Some supercharged jet skis are powered by 310 HP engines, but how fast can a small, 90 HP engine travel?
Smaller 90 HP jet skis like the Sea-Doo Spark are still quite capable and can hit speeds of up to fifty miles-per-hour on the water. This is dependent on the exact conditions in which the jet ski is being ridden.
Read on to learn more about jet skis and their capabilities on all sides of the spectrum.
Small But Mighty
There’s an expansive host of jet skis with massive engines, the majority of which produce more horsepower than the average family car. They’re built to plow across the open ocean almost unrestricted, hitting speeds of up to eighty miles-per-hour.
Some special builds are tuned to their highest limits, coming equipped with incredibly powerful engines. There have been examples in the custom-built categories of jet skis that can hit more than one hundred and thirty miles per hour.
The highest-rated jet skis have been likened to supercars in their mechanical ability, and they come equipped with staggeringly high price tags. Some of the best models boast amenities and extras that rival some production cars.
However, there are of course entry-level jet skis, with considerably smaller engines and fewer performance capabilities. At the lowest level are jet skis that come equipped with sixty horsepower engines, which won’t tend to go over forty miles-per-hour.
At the next level is a string of popular jet skis powered by ninety horsepower engines. These small but mighty vessels can hit speeds of up to fifty miles-per-hour and are great choices for people looking to get into jet skis without breaking the bank.
One of the most common ninety horsepower jet skis is the Sea-Doo Spark. This is a nimble, agile, and lightweight jet ski capable of carrying two people across the open water.
The Spark can be fitted with speaker systems, comfortable seats, and excess storage, and comes in a range of themes and designs. It’s a dramatically affordable personal watercraft too, starting at around six thousand dollars.
Sea-Doo also offers the GTI 90, a similarly built but more capable personal watercraft that is also powered by a ninety horsepower engine. It’s larger than the Spark, which means it’s a little slower, but it’s also a few thousand dollars more expensive.
Other End Of The Scale
The most powerful personal watercraft that you can buy commercially tend to top out at around three-hundred and ten horsepower. These jet skis can travel at speeds of up to eighty miles-per-hour, meaning they outclass their small-engined rivals by a huge amount.
One of the best examples of these high-powered vessels is the Kawasaki Ultra 310LX. This is a substantially large jet ski, capable of carrying three people, built around a three hundred and ten horsepower engine.
It’s categorized as a luxury jet ski and can come equipped with a dizzying array of added extras, some of which you wouldn’t expect to find on a jet ski. The top speed of the Ultra 310LX is rated at around seventy miles-per-hour.
However, it won’t cost just a few thousand dollars like the Spark or the GTI 90 would. If you wanted to purchase this jet ski brand new, you’ll be paying almost twenty thousand dollars.
Above And Beyond
And then, three are the personal watercraft that exceed even those limits, as we’ve mentioned.
The most expensive jet skis on the market are special or limited editions or highly customized examples. Although many of these examples tend to be conceptual or pre-production, they do exist and are being made a reality.
For example, there’s the Mansory Black Marlin, a hyper-luxurious jet ski built almost entirely from carbon fiber. It’s constructed around a five hundred horsepower engine and is built with the latest technology in mind.
There are companies that exist who seek to make your stock, standard jet skis as luxurious and extravagant as possible. The most common reason behind this would be to match your jet ski to a yacht or a boat that you also own.
To achieve this, you can add specific decking, carbon fiber paneling, lighting, quilted seats, and much more. You can have the personal watercraft painted to match your yacht, to achieve the heights of opulence.
After all, if you’ve spent millions of dollars on a high-end yacht, spending another few thousand to customize your jet ski tender is no real issue.