Join Randy Vance on Clearwater River aboard the SJX Jet Boat, powered by Indmar Marine EcoBoost engine. This system brings a lot of excitement to this extreme form of boating. The Indmar EcoBoost is the perfect fit for SJX’s customers with impressive performance and diverse capabilities.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00 (rock music)
00:02 - Hi, I'm Randy Vance.
00:15 I'm standing next to the Clearwater River
00:17 near Lewiston, Idaho, and we're getting ready
00:19 to launch this beautiful SJX jet boat.
00:23 And it's powered by Enmar Marine's EcoBoost engine,
00:26 a 2.3 liter turbocharged engine,
00:29 driving their new EcoJet.
00:31 We think this system altogether is going to bring
00:34 a lot of excitement to this extreme form of boating.
00:38 And Steve Stachowski, the founder of SJX,
00:41 is gonna walk us through this after he takes us
00:44 for a pretty exciting boat ride.
00:45 So tell me about how you began your relationship with Enmar.
00:58 - We're always looking for a good match for our boats.
01:01 Shallow water industry is our flavor.
01:04 We're testing new products all the time,
01:06 and after researching the EcoBoost and EcoJet package,
01:10 we noticed it was definitely a good fit for our boats.
01:13 The application, reverse capabilities,
01:16 the size of the impeller, wearing, stainless, stainless,
01:20 the combination was none less than a perfect fit
01:24 for our type of customers.
01:26 It was the thrusting, the fuel economy,
01:29 DBLs, the noise levels were reduced.
01:32 I mean, we don't even have a muffler on this thing.
01:34 It's still quieter than our previous power plants
01:37 we were using.
01:38 You can see with our driving boats,
01:40 we're going through the bases and we're not easy on things.
01:43 - Talk to me about the way the horsepower is generated
01:51 in this turbocharger, the torque curve,
01:53 and the performance characteristics.
01:55 - We're used to running high RPMs to get that horsepower,
01:59 so we're running 45, 4,600 RPMs
02:02 to create that 350 pounds of foot torque.
02:05 So that's 310 horse with that kind of pounds of torque.
02:08 I mean, you're able to run and cruise at lower RPMs,
02:12 which creates better fuel efficiency.
02:14 And then the vibration, there's none,
02:17 the acceleration with the turbo on the top end,
02:20 it's hard to believe it pulls that hard.
02:23 - As you pointed out, it takes thrust to steer
02:26 and thrust to have good reverse control.
02:29 Why does that build so quickly on this motor?
02:33 - Well, you're able to have a mid-range power curve,
02:36 so you're able to cruise at a lower RPM,
02:38 but then when you're in a tight spot and you need to turn,
02:41 you can give it the throttle and it hits that turbo
02:45 and it just pulls you right around your turn.
02:47 So you have so much more control.
02:49 And when that turbo kicks in,
02:51 you're able to just blast right over it for a second.
02:55 (upbeat music)
02:58 - Tell me about some of the unique characteristics
03:00 of your boat and how you blended
03:03 the EcoBoost EcoJet package into it.
03:06 - Well, obviously we do a power to weight ratio boat.
03:09 So, I mean, we're looking for a lightweight jet motor
03:12 package, and then we do quite a few things different
03:16 than even Indemar intended.
03:18 So we're doing different applications to the jet
03:21 that work for us.
03:22 We've got a tunnel hole,
03:23 we use UHMW bottom protection on the boats,
03:27 and then we've got a great cleaning system.
03:29 So, I mean, if you do get debris,
03:31 we're able to clean it out of the rock grate
03:33 and we've designed it to where whatever goes through
03:35 our rock grate passes through this jet.
03:38 The jet is so durable, it literally grinds up debris.
03:42 - From the standpoint of manufacturing,
03:45 are there conveniences to the system?
03:48 - There's definitely convenience with the horseshoe
03:50 intake for the EcoJet.
03:52 It's an insert application.
03:54 So it's easily inserted into the horseshoe
03:57 through the back of the boat,
03:59 and then secured that it doesn't come out.
04:01 Plus it's isolated with rubber O-rings.
04:04 So there's no metal to metal contact.
04:06 When you put a jet drive or engine in an aluminum boat,
04:10 eliminating metal to metal contact is very important.
04:14 So that is one of the main benefits too.
04:17 (rock music)
04:20 - After spending the day on the water with Steve Stachowski
04:25 and the guys at SJX Boats and the folks from Enmar Marine,
04:28 this EcoBoost EcoJet package is going to be
04:31 a really exciting addition to this style of boating.
04:34 There are a lot of great characteristics to it
04:37 that Steve talks about and he capitalizes on
04:40 in the building of his boats.
04:42 One of the things that I found most impressive
04:44 was the low sound that comes from them.
04:46 That's because it's creating a lot of torque
04:48 and horsepower at a lower RPM than most jet engines.
04:52 There's also the sound isolating installation process
04:55 that uses rubber O-rings to keep that engine
04:59 and jet noise from reverberating throughout the boat.
05:02 All together, we found that this system
05:05 is extremely maneuverable, powerful,
05:08 and as many rocks as we suck through it today,
05:10 it's extremely durable.
05:12 I'm Randy Vance with the folks at SJX Boats,
05:15 Enmar Marine, and the EcoBoost EcoJet package.
05:19 (upbeat music)
05:21 (jet engine roaring)
05:24 (rock music)
05:27 (upbeat music)