Marine and Recreational

Outboard boat engines, personal watercraft (jet skis, etc.) snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles and off-road motorcycles have traditionally used 2-cycle engines because of their high power-to-weight ratios, low production cost and reliability. However, these engines waste fuel and traditionally have high exhaust emissions.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has already required that marine and recreational vehicle engines must reduce emissions as of 2006 by 70 percent from previous levels. In addition, the California Air Resource Board has introduced “Tier 3” legislation calling for even stricter requirements by 2008.

Recently, manufacturers have increased the use of 4-cycle engines for these applications to help reach new emissions requirements. They also continue to research advanced engine technologies, such as gasoline direct injection and exhaust gas recirculation that can meet new standards, without sacrificing the strong advantages of traditional 2-cycle engines. The KSI system improves the performance of these technologies.

In most cases, it is impractical to use catalytic converters in marine and recreational applications to improve emissions, because they are too large, too costly, and too hot. In addition, they reduce engine performance.

The KSI ignition system creates faster and more complete combustion, while reducing emissions and increasing power. Thus, with KSI, engine designers can maintain a high power-to-weight ratio. The KSI system can be directly substituted for current ignition systems in existing or new engines without requiring additional space or cost.