Master Blaster

First, there were the fuel-injected two-stroke watercraft with better fuel-burning capabilities and a dramatic decrease in emissions and noise. Now it's the four-stroke's turn to make an impact.

Polaris' first venture into a multi-seat four-stroke - the MSX150 - will surely help bury the personal watercraft's negative image for good.

Polaris might have been the last major player to join the ultra-competitive PWC market with its first release in 1993, but in a short period of time the company has made its mark on the scene with top-quality high-performance craft.

DOWN TO BUSINESS
The MSX150 turbo four-stroke will continue the trend set by its sibling, the razor-sharp two-stroke MSX140 that won Watercraft Magazine's Watercraft of the Year award in 2003 on the tough US stage.

Both models sport the MSX hull - a modified-vee with a dihedral stepped design and a flatter keel - which the company claims reduces friction and improves speed, stability and agility.

After testing the MSX140 as part of a four-way comparison in Trailer Boat issue 178, we can confirm Polaris' claims. We described it then as the most stunt-orientated of the bunch. It turns on a sixpence, carving up the water better than Jamie Oliver could slice a roast.

The new MSX150 boasts similar performance, but with the added benefits of a turbocharged four-stroke powerplant. And with a pricetag of $17,495, it is certainly competitively priced in a market that's more cutthroat than a pirate's convention.

Trailer Boat had the honour of being the first magazine in Australia to test the new craft, and we took delivery of the MSX150 immediately after it came off display at the Sydney Motorcycle Show. There were exactly zilch hours and miles on the clock, so it was also a case of running it in. 

TURBO POWER
The MSX150 is a turbocharged parallel twin 750cc four-stroke with overhead camshaft, Bosch multi-port fuel injection and engine-management system boasting a 150hp output. It also features dry sump lubrication and a closed-loop cooling system with a 65lt fuel tank.

To get the rooster tail going, power is delivered through a single-stage, six vane axial-flow jet pump with a three-blade stainless-steel impeller. The MSX150 also has reverse gear.

The craft has very low emissions, with a two-star rating from the American regulators, while to keep noise to a minimum the PWC features Polaris Low Acoustic Noise Exhaust Technology (PLANET) with 12 resonators. Polaris claims this system reduces sound by 60 per cent without affecting power. It also has an off-power steering system, but there is nothing that gets it turning better than a blip of the index-finger-operated throttle.

Instrumentation is easy to read with a good-sized LCD and, besides speed and revs, it also has fuel level, engine hours and distance travelled in either miles or kilometres. Information is accessed via switchgear on the left-hand handlebar, so there's no need to remove a hand from the controls while underway.

It has comfortable, wide bars that aid manoeuvrability and steering. These are encased in durable rubber to absorb shock. There's also a handy grabrail for little tackers.

It has two storage compartments: a huge one in front of the handlebars and a smaller one below the 'bars for a mobile phone, safety lanyard storage and other odds and ends.

One thing I found amiss was the lack of a security system for the ignition. If you have anything that activates the ignition - like a cable tie - a simple press of the starter button and off you go. Maybe Polaris reckons you'll be so enamoured with the MSX150 that it'll never be out of your sight... but things do happen.

PERFORMANCE THAT BITES
Although I was reluctant to give the untried engine a truckload of berries, it gets on the plane in an instant with a good surge as the revs build and the turbo cuts in. In no time you're carving white arcs through the flat water.

What's surprising is that this machine is "only" a 750cc compared to the 1196cc two-stroke MSX140. Although there is a healthy gap in capacity, performance isn't compromised, as the turbo makes up for it. There's still that slight lag which is idiosyncratic of turbo power, however.

Like the MSX140, the performance will certainly bite the unwary. I knew what to expect from its steering but as my on-water confidence grew, sooner or later the inevitable was bound to happen.

Hare-tailing across the lake I threw it into left-hand turn, hard. With a flick that could cause a good case of whiplash, it pirouetted within its own length and I was flung off the stern, flying backwards for well over 10 metres!

When I surfaced, the Polaris MSX150 was right beside me, cruising to a halt. I'd ripped the cut-off lanyard from the handlebars and immediately stopped the engine. This is a compulsory feature common to all brands.

Clambering aboard, all I could think was that the agility of the MSX hull is just as impressive with the turbo four-stroke.

Being the mad angler I am, I even threw a rod onboard. The storage bin would take a small tacklebox no worries, and if it was mine I could foresee a few mods to have a mounting point for a rod. 

MORE THE MERRIER
Riding a craft one-up is all well and good - and a lot of fun - but considering the MSX150 is a three-seater, the most prudent idea was finding some willing guinea pigs. So my good mate Pete came along with his tribe to see how it performed with more than one passenger.

Although he was eager, his crew had a certain amount of apprehension about dipping their toes in the winter water. Apparently Pete was worried I'd throw him off in some radical manoeuvre. I promised not to, but only when his kids Scot and Stacey were not aboard!

First up we put Scot at the front to take advantage of the grabrail, with Pete behind to see how the MSX150 would cope with two adults and a nine year old.

There was no problem getting their adrenaline flowing as the extra weight hardly mattered to the craft - even after making the silliest boating mistake and leaving a bung out for a while!

But it brought home the advantages of testing the craft with the right criteria in mind: I loved steering it around, but what did the passengers reckon?

Young Scot wasn't going anywhere at the front; he was having a ball and was somewhat transfixed by the digital speedo. He did laugh a little nervously as the pace got upped, however.

Meanwhile Pete, perched on the rear, was a different matter. It wasn't just his fear that I may perform a cunning stunt and put him in the drink - he was finding it hard to hang on. He offered a solution of putting grab handles under the seat instead of having to reach behind a fair way to grip the grabrail.

"It'd be okay if you were over six foot, but you have to reach too far back and it makes it nearly impossible to hang on," he said. "Especially in some of those turns."

When it was just Pete and me aboard, hitting the red line on the fun meter, Pete's only option was to hang onto my lifejacket. When I demonstrated how nimble the craft was, he had a helluva time hanging on, and his words rang in my ears: "If I'm going, you're coming with me!"

This happened after about five minutes - we both ended in up the briny.

Having some others along for the ride highlighted a few points about the MSX150 that I couldn't have picked up riding solo. Apart from one or two minor suggestions, it's a pretty solid little unit.

Polaris claims it's the lightest three-seater on the market, but I didn't get to see how fast it would really go when held pinned for a while. However, I'd say over 100kmh is highly likely.

The engine noise is next to nothing and after asking a few onlookers, they all agreed that within a short distance it's hardly noticeable. That's gotta be a good thing to exterminate those long-standing PWC prejudices.

No doubt it won't be long before the new Polaris MSX150 four-stroke gathers a dedicated following and takes a slice of the family-orientated three-seater market.

IN GOOD COMPANY
Polaris entered the US market in 1954 with its first snowmobile, and this year the company will celebrate its 50th anniversary.

Polaris produced snowmobiles for a number of years before expanding into the all-terrain vehicle (ATV) market in 1985. Then in 1992, the company branched out into the marine industry with the release of its first PWC.

In 1997, more offroad vehicles were built - including the Polaris Ranger - and a year later the company entered the two-wheel market with its Victory motorcycles.

The latest foray is into industry support, where Polaris "workmobiles" form an extension of the ATV concept. Additionally, Polaris has taken the PWC vehicles a step further by beginning construction of powerboats.

Polaris has wholly owned subsidiaries in Canada, Australia, NZ, France and Great Britain, and is also listed on the New York Stock Exchange.