The 400 horsepower PWC cometh

Information on the Italian machine is scarce though you don't need to be a Rhodes Scholar to recognize it is likely to become the world’s fastest and most expensive PWC and the ideal accessory for all those EUR100 million yachts moored in the Mediterranean.

The only information apart from the raw numbers available on the craft at this stage is that it has a CDI ignition, electronic fuel injection, a 3-blade stainless steel impeller, uses a 160mm high pressure axial flow pump and is claimed to weigh in at an astounding 238 kg dry.

Indeed, the specifications of the MV Agusta appear to hold the key to the machine’s performance aspirations. The light weight is not just a function of exotic materials such as the carbon fiber hull and frightfully expensive titanium and magnesium which is spread liberally around their motorcycles – it is also much smaller than any of the current crop. At 2.946 metres long, it is 36 cm shorter than the SeaDoo, which is shorter than any of the Japanese models – for those who can’t think in metric, that’s more than a foot shorter than any of the others.

As with any other form of performance motorsport, fundamental physics still applies - modest dimensions means less mass to accelerate, stop and change direction.

Compare the dimensions and power of the MV Agusta and HSR-Benelli to the recently announced offerings of the existing manufacturers and you’ll see a significant gap in the power-to-weight ratios – see this table – and why we think the European PWC will naturally fall into an elite class of PWC similar perhaps to the difference between luxury class cars such as BMW and Mercedes, and their exotic automotive counterparts such as Ferrari, Lamborghini et al.

One of the most successful motorcycle racing marques in history, MV Agusta produces a range of exquisite performance motorcycles including the world’s fastest production motorcycle (the F4 R312) and the world’s most expensive (the 100,000 Euro F4CC).

Limited numbers of the new F4 Interceptor will be produced in 2008 and no price has yet been announced but given its impeccable heritage and positioning as a luxury brand, it is expected to quite comfortably become the most expensive production PWC yet sold.

The new HSC-Benelli Series-R range will have four models, two using the three cylinder Benelli motorcycle engine (a EUR 11,250 Naked Edition tuned to 142 bhp and a EUR 13,500 172 bhp Pro Edition) and two using the V6 engine created by fusing two three cylinder engines together. The V6-engined machines will be a 278 bhp, 328 kg EUR 17,900 Prestige model and a 342 bhp EUR 19,900 race edition.

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