One big fear for many off-road motorcyclists and off-roaders in general is when you cross a stream, river, or wash and the water is slightly deeper than originally anticipated. The fear doesn't come from you not having enough traction to make it across, but rather that water will get pulled in through the intake and right into the engine, hydro-locking it, and basically turning it into a very cool-looking brick.
It'll also cost you an arm and a leg to fix, which ain't great, either.
I've seen that fear arise, though. During one recent outing on some motorcycles, we were crossing a large stream that had a handful of unseen holes dug by trucks and SUVs, and the rider hit one while navigating through. They lost their balance and fell over, the bike becoming fully submerged under the torrent of water. Luckily for everyone, the rider killed the motorcycle quickly, and before any water could be sucked into its engine. But what if you didn't have to worry about that? What if there was an engine that was waterproof?
Well, Geely and Renault think they've built exactly that, and I can't help but think about how this could revolutionize the off-road worlds I inhabit.
The engine, co-developed by the two companies, is called the Horse B20, and I love that. According to the release, it's a 2.0-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder gasoline engine, that can also work with hybrid batteries, and as a range-extender for EVs. But more importantly, it carries an IPX8 rating, which means, according to our friends at Garmin, that the product "Can be submerged to greater than 1 meter with the exact depth to be defined by the manufacturer." In this case, 1.1 meters or 3.6 feet deep. That's nearly over the hood of most cars, trucks, and SUVs, and well over everything in the motorcycling world, too.
As for specs, the Horse B20 can put out a respectable 188 to 248 horsepower, and 221 to 280 pound-feet of torque, depending on the setup. And when it comes to waterproofing, basically everything on the engine, transmission, and throughout the engine's electrical infrastructure carries the same IPX8 rating. And while everyone is clamoring to the comments to talk intakes and cooling, apparently, the Horse uses dual-cooling methods to keep the engine temperatures down, while specialized injectors and software keep the engine running when air isn't being supplied via the intake.
Moreover, this isn't some theoretical engine that'll never see the light of day—I'm looking at you, water-powered engine that's the talk of the town on the dark web. No, it's real, and it's already in production, and folks in China can buy it in the new Geely Galaxy Cruiser 700.
So when, if ever, are we going to see something like this show up in a motorcycle, ATV, or UTV? That's my biggest question at present. Because if this works the way the companies' state, then this is going to be a gamechanger in the world of powersports.
