Where can one find a coffee maker seemingly powered by a light aircraft engine? At Rotaxstraße 1, 4623 Gunskirchen, Austria — the home of Rotax engines. The company’s main lobby showcases every realm of what BRP-Rotax offers, including some fantasy applications like the coffee maker. Displays of products and equipment go way back to the company’s roots in bicycles, with its original product — a rotating-axle bike — next to a Simplon pedal e-bike equipped with a Rotax Pinion gearset. Also on display are Rotax’s flagship 125 MAX karts, Lynx and Ski-Doo snowmobiles, engines found in BMW and Aprilia motorcycles and more fun toys powered by Rotax. A lobby in another building showcases every current engine and motor: from E powerplants to watercraft mills, the Maverick R with DCT next to an 850 E-Tec next to a 900ACE. And they’re all made just beyond the lobby walls.
Throughout iterative prototype development, an engine will be placed in the room several times to target specific component sound signatures. By covering the entire engine with acoustic sound barrier material, then removing one piece of insulation to expose an engine part (such as the coil pack), repeating the test, then removing another chunk (over the air silencer, for example), Rotax discovers how each component contributes specific decibels to the overall setup. Even after the start of production, the team will bring serialized additional engines into the chamber to reanalyze and continue improvements. “Bad ” noises are captured and potentially mitigated, and “ good ” tones get curated into Ski-Doo’s desired engine sound.
The flow test machine is an invaluable tool to keep high-tech fuel injection systems well-tested and operating at peak. Rotax utilizes a flow-bench test cell to routinely cycle its direct injectors and obtain massive samples and data sets in a very short time. This cell houses six injectors pulsed at more than 7,000 RPM for hours or even days — equating to millions of pulses gathered for data analysis. Fluid is pumped to each injector cavity, and then the injectors are cycled using Rotax’s spec electronic signal structure that specifies duration, pressure or cycles per minute. With this information, engineers can isolate an issue, test changes made in the production process or analyze a new component.
Rotax simulates harsh environments using temperature-controlled rooms. This chamber can plummet to minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit, the standard temp at which Rotax develops its cold-start calibration routine for snowmobiles. Off-road SXS / ATV engines are tested down to minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit. During a test, the engine begins to warm significantly immediately after first fire. Once it gathers enough data to be verified against the ECU calibration, the engine is switched off to avoid continued heating. Then the engine sits for a duration to cool all components back to minus 40 degrees before the next test.
David Monfette, director of engineering at Rotax, started at BRP as an intern in 2006. It was such a good fit that BRP hired him in 2008 and promoted him to Ski-Doo project manager in 2012 and then to project manager of two-stroke development for the 850/600/600RS and 850Turbo engines. He became director of engineering in 2019. Monfette provided his insights into what makes the Rotax and BRP relationship a success, both through technology and mutual vision.
One of Monfette’s proudest Rotax innovations is the Start Hot (SHOT) technology, which began with a vision of starting a two-stroke engine without a battery or a starter. It took some time: Monfette says a few concepts didn’t meet Rotax quality standards or expectations. It was a large undertaking to reconfigure the generator to not only produce enough electricity to power the machine, but to also charge an ultracapacitor to then discharge with enough juice to pass top dead center. Without reconfiguring, the engine wouldn’t have enough power to reach more than 6,000 RPM while in generation mode — switching between true TQ generation vs electric generation. Beyond going past top dead center, the air in the cylinder must be fresh and full enough to spark a full charge.
Rotax built its 850cc engine with the thought that it would someday host a turbocharger. Monfette says even its early designs included a ring carrier piston, a one-piece crankshaft and a high focus on proper oiling — foundations that needed critical attention during the engine’s development.
Everything that comes out of Rotax aims to be efficient and scrutinized, including oil and fuel mapping. Rotax aims for oil and fuel consumption to be as low as possible while safely operating the engine. Even the turbo engine is oiled in a series of single drops, which pass through the turbo then into the exhaust valve, to determine the precise amount of oil needed.
The snow teams at BRP and Rotax maintain a tight relationship and combine knowledge to develop new technology — particularly when tweaking fuel delivery systems. Monfette points to the water injection on the MXZ Comp package setup. They knew they needed water injection to ensure piston durability during a long pull on a lake. While water injection was a known technology, the two teams worked together to set up a complex piston temp model.
The Rotax facility is one of several engine and parts manufacturers in the surrounding area, including piston manufacturers, turbo tech creators, auto manufacturers and more. This allows for the sharing of information and tech culture locally and across the border in Germany.
The other benefit, Monfette says, is the ability to find knowledgeable employees locally. Rotax employees, he says, are highly skilled, driven, innovative, passionate people who leave no details unturned. The strength of the whole development headquarters is that all stakeholders are on site. The different buildings hold departments such as design, quality control, global sourcing and production. If an issue arises, players can gather quickly to problem-solve.
Mario Gebetshuber, general manager of BRP-Rotax and VP of Global Sourcing/ Operations Powertrain, has worked at Rotax for more than 30 years and with both Sea-Doo and Ski-Doo powerplants. At age 51, he feels he has both the interest and expertise to support the company’s efforts for years to come.
Gebetshuber takes pride in the more than 100 years of Rotax history and success. The company started with a mechanical rotating axle, then came the small two-strokes, then the large four-strokes. Rotax continues to evolve itself by entering new and different markets. Gebetshuber says that the company’s rich legacy puts pressure on him and the team since they’re the generation needing to continue this storied past and pave the future for success. He says he’s motivated by the Rotax values of “Passion to keep moving; determination to deliver on commitments; ingenuity to defy conventions; and trust to build strong partnerships.”
Gebetshuber says his bottom line is to give the customer the best possible experience with the Rotax product. He says that a consumer who enjoys the product will buy more — it’s what fuels their needs and builds owner trust — and provide consumer feedback that lets them know how to improve their engines.
The global pandemic took its toll on many businesses, but Gebetshubers says that Rotax was able to skirt any supply chain woes in regard to powertrain materials. That was not the case for the entire operation though.
Semiconductor availability became Rotax’s largest issue. In some cases, semiconductors were marked up 50 times the typical rate and were not delivered when Rotax needed them. After some creative thinking, Rotax decided to send snowmobiles to dealers without
ECUs and then sent the ECUs at a later date for dealers to install. Behind the scenes, this created a paperwork nightmare with international shipping and customs regulations, but in the end, dealers got their product — even if it was in two shipments with some assembly required. Gebetshuber says this allowed BRP to gain market share because the vehicles continued to ship without interruption.
Rotax incorporates efficiency into its assembly process. The line can shift from producing a V-Twin over to an inline triple and then to a light aircraft engine with no delays. Switchovers take place within hours of the shift changes with no deadtime. This means, for example, that the final V-Twin might roll off the line with an inline triple coming right behind it.
Electric motor technology continues to work its way through Rotax product lines. Rotax E-Tec motors first appeared in karts about six years ago and then spread to Ski-Doos in 2024, motorcycles and, new this year, to the 2026 Can-Am Outlander ATV.
Gebetshuber says that Rotax will continue to keep the technology in-house (battery, motor, inverter, software) so it can be ready for any future development. He says that Rotax pays attention to the voice of the consumer to know what technologies and products will be competitive.
Rotax didn’t invent the E-Drive technology, but it adapted
the technology for powersport use. Gebetshuber says that Rotax has been a fast follower and adopter of cutting-edge technology for decades.
This holds true, Gebetshuber says, for the dilemma of battery recycling and disposal. Rotax uses common round cell batteries. He believes that someone will solve this issue before Rotax electric batteries reach the recycling stage, which will be about five to 10 years after other common batteries reach the recycling stage.
Rotax does its own electric motor winding in-house. The myriad of precision steps include paper insulation insertion, routing wires, bending wires, banding the assembly, forming of the internal / external radii, tying the large ring lug and clipping. The assembly cannot function properly if the coated copper wire becomes occluded or chafed. If a wire is routed the wrong direction, the motor won’t turn or produce power. Gloves are required when touching each part, as they are un-filleted or deburred for ideal electric transmission.
Anyone can go karting at the Rotax MAX Dome in Linz, Austria. This innovative complex, opened in 2019, houses an exciting indoor e-kart racing arena combined with gamification and augmented reality.
“The Rotax MAX Dome reflects our ongoing passion to deliver the ultimate experience by combining the thrill of an actual race with the fun of being inside a video game,” says Peter Ölsinger, General Manager BRP-Rotax and Vice-President Sales, Marketing and Communications.
He’s right: It’s really like being inside a video racing game. At the center of the space is a perfectly staged, two-level broad kart track capable of accommodating up to 12 Rotax Sonic e-karts at a time, with a 50-meter augmented-reality tunnel where racers can earn extra points, called “coins,” depending on where they drive.
The position of the e-karts is transmitted in real time to screens inside the center and to the MAX Dome application, encouraging people to follow or play along.
The tunnel incorporates custom light and sound generators and interactive features developed in cooperation with Ars Electronica Futurelab, also of Linz. For safety, there’s a special shock-absorbing system for both the racetrack and the e-karts, position recognition for the vehicles and a remote-control system for any unexpected issues.
I registered via an app and got weighed. The weigh-in room features a green screen where I could pose for a brief video to use as my avatar while gathering body weight information. This got stored in my profile to pair me with my kart — heavier folks get more juice to keep all racing fair. After a quick safety briefing, I was on my way with the group of drivers for qualifying rounds, during which we got released at intervals. These karts are high quality, well maintained and easy to drive. The gamification begins in qualifying rounds where we could each see our ranks in real time on the screen.
Each race offers a few “boosts” where the kart increases in power output for 10 seconds (unless the driver taps the brake) and ways to earn more coins for more boost opportunities. I earned some coins on the climb up through the tunnel but also risked losing them if I popped a mystery box (very Mario-Kart-esque).
After qualifying, I double-checked the app to see where I fell in the order and how many coins I had in the account. Pro Tip: If you’re only there for a brief stay, cash in your MAX coins for additional boosts to use in the main race — or suffer watching those in your group who did opt for more boosting times pull away from you as you try to conserve those precious boosts.