40hp mercury 4-stroke vs. evinrude e-tec 2-stroke???

[howellcanufish]

Hello FMer's. It's been awhile but I've recently been handed the oppurtunity to buy a pontoon for my inlaws. I have picked out a boat, but now I need to find the right powerplant. My intuition tells me I should go with the 4-stroke for quiet, smokeless, smooth running, turn key operation but I'm not up to date with the new 2-stroke environmentally friendly motors. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

[78cj5]

We have a 40hp E-Tec on a 20' Premier while my parents have a 40hp Merc on their pontoon. Both motors are 2005's, three cabin's away from each other.

Both are great motors, both similar in the noise department. The Premier is four feet shorter than my parents boat, so there have been no drag races (at least fair ones).

I am not going to try to sell you on the E-Tec, but just bought a 90hp E-Tec for my Mr. Pike if that tells you anything. Light, easy, nice power-band, etc.