Sea-Doo’s X-handlebars were designed specifically for the RXP-X and RXT-X. They are adjustable, wider and higher than normal bars to give you additional leverage in the corners.

Other race-inspired options, including a brand new throttle, are also found on the X-handlebars.

“It’s an aluminum braided throttle and it’s unique to racing, but for the first time ever we’ve offered it to the consumer,” says MacWilliam.

The RXP-X also has a pair of adjustable variable trim system (VTS) presents, which are accessible on the X-handlebars.

“If you’re racing and you prefer a certain pitch to the vehicle in certain water conditions, depending on your weight and your skill level, you can preset the trim system to however you prefer,” says MacWilliam. “If you like to accelerate hard out of the hole, you’d want to pitch the VTS down so as soon as you accelerate the front or bow of the boat is going to level out very quickly.”

Sea-Doo even considered the carpeting in the footwells on this race-inspired watercraft.

“We’ve done diamond plate aquamats on the bottom,” says MacWilliam. What that does is give you extra grip to hold onto and you’ll absolutely need that with the G-force of this unit.”

You wouldn’t really want a novice tearing around on the RXP-X without supervision, but you can limit the top speed to about 35 mph with the learning key until they gain enough confidence and experience to handle its full power.

With a 15.9-gallon fuel tank, the RXP-X will have plenty of gas for a long day of racing on the water. You will, however, want to limit what you carry with you as the unit has less than 11 gallons of storage space.

Sea-Doo addressed the issue of low-speed steering with its Off-Power Assisted Steering (OPAS). As the name suggests, this assists the driver with steering during off-power and off-throttle situations.

The multifunction digital information center reports 20 operating functions, including speed, compass, fuel level, overheat, hour meter and check engine.

Though it may not have all of the comfort and luxury of models like the GTX Limited, Sea-Doo’s RXP-X is a fantastic option for those of us who just want to go fast.

  Related Reading:

2008 Sea-Doo RXT-X
2008 Sea-Doo GTX Limited