Revised Cylinders for the Rotax MAX Engine Family

 

Rotax customers expect products of the highest quality standards and timely availability.

Parity of performance and durability are a key part of the Rotax Max Challenge. The global turbulences and the constantly growing market demand have challenged the supply chain of BRP-Rotax.

The cylinder as the key element of the engine has been heavily affected by this situation.

To secure the aspects mentioned above, the decision was taken to transfer the cylinder manufacturing from Italy to Austria and consequently to renew the casting and manufacturing tooling of all cylinders of the Rotax MAX engine family.

For customers interested in updating their engine with a revised cylinder, BRP-Rotax offers a sales program with a discount of 45% on the regular retail price.

A limited quantity is available only – first come first served.

Technical details

With the renewal of the casting and manufacturing tools, the best available technologies have been applied to further maximize the engine parity, durability and product appearance of the engine.

• (1) Casting process which provides a uniform smooth casting surface
• (2) Extended CNC control machining (ports, port heights, chamfer of ports
• (3) NiCaSil plated stop for exhaust valve (Senior MAX and DD2 cylinder only)

The revision of the casting tooling has been used as well to:

• (4) Apply a QR-code for traceability of product quality
• (5) Apply the logo “ROTAX RACING” to foster the brand’s appearance.

Other product features

• The cylinders with the revised casting tooling are 100% interchangeable with the current cylinders.
• The support plate (Rotax 251336) for the exhaust valve (Senior MAX and MAX DD2) must not be used for the revised cylinders.
• The performance and performance characteristics are identical to the current cylinders.
• The tolerance groups A, AB and B for the cylinder bore (marked beside the QR code) are identical to the current cylinders.

• The reading of the QR code on a cylinder will provide a unique 6-digit number (not ascending but random number).
• This allows distributors to register and publish which cylinders have been supplied to their markets and are legal for national RMC events.
• The cylinder and piston are now provided by the same supplier in Austria.

Availability of revised cylinders

Engines with revised cylinders

Engines supplied as of November 2023 will be either:

• supplied with a current cylinder mounted plus a revised cylinder free of charge or
• supplied already with a revised cylinder fitted.

Revised cylinders as spare parts

Revised cylinders can be ordered as of today. The supply will start during November 2023.

Rotax have planned reasonable quantities of revised cylinders for spare parts.

* This support program is open for all customers, but customers who have purchased and registered a new engine during 2023 will be served first – up to the 31st of December 2023. A waiting list will be kept by Jennifer at EMR and in January 2024 the balance of cylinders allocated to our region will be sold on a first come first served on the waiting list at a 45% discount.

Questions & Answers

Q: What is the reason for the introduction of the revised cylinders?
A: To secure a sufficient, flexible, and timely supply of top-quality cylinders for the MAX engine family the investment into new casting and manufacturing tooling was necessary.

Q: Will the current cylinders still be legal to race?
A: Yes.

Q: Will the revised cylinder enable a better lap time compared to my actual cylinder?
A: No, the focus is to maximize parity but not performance. Extensive testing has shown that we could achieve the same top performance level but less scatter band between the cylinders due to tolerance variation.

Q: Can I replace my actual cylinder 1:1 with a revised cylinder?
A: Yes

Q: Is the revised cylinder more expensive than my existing cylinder?
A: No, the retail price of the revised cylinder has not increased.

Q: The QR code on the cylinder provides a number. Is this a serial number?
A: The number provided by the QR code is a unique, random number for tracking of the manufacturing quality.

Q: Are the letters A, AB or B a rating of the quality of the cylinder?
A: No, the letters A, AB or B are the classification for the tolerance of the cylinder bore which is used for the paring of piston and cylinder at the engine assembly.

Q: Why is the outside appearance (ROTAX RACING) of the revised cylinder different to the current cylinder?
A: The logo ROTAX RACING has been added just to foster the brand.