page_title: Bombardier Recreational Products
section_title: Development of the small snowmobile
hierarchical_section_title: Bombardier Recreational Products / Development of the small snowmobile
caption_attribution_description: Grooming Unit Of The North Bay Snowmobilers' Club, located in North Bay, Ontario. Tractor unit shown pulling attached drag to maintain, repair, and resurface snowmobile trails.
context_page_description: BRP is a Canadian company that manufacturers recreational vehicles. It was founded in 2003, when the Recreational Products Division of Bombardier Inc. was sold off to a group of investors: Bain Capital, the Bombardier family and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.
  The parent company of the former division, Bombardier Inc., was founded in 1942 as L'Auto-Neige Bombardier Limitée by Joseph-Armand Bombardier at Valcourt in the Eastern Townships, Quebec.
  The newly formed independent company continued vehicle development in the same fields started 60 years earlier by its founder. As of October 6, 2009, it had about 5,500 employees; its revenues in 2007 were above US$2.5 billion. BRP has manufacturing facilities in five countries: Canada, the United States, Mexico, Finland, and Austria. The company's products are sold in more than 100 countries, some of which have their own direct-sales network.
  BRP has multiple brands: Ski-Doo, Can-Am motorcycles, Sea-Doo, Lynx, Evinrude Outboard Motors, and Rotax. The Ski-Doo personal snowmobile brand is so iconic, especially in Canada, that it was listed in 17th place on the CBC's The Greatest Canadian Invention list in 2007.
context_section_description: Armand dreamed of developing a fast, lightweight snowmobile that could carry one or two people. In the early 1950s, Armand set aside his dream to focus on developing his company's other tracked vehicles. But by the end of the decade, smaller, more efficient engines had been developed and were starting to come on the market. Armand resumed his efforts to build a "miniature" snowmobile. He worked alongside his eldest son Germain, who shared his father's mechanical talents. Armand and Germain developed several prototypes of the lightweight snowmobile and finally, the first Bombardier snowmobile went on sale in 1959.
  The Ski-Doo was originally intended to be named the "Ski-Dog" because Bombardier meant it to be a practical vehicle to replace the dogsled for hunters and trappers. By accident, a printer misinterpreted the name and printed "Ski-Doo" in the first sales brochure. Public interest in the small snowmobiles grew quickly. Suddenly a new winter sport was born, centred in Quebec. In the first year, Bombardier sold 225 Ski-Doos; four years later, 8,210 were sold. But Armand was reluctant to focus too much on the Ski-Doo and move resources away from his all-terrain vehicles. He vividly remembered his earlier business setbacks that forced him to diversify. Armand slowed down promotion of the Ski-Doo line to prevent it from dominating the other company products but still dominate the entire snowmobile industry. The snowmobiles produced were of exceptional quality and performance, earning a better reputation than the rival Polaris and Arctic Cat brands of motor sleds. In 1971, Bombardier completed the purchase of the Moto-Ski company to expand the Ski-Doo line and eliminate a competitor from the marketplace.
  Some of the sleds made by Ski-Doo are the Formula III, Mach 1, and Mach Z with Rotax engines. While it is a commonly held misconception that all Ski-Doo snowmobiles were powered by rotary valved engines, this is not true. Only two cylinder Rotax engines were equipped with rotary valves. As a rule, the later rotary valved sleds were liquid cooled as well. Fan cooled sleds were usually piston port (2-stroke) induction. Sleds such as the formula III, later model mach-1's and the mach Z were  powered by three cylinder, 2-stroke, Rotax engines. In 1994 the company produced the first snowmobile equipped specifically for mountain riding, the Ski-Doo Summit. Ski-Doo snowmobiles have consistently been extremely competitive for performance and in the marketplace up to the current day, taking a number of national titles in racing events from Sno-X to hill-climbing. In 1999 Ski-Doo introduced the ZX aluminum chassis which was lighter weight with better suspension and thus very successful in sno-cross competition. In 2003 Ski-Doo introduced rider-forward REV chassis, which changed the sport and was followed by other manufacturers. In 2008 Ski-Doo introduced the XP chassis, which moved the rider further forward with major weight reduction. The XP was the lightest machine available, with power-to-weight ratios in the Summit models for the first time under 3 lb per HP.
  For the 2017 snow year, Ski-Doo will release its most powerful engine. The Rotax 850 cc "Etec" engine. The engine produces 10 more horsepower (170 hp) than its predecessor, it is also more efficient 40 percent less oil burn than the previous Etec. and 30 percent quicker throttle response; this engine paired with the new SP chassis which moves the rider even further forward and provides a big weight reduction over the XP chassis. This makes the 2017 the most capable snowmobile ever, reaching speed of upwards of 90 mph in the renegade models and climbing nearly straight up mountains at impressive speed in the Summit models.
caption: Bombardier BR180 snowcat pulling snowmobile trail groomer attachment
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