150 Opti vs E-Tec

[hunterjoe]

I'm looking at getting one of these motors. Just looking at some input on them. Pros/cons of each. If it matters, it'll be on an Alumacraft Dominator. Just looking for info from owners to help me make my decision.

[Sutty]

I have a 135 opti which is the same block as the 150 and has similar specs. I have had it for about 2 years now and so far It has been great. My advice when looking at motors is always get the one you get the best deal on. See how long the warranties last as well. In the spring they usually have specials on extended warranties.

[Musky_Madness]

Both motors are going to be outstanding! You are going to have supporters of both. I have a 150 Opti and wouldn't trade it for the world as I'm sure the 150 E-Tec owners would say the same. I like the look of the Opti a little more as the E-Tec engines don't look that big. It says the HP rating on the back and I'm always taken back. I also like the sound of the Optimax. It has a distinct roar when planed out and some may not care for that, but I like it. The Optimax is lean on gas and oil. Certainly a huge upgrade from the old EFI Mercury's. I haven't seen it smoke yet but when the wind is in the right direction blowing towards you, you can occasionally get a whiff of smoke. You do have to pamper the Optimax a little bit by buying special DFI oil and fill it with non-oxygenated fuel. I am not sure if there is anything similar with the eTec or not. In the year we've owned it, no problems at all and like stated in the beginning I absolutely love it.

[Ray Esboldt]

I have a 90 Optimax tiller. I love that motor. I love the sound it makes at idle and WOT. It gets great gas mileage. In fact it beats my brothers 80 Yamaha 4-stroke. And, it is a quick motor. It puts my 18.5 boat on plane right now. The drawbacks - they are expensive to maintain. The DFI oil is expensive, the lower unit grease is expensive, and anything else that needs regular maintenance is expensive. I paid $43 for a fuel filter!

Would I buy another Optimax, yes. If I got a good deal on an Etec, would I buy that, probably. I would even consider 4 strokes given the right circumstances. However, I really think DFI motors are the way to go.

[RuKiddingMe]

I have a 115 opti, no complaints here, plenty of power for my 17.5' boat. Plus like others have said, the opti's have a roar that just make you want to give the ol' Tool Time grunt, man they sound mean...

My vote is Opti - odd because I grew up around ev's and swore I would never run a Merc, got a deal on the boat and couldn't pass it up.

RU

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Might want to read the guys post about his E-Tec issue. Might want to see if they cover his issue under warranty first.

[Down2Earth]

I would get the ETec in a heart beat.

[hunterjoe]

Down2Earth,

Give me some info as to why you like the E-Tec so much? Not saying there aren't any reasons, I've been leaning a little that way anyhow. I do like some of the advantages of the E-Tec, but want to know more specific reasons for each. I like Ray's comments, loves the motor but is a little expensive to maintain and also gets great mileage. Can you give me reasons why you would go E-Tec? Thanks!!

[BoxMN]

Check the price on that eTec oil, then see if the Opti oil is more Seriously, check it out. Two different versions if I recall correctly, depending upon what computer setting you use. Don't mix the two up... or you will be in for service

BTW - lower unit lube is lower unit lube, I think. We use the high perf even in our old 50 hp. Doesn't take much regardless of what motor you have.

Good luck, all good choices.

[hunterjoe]

Box,

Looks like the Opti oil is about $10 cheaper. I just did a quick search so if it's incorrect, excuse my ignorance. I'm new to the larger outboards and all I really know about them is what the dealers say and what each manufacturers say. Like I said, I was set on the E-Tec but noticed they don't compare them to the Opti on their site whereas Mercury compares to the Opti on theres. Made me wonder.

[snowman678]

hunterjoe,

do a google search for bass & walleye boats magazine, and look for some of their comparisons. they usually do a pretty good job of objectively testing/comparing and give the facts of what they find, not what the manufacturers want them to tell you. i personally have the 150 opti (new this spring so not a ton of hours yet, i think around 20) and am very happy w/ the motor so far. i picked it mainly because of the deal i got on the boat i wanted. i was pretty neutral as to my preference of opti vs. e-tech, but the deal i got made my decision for me. i personally don't think you could go wrong either way. as others have mentioned, there's just something about the growl from the opti that puts a smile on your face when running across the lake.

[BoxMN]

Joe,

Either motor is a great choice! I am a Merc fan myself, but have operated smaller hp eTecs and they are great motors as well. The bigger decision is whether you want two-stroke or 4 stroke. In my mind, if you want quiet get a 4 stroke. If you want more/better performance (think heavier load, skiing, tubing, etc.) get a 2 stroke. 4 stroke can still ski etc, but just not as good IMHO. The Verado is totally different beast, and I haven't driven one, but hear that it is a totally different experience, in a very good way

Look at price and what your dealer recommends. You hear all kinds of rambling from many folks, including me telling you what is better. But don't let price of oil make the decision. The eTecs and Optis use so little of it compared to older 2 strokes that it really doesn't matter. And in case you need service somewhere, the networks of both are pretty big and good.

Little story, I was trying to fix my older Evinrude the past few weeks (ended up being repair errors on my part) and I told the guys at the shop where I was getting parts that I am already teaching my Grandkids that reason the motor wasn't running was because it isn't black and he laughed and said (being an Evinrude shop) we usually tell it the other way around, ha!

BTW - we are also Alumacraft fans, have two right now, and last one was also. Good boats. But again, most boats now are good, but the 2xb hull really is solid.

Good luck and have fun in your search and afterward out on the water! Take some pics once you get it and post them, hopefully with a nice fish being held up

[gregg52]

i have a 150 e tec

talking bout the sound i love to listen to mine idle it starts before you finish turnin the key

good things bout the e-tec power !!! planes boat out right now i can see over the bow ALL the time and thats a 150 on a 21ft glass boat

it idle down pretty slow you can pull cranks going foward on flat water at 2.5 doesnt take much of a chop to back troll below

1mph no need to be foolin with socks

i did have a problem with a fuel thingy lol on the motor last yr but fixed in afternoon i'm close to e-tec warrenty place

the oil is spendy 40 $$ a gal but it doesnt seem to go thrrew alot i cant remeber i fish every week on winnie so i put some miles on and i know i didnt but more than 3 gals last summer

the motor is fairly quite even runnin across the lake not as quite as yamies and honda of course

i also had a 60e-tec for yr and thought that was a good motor lots of power there to also on a glass boat took it right out of the water to i never owned a merc so i cant compare it

if you are arround winnie i 'd gladly give you a ride then you would want to buy a YAR CRAFT to lol

big buck decisions are tuff i went to every show 2 winters ago got as much info as i could flip floped between skeeter and yar craft and i'm very confident i made the right choice the boat i bought already had an e tec on it but i was going to buy e-tec no matter what i also have a 600 mxz that is fassssssst bombardier makes air planes to so lots of tec goes into to thses things

i agree on watching that other post under evinrude service see how he comes out after his warreny is done

i'm very interested in that

[hunterjoe]

I think I'd like the growl of the Opti too. I don't think quiet will really matter in my main outboard. I plan to put a kicker on the boat since I decided I'm going to be doing a lot of trolling (salmon, muskie and cranks for eyes). I'd hate to try and troll with a 150 and put all the hours on the motor.

[BoxMN]

FWIW, those big motors can troll all day long for years. If you can get by with going 2.5 like gregg says, then won't even need a kicker. But if you want to go slower, then you prolly would.

On the kicker side, a black Pro Kicker looks and operates perfect next to big black motor You have two choice sfor kicker, Pro Kicker or Yammie T8. If you like "matching" that helps make a "black versus blue" decision eaier, ha!

Currently we have merc 150efi and we troll a ton. Anything slower than 2.6 we use the bow mount 24v. But if you are doing all day trolling, and on great lakes, I would get a kicker for sure.

[hunterjoe]

If I get a black motor, the kicker will be black too. However, if I get a white motor then I'd get the T8 as it's a little cheaper. I think with as much as I like to troll, it would be worth it.

[snowman678]

FWIW, those big motors can troll all day long for years. If you can get by with going 2.5 like gregg says, then won't even need a kicker. But if you want to go slower, then you prolly would.

I'll have to disagree slightly w/ this one. The newer opti's do not troll as well as the older ones. #1 they have increased the idle rpm from what they used to have. #2 the newer opti's thermostat is a dual temp type of deal (i have no idea how it works, but it runs much cooler at the higher rpm's and running speeds, and can actually get pretty close to overheating if run at low rpm's for too long (i have had my temp alarm go off when idling for a fairly extended length of time shortly after break-in period) but have also heard this from several other opti owners (have also heard that it gets better w/ some more hours on the motor). this is one area where i feal the e-tech has a definite advantage, although i'm not sure why you'd want to put a bunch of hours on your big motor just idling around. if you want to troll go w/ the kicker or one of the electric options(either transom mount or engine mount). i have the minnkota vantage 80 on my 1860 ranger and it works well, but if i didn't already have the 80 from my old boat, i would probably go w/ the 101 on this boat as it takes more juice to back-troll the ranger than my 175 tournament pro. it does work well for forard trolling too, as you can either use the tiller option, or set it to run straight ahead and use the big motor as a rudder of sorts for steering.

[gregg52]

youll like the growl on e tec as well its sounds like power then pipes up some once to speed so its not screamin at you

as far as troling time i guess i never thought bout it runs so good at a slow speed i have a hard thik you using it up

i trolled from 3rd river to the cutfoot oneday day last aug

and it never spit spurtter or give me any indacation it was loading up just case you dont know that is about 5-6 miles

like i said if u get up this (winnie) i'd be more than happy to give you a ride weather it be glass flat or 3 fters

i guess that kinda brings me to another point you can run at slower speeds and keep that bow down i know trim comes into play there but i dodnt monkey much with that 34% seems to cover most situations i 'm old i like convience i wanna fish not pull drift sock up and down and untangle them etc etc i think i might buy that troll master if i ever regain employment lol for the t-8 still researching that

i guess i'm not sure what you are putti it on

[Bandit]

E-Tec no question. Merc went too long without competition, and I think it shows. Besides that I cant stand the way those optis rattle when you fire them up. Gives me visions of rods flying though the cowling as soon as you get after them. The verado may be different, but who wants to spend that kind of money on an outboard and deal with all the maint.

[gregg52]

down2earth

curious what size motor do you have

do you run 3/4 thottle

i dont think i'm gettin that good of fuel milege on mine (150 e-tec)

i know holding that throttle back helps

[riverrat13]

I also own a 115 ETEC that I'm very happy with it! I'ts small,fast,light,quiet and very easy on gas and oil.The ETEC is very easy to maintain and winterize.Its a great for pulling raps or your family on tubes.Test them both and you be the judge,I did and I'm happy with my choice!