Snowmobile Oil Certifications?

Every now and then somebody asks about snowmobile oil certifications for two-stroke oil. Specifically, they are looking for what kind of oil certification they should be looking for when purchasing an oil, trying to make sure it meets a specific manufacturer’s requirements. Usually the oil in question is Ski-Doo’s XPS 2T synthetic oil, generally regarded as the highest quality two-stroke snowmobile oil offered in the industry.

Unlike automotive, marine, and motorcycle oil production, the two-stroke small engine oil industry (including snowmobile engine oil) is unregulated. There are API, JASO, ISO and other classifications used on some snowmobile oil, but they are voluntary. That said, the highest regarded 2-stroke oil certifications will be the ISO-EGD or JASO-FD specifications. Even when higher quality fully-synthetic oils meet these specs they are not specifically designed or engineered for specific engine families – they instead offer a broad band protection that generally works acceptably well across most any brand or engine family.

So, to answer the question about XPS oil certifications, there is nothing to provide since BRP does not certify their oil to any specific standard. While the synthetic XPS lubricants would easily exceed API-TC and JASO FD minimum performance levels, they are not certified in order to maintain confidentiality and protect the significant development cost of new oil. Since it is not required to certify snowmobile oil BRP does not do so in order to protect their proprietary formulation. At BRP, their oil is developed in three stages; the final stage is validation in every engine in application before earning engineering approval. With the newest E-TEC technology, the latest generation of XPS was more than a $3 million investment and is a guarded trade secret, hopefully preventing independent/aftermarket oil companies from trying to copy and potentially manufacture a similar formula without the engineering and development expense.

XPS two-stroke snowmobile oils are application specific and have different viscosity and custom additive packages engineered for the highest performance and best engine protection in Rotax engines. BRP has a long-standing engineering partnership with their lubricant supplier (LubeTech) that leads the development of small engine lubrication products. LubeTech uses its in-house dyno facility and world class development laboratory to produce the only oil that BRP engineers approve for E-TEC to give Ski-Doo owners the best oil for peak performance, engine protection and engine longevity. When it comes to XPS lubricants, BRP remains fully engaged with their oil partner and they mutually share intellectual property to optimize finished fluids – no other lubricant manufacturer can claim this or claim to know as much about the lubrication needs of Ski-Doo’s Rotax engines.