2016 SEA DOO GTR 215 | Watercraft Review
The new SEA DOO GTR 215 by BRP, a muscle craft built for all around riding styles. Whether you enjoy touring the lakes, towing your buddies on a tube, or racing hole shot against your buddy, this muscle craft will outperform beyond your imagination. The new black/yellow colour scheme really brings out BRP's traditional colours, making this machine stand out at every marina, and on every lake. What really makes this machine stand out though is its all around performance at an affordable rate.
The GTR 215's GTI hull houses a fierce Rotax 1500 supercharged engine, outputting a total of 215hp when in Sport Mode. After break-in period, the fuel economy isn't all that bad considering it has more horsepower than your grandpa's Honda Civic, and the fact that it spends most of its time revving above 6,000 rpm. But if you can afford a toy like this, then you can afford the gas, so they say. The GTR offers 3 riding modes: Touring Mode for regular riding, ECO Mode for maintaining an economical cruising speed of 70 km/h (approx. 45 mph), and of course Sport Mode for towing, racing, and trying to buck your friends off the back! haha.
New to this year, Sea Doo has went with the traditional Black/Yellow colour scheme, similar to last year's however, they've replaced the red accent with yellow and grey. In addition to maintaining style on your GTR, as your local dealer to install your registration numbers with a nice yellow background with black letters, it maintains the colour scheme across the entire unit, and looks really sharp.
Let's talk accessories, obviously most of us will be purchasing a trailer for your muscle craft, and SEA DOO makes an incredible easy to use trailer called the SEA DOO MOVE. It comes in the option of painted black or galvanized steel, and obviously with the option of single or double trailer. A easy to install and remove SEA DOO cover is optional, but recommended, to help protect your muscle craft during storage and transport.
SEA DOO has many great additional accessories to choose from, which you can check out on their online store. On our GTR we installed a few accessories including: SEA DOO Speed Ties (front and back), and Snap-in Fenders for docking. The fenders work quickly and nicely, protecting your hull from damage while docking. The SEA DOO Speed Ties work well for temporary tie-down, it is not recommended to use as a primary source to anchor down your SEA DOO. SEA DOO offers tons of accessories that helps make SEA DOO experience a great experience. The only accessory I can suggest to the team at SEA DOO is more storage accessories for the back deck of the SEA DOO for all the long distance touring folk. It would be nice to store a cooler, and some gas cans on the back, much like this aftermarket set-up by Kool PWC Stuff.
So what's in store for next year's 2017 GTR? Well looks like SEA DOO has tuned up their game giving you two choices for the GTR models: a standard GTR, and stunning GTR- X Package, both with a tuned up 230hp Rotax 1500 HO supercharged engine. The standard GTR 230 comes in a black/blue colour scheme, while the GTR-X 230 comes in a stunning Lime Green, traditional to Kawasaki colours however, this machine really stands out. Although the X-package does not push out anymore horsepower than the standard GTR, its X-package additions makes this machine look just like the RXP-X 300 performance model at an affordable price.
So whether you just want to get out on the water, tow your friends around, or race your buddy down the lake, the SEA DOO GTR series muscle craft is a well balanced and affordable full-sized machine that will never leave you disappointed. So go and check out your local SEA DOO dealer, and they will be more than happy to show you the entire SEA DOO lineup.
