It is designed and built by the Austrian company BRP-Powertrain, owned by Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP), as part of its Rotax brand.

It features dual capacitor discharge ignition, liquid-cooled cylinder heads and air-cooled cylinder barrels, an electric starter, a built in propeller reduction gearbox, dry sump forced oil lubrication and has a separate oil tank.

Rotax can provide a purpose-designed air intake, exhaust system and engine mount.

[2] The 914 is more fuel efficient and lighter than similarly sized traditional engines, but originally had a shorter time between overhaul (TBO), restricting its market potential.

[2] The engine can be operated on 100LL leaded avgas or on unleaded regular automotive gasoline, with a minimum RON of 95.