Outboard choice

ufix1 · 21-11-2011, 03:09 PM

Hi Guys,

My friend is looking to buy an outboard in the range of 225hp. Our main choices fell between Mariner Verado, Mariner optimax, Yamaha and Suzuki and I suggested evinrude.
Apart from the price which one would you recommend in terms of reliability, (since this engine will be used nearly everyday in the summer for water sports) and performance and fuel consumption. I did try to find fuel consumption nos. but it seems hard to find official figures.
Looking at the specs Id say either the optimax or the evinrude.
Any opinions appreciated.

Cheers,
Rob.

Mike_G · 21-11-2011, 03:26 PM

Performance - Mariner Optimax
Performance / Reliability - Yamaha

Don't touch any Evinrude it's rubish

RossM · 21-11-2011, 03:58 PM

The Evinrude representative said between the merc 200xs & evinrude 200ho, The Evinrude might be a tiny bit better on fuel, but the Merc would give better performance.

ufix1 · 21-11-2011, 04:23 PM

Thanks Mike_G, I fancy the mariner but Yamaha ain't that bad either

Thanks PuppiesBalls - However do you thin that the XS would give good reliability for heavy use in the summer?

Paul E · 21-11-2011, 06:18 PM

What boat is it going on and what will it be used for?

A large part of your decision should be based on what the dealers that you'd be using are like. The Evinrude warranty is superb, they have genuine 300 hour / 3 year service intervals, and you can winterise it yourself in about 2 minutes. The XS Merc is only 2.5l and in a pretty high state of tune, so I'd stay away from that for leisure use. I've got no experience of the new Yamahas, although the older 2 strokes were superb leisure motors. As for Optimax, I wouldn't personally after my girlfriend's brother's 200 ran like a 5 cylinder piece of crap for a year and nobody could tell us why, then it spat a con rod out and only had 90 hours on it.

"Don't touch any Evinrude it's rubbish" is hardly constructive advice, what I will say though is if it's gonna get a hard life then the saddles and mounts aren't up to it really! For leisure that's the way I'd go. Not a fan of 4 strokes

pro-rig · 21-11-2011, 07:37 PM

Two stroke all the way, I don't see the why pepole would go for a four stroke these days when you can get the same benefits in today's 2 stokes. As Paul says the evinrudes real weakness is in the saddle. These have only failed when being used in a race application and not a leisure one. Performance wise the opti and the Etec are very well matched. The only benefit that I can see is that the Etec is a very simple engine and does not need a compressor to obtain it's performance, less parts mean less to go wrong. This is just my opinion and I'm sure some will disagree.

Techteam · 22-11-2011, 12:25 AM

Like Rob says the Evinrude and the Optimax seem pretty well matched, Robs statement about the Optimax using the compressor to obtain it's performance is slightly misleading, As the saddle failures seem to be coming more frequent I'd go Merc but then I bleed black.

Renegade · 22-11-2011, 01:27 AM

Evinrude all the way. i work with them commercially and can provide you with a few facts and figures. One of my engines now has 2600 hours on. one had over 3500 before it finally gave up...... i woul like to point out we can rack up 1500 hours in a year. they are not crap at all.
If you get on get it set up by a rude dealer/ specialist. on our fuel flow meters a 200ho can use 70 ltrs an hout at wot. that is on a commercisl twin rig set up for cruising.

Get in touch if you want to know more. i also have my own 150ho.

Mike_G · 22-11-2011, 08:14 AM

Sorry for telling that evinrude is crap. Propably it is not.
I had 2 of them and had a lot of problems with both. That is the reason of my opinion. Plus nobody could help me with it in Poland. Polish dealers / services no notihing about them.

As for Yamaha and Merc. Didn't have any problems at all

Also love 2 strokes, unfortunetly right now I have 4 stroke (Long story but it is connected with broken evinrude). Will see how it runs next season

Mike

Paul E · 22-11-2011, 08:42 AM

That's the trouble with all modern outboards, they're so reliant on ECUs/witchcraft to operate that you really need the right gear and knowledge to work on them if something goes wrong!

pro-rig · 22-11-2011, 09:51 AM

Finding a good dealer no matter what the make of the outboard always takes the hard work out of boating. Aftercare is so important these days, especially if you want to build a good reputation and gain repeat custom.

RossM · 22-11-2011, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ufix1

Thanks PuppiesBalls - However do you thin that the XS would give good reliability for heavy use in the summer?

IMO most outboards are very reliable, provided there used how they should be & not messed with by a some half assed mechanic who doesnt know what he's doing...

AndyMac has an XR2, which is a 15 year old, (carbed race engine with no rpm limiter), & for about 5 years it was driven to the limit & beyond, reving it to 7,3- 7500 rpm every outing & when it finally gave up after hundreds of hours boating it blew a hole in the side of the block, still ran okay, got us all the way home....we actually didnt even notice the hole in the block a few weeks after when we were just getting her ready for another round!

In 2006 I finished building our engine and its by far been the most reliable engine we've ever run despite it being 10 years old, & having 350hp.
I checked the compression a couple of months ago and there exactly the same as they were when it was first built.

If your using in really big sea's or driving it really hard go for an engine with a heavy duty saddle, if not then any modern merc/evinrude/yam will give you years of problem free boating, Just make sure you get a decent one!

The Merc High performance stuff all use the Heavy duty saddle, which is alot stronger & has solid mounts which you wont have any problems with.

Renegade · 22-11-2011, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike_G

Sorry for telling that evinrude is crap. Propably it is not.
I had 2 of them and had a lot of problems with both. That is the reason of my opinion. Plus nobody could help me with it in Poland. Polish dealers / services no notihing about them.

As for Yamaha and Merc. Didn't have any problems at all

Also love 2 strokes, unfortunetly right now I have 4 stroke (Long story but it is connected with broken evinrude). Will see how it runs next season

Mike

You did have bad luck mate thats for sure. but i think you just bought bad motors. i have had the brp engines since 2002. No problems apart from early gearbox problems which were rectified. also like you say no help. good luck for the future though.

ufix1 · 23-11-2011, 03:37 PM

Thanks for your answers Guys!!

We will be using the motor on a 20ft boat, for commercial use, so reliability& fuel consumption will be paramount. It seems that Mariner and Evinrude are the best option, however Evinrude has the edge since it doesn't have any compressor.

Another question about the Evinrude bracket and saddle, what exactly do you mean when you say they failed? Did it fail under extreme use or any typical commercial use? We're not going to drive savagely but we'll be using the engine all spring/summer long so we wont want it failing during the season. Also can the engine be orderred with a heavy duty bracket to suit such usage?

Any opinions on Yamaha and Suzuki??

Thanks again,
Robert,

OCRDA · 23-11-2011, 03:44 PM

For the use you mention Yamaha 4 Stroke !! My 115 is absolutely amazing !!

RossM · 23-11-2011, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ufix1

however Evinrude has the edge since it doesn't have any compressor.

Dont let that put you off, the only problem on the mercurys compressor was that the bolts came undone & the pulley comes off!...That was only on the early models as mercury very quickly changed to high tensile bolts, If youve go got a merc with the compressor (all DFI models I believe) just spend £5-10 quid on 6 high tensile bolts and forget about it!

Regarding the evinrude saddle, they only fail under heavy use/racing, unless your going to drive like a hooligon dont worry about it, No heavy duty saddle/mounts available for evinrude.

Not sure weather you know this but mercury & mariner are the same, just ones black & slightly more expensive!

Paul E · 23-11-2011, 05:23 PM

My saddle broke about 3 laps after the pic in my avatar was taken, we were racing it bloody hard in conditions that we'd never normally be out in! Nothing to worry about unless you're driving like a complete tit for prolonged periods!

ufix1 · 24-11-2011, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PuppiesBalls

Dont let that put you off, the only problem on the mercurys compressor was that the bolts came undone & the pulley comes off!...That was only on the early models as mercury very quickly changed to high tensile bolts, If youve go got a merc with the compressor (all DFI models I believe) just spend £5-10 quid on 6 high tensile bolts and forget about it!

Regarding the evinrude saddle, they only fail under heavy use/racing, unless your going to drive like a hooligon dont worry about it, No heavy duty saddle/mounts available for evinrude.

Not sure weather you know this but mercury & mariner are the same, just ones black & slightly more expensive!

I know of that yes. Thanks

Silversurfer · 24-11-2011, 12:17 PM

Had quite a few Mercs they always break / need repairing. Had a couple of yamahas, none of them have ever broken. Four stroke fuel consumption in my experience is considerably less. Yamaha starts and runs first time every time. If you want to go fast get a Mercury, if you want get home buy a Yamaha.

ufix1 · 25-11-2011, 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silversurfer

Had quite a few Mercs they always break / need repairing. Had a couple of yamahas, none of them have ever broken. Four stroke fuel consumption in my experience is considerably less. Yamaha starts and runs first time every time. If you want to go fast get a Mercury, if you want get home buy a Yamaha.

Thanks for your opinion it seems that merc and mariner are getting a rather bad name when it comes to the get-you home bit.