XL reflects the fact that the engine is Xtra Large compared with the MW54 and MW44. The 200 reflects the weight target for the engine with ECU and pump - 2 kilos or less.

For a long time, we felt that the large engine market was well-supplied by our competitors. However, for the last couple of years customers have been saying "Why don't you build a bigger engine? If you did, I'd buy one!" and we always listen to our customers. They perceived one brand as reliable but heavy, another brand as unreliable, and they were looking for an engine which was less heavy but very reliable. They also wanted Wren standards of engineering and customer support.

We decided to use a 120mm diameter case instead of the more usual 110mm. Some engines in the 16kg class have had problems and we felt that much of this was due to having to squeeze out the maximum possible thrust from a smaller compressor, diffuser and turbine wheel. By using the larger diameter we have given ourselves more room for future development and also, we hope, increased reliability. However, we have been able to shorten the engine considerably when compared with those of our competitors, because we have a lot of experience in making short combustion chambers. This has resulted in a considerable weight saving over other 120mm diameter engines and the XL200 is only 20mm longer than the MW54. The XL200 will also be the only engine in its class with an integral FOD screen, as used on all Wren engines.