Outboard Motor

[hill7410]

I have been looking at buying a new motor and i have been seeing a lot of the Evinrude e-tec, that is pretty cool how you dont have to do an oil change or no break in period, great warranty too, way better gas milage and lighter, but i am still open to other opinions before i make my purchase, what kind of motors do you guys have, what are the pro's and con's about them??

Thanks for the advice

[Eastwind]

You didn't mention what size motor you are thinking of.

[fishuhalik]

Well, I sell the Mercury Optimax, which is the E-Tec's direct competition. Believe me, I'm not telling you this to try to get a sale or anything, cuz chances are you're not gonna buy from me, this is just my honest opinion. The Optimax beats it in every category. Better gas milage, better top speed and holeshot, and lighter and less expensive. It also has a five year warrenty right now. Now, I'm not dogging the E-Tec, it's a great motor and the Opti beats it only by a little in every category. The thing I like the most about the Opti is that it's a Merc motor, and you're gonna be able to find parts for it anywhere, and the parts are alot less expensive. Just my .02, and if you talk to a guy that sells Evinrude he'll prolly tell ya different. Also, I've only been in the business for about 2 months, but I talked to one of our service guys here who's been working on 'em since they were introduced, and he's only had to do any kind of significant work on 3 motors. Last year alone we sold over 1000 Optis. That should say something about their reliability!

[Glenn_S]

I have to disagree with your statements about fuel economy, weight and performance. It depends entirely on the size of the motor, type of boat and how you drive it, as well as brand. A blanket statement can be misleading, and should not be made. It is likely that most on this board would run a 90 over a 300, but I have included numbers for all three sizes for comparison. BTW, I run a Yamaha, so neither Merc or Evinrude are my motor!

I think the hard numbers give a batter read on fuel economy, weight and performance than a mechanics "gut feel", no offense to your mechanic.

Per Bass & Walleye Boat magazine, and their tests for 300, 225 and 90 horsepower motors:

Gambler Bass Boat:__________________________________________

Yamaha HPDI: 590 lbs. & 83.0 mph top speed

Merc Optimax: 500 lbs. & 89.4 mph top speed

300hp @ best cruise speed:

Yamaha HPDI: 4.9 MPG

Merc Optimax: 3.4 MPG

300hp @ WOT:

Yamaha HPDI: 3.7 MPG

Merc Optimax: 3.1 MPG

Bullet Bass Boat:___________________________________________

Yamaha HPDI: 584 lbs. & 84.9 mph top speed

Evinrude E-Tec: 564 lbs. & 84.2 mph top speed

Merc Optimax Pro-XS (Racing div.): 520 lbs. & 90.4 mph top speed

225hp @ best cruise speed:

Yamaha HPDI: 5.8 MPG

Evinrude E-Tec: 5.0 MPG

Merc Optimax Pro-XS (Racing div.): 5.6 MPG

225hp @ WOT:

Yamaha HPDI: 4.6 MPG

Evinrude E-Tec: 4.0 MPG

Merc Optimax Pro-XS (Racing div.): 4.9 MPG

Triton Aluminum Boat:_______________________________________

Honda: 373 lbs. & 47.7 mph top speed

Evinrude E-Tec: 305 lbs. & 49.9 mph top speed

Merc Optimax: 360 lbs. & 49.7 mph top speed

90hp @ best cruise speed:

Honda: 9.2 MPG

Evinrude E-Tec: 8.8 MPG

Merc Optimax: 7.1 MPG

90hp @ WOT:

Honda: 6.4 MPG

Evinrude E-Tec: 6.1 MPG

Merc Optimax: 5.9 MPG

[78cj5]

"Well, I sell the Mercury Optimax"... "Believe me, I'm not telling you this to try to get a sale or anything"... "The Optimax beats it in every category. Better gas milage, better top speed and holeshot, and lighter and less expensive." "I'm not dogging the E-Tec, it's a great motor and the Opti beats it only by a little in every category."

This blanket statement lacks so much objectivity, it lacks all credibility. I chose one fact to check, went to both websites to check the weight of an Optimax 90 and an E-Tec 90. The Optimax weighs in at 375# and the E-Tec at 326#. I didn't even bother with the rest of the statements.

[cold one sd]

I have a Merc Verado. No complaints and it runs like a car. Break in is two hours. After that the only restriction is wide open for less than five minutes at a time for the next 8 hrs. If I was worried about weight I would have bought a canoe.

[Glenn_S]

Nobody was questioning the Merc products. They are a good product.

The issue was blanket statements with inaccurate information skewed by a salesman. No one motor, brand, etc is right for every application.

Glenn

[cold one sd]

Quote:

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Nobody was questioning the Merc products. They are a good product.

The issue was blanket statements with inaccurate information skewed by a salesman. No one motor, brand, etc is right for every application.

Glenn

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hill7410 asked about what kinds of motors we have and pros and cons about them. Since he started this thread I thought I would give him an answer. This is the issue as I see it.