Fuel Injected or 4 stroke???

[Micadogs]

HI, I'm looking to purchase a new motor, 115HP. I'm interested in hearing your opinions on either Fuel Injected or 4 stroke. To remove allegience to the numerous brands could you please provide feedback on the Mercury Optimax v's Mercury 4 stroke (one of the only manufacturers to make both) or information in general about fuel injected vs 4 stroke without mentioing brands. Regards Adam.

[lethal098]

adam, are you talking direct injection 2 stroke and 4 stroke, there are plenty of threads with this topic and it has been done over and over, read through and i am sure you will find the info you need. at the end of the day people will love what they love, i myself have a DI 2 stroke and love it, but have plenty of mates with 4 strokes and they have their advantages and disadvantages. work out what you to do with it and want to you wan to spend. just my opinion cheers Lee

[Angla]

I think lethal has nailed it for you. Purchase based on the work it will do. Do you need hole shot, top speed or trolling. Will you be fishing trolling or just whiting fishing and going to Tangalooma with the family. Is it mainly used in the bay, rivers or out to sea. Their economy seems to be on par and servicing costs are bearable for both.

I have a 2003 135 Optimax with near 400 Hours and standard servicing to this point has been all that it has required. I also went with the installation of the Smart Gauges to enhance the technology with readouts on Tacho and Speedo, fuel used and litres per hour, distance, speed, revs, water temp, motor temp, air temp, trim and tilt, hours of use, battery voltage, charge rate and notification of alarms. I may have missed some things like low oil, water in fuel, Cooling system, oil level, oil pump, water pressure, engine overspeed which are all part of the engine Guardian System

Cheers
Chris

[wags on the water]

Use the search function on here and you'll have hours of reading ahead of you.

[siegfried]

Had both mate, in every respect I thought the 4 stk miles ahead, youll hear all sorts if rot about servicing etc but generally not from people who own them, the 115 zuki yammy merc etc are as good as they get, you wont go wrong with any of em ,the final choice would be dictated by price and dealer support, my experiences with DI have been far from pleasant (read expensive and continuing reliability issues), When the dealer tells you to pi$$ it off and buy a four stk it makes you think twice about throwing good after bad. I have no interest in any brand/dealership etc...just experience with both (approx 3000hrs) Good luck with your purchase

[Micadogs]

Thanks Siegfried, that is the information that I was looking for. There is not much of a price differnece between the optimax and the 4 stroke, less than $800.

Thanks Angla - the 4 stroke only comes with analouge guages and the optimax standard with the smart guauges. Options are available for the 4 stroke, so might consder that.

When talking with the mercury dealer, they really didn't have a preference or a reason for going either way. They stated that perfomance was approx the same in terms of top speed, hole shot and fuel consumption (between mercury only!!!) Made we wonder why they then manufacture both. I have heard and seen in other posts that 4 stroke fuel consumption is far better than the 2 stroke, but merc dont seem to think so.

Useage would be bay fishing, offshore occasionally, family to tangalooma etc. I dont tow anything behind and really a second difference between hole shot is not a decision maker or breaker.

[ozbee]

after owning both in large engines is this short peace of advice . if you go fourstroke go max allowable horsepower . a di will always lift more quicker . a four stroke is quieter and smoother and better fuel economy is achieved in cruising mode . fumes is really a non topic as both are very little. resale the 4 stroke is so far ahead its embarrassing to compare.with modern engineering the gap of instant torque required to lift a hull up on the plane these days is narrowing very quickly . so all the best

[Jasinex]

i have had merc 90hp optimax

same block as the 115 and its by far the best engine i have ever owned. i prefer it to the 4st as it has beter pickup to plane and is about 40kg lighter then the 4st

also fuel efficieny ... cant beat it and

lastly

cost

youll be saving at least 1k for a motor which is lighter, quicker, no difference in engine noise and looks heaps better

:):)

thats wat i think anyway

[finding_time]

What do you meen quiet as a 4 stroke? An OPTI really? They sound like a coffee machine when at idle!! That compressor is hardly quiet!

[ozscott]

Ring Brian at Wondal Rd Marine (Merc dealer) - or better still go and see him, and pepper him with questions about the two motors. Ask him about the reliabilty of the PARTICULAR size Opti versus the 4 stroke of the same HP...because with Merc in particular the particular block and hp is relevant to that question. As an example, in 2000 I purchased a new 60 oil injected carb 2 stroke from him and he made the point then that that package never ever had oil injection issues, but some of the larger mercs in the same tech (ie carb 2 stroke) did... Hes a straight shooter. He also had a 175 (from memory) ex net boat opti in the back room that needs selling...ask to see that one mate.

Cheers

[GBC]

Couldn't say it better Ozscott.
They've always serviced my opti and I couldn't ask for more honest people.
The block thing is why I haven't replied to the thread - mine's a V6 135 and totally different to the 90.
The other thing is ; Adam is looking at a new one and mine is now 3 generations old.

I will say however - I'd like to see a 4 stroke use less fuel than mine - it is amazing - along with hole shot and roll on from 3500 - flat chat.. Mine's had a couple of issues with the way the alternator/compressor are bolted to the block - a common thing in older optis which has been totally re-engineered with the later gen motors - I went thru all this with the guys at Wandall Rd - they've updated mine to latest gen mounts for both the compressor and alternator.
I wouldn't be blindfolded into going 4 stroke for no good reason - while looking for parts I was amazed to find that most outboard wreckers had more 140 zuks than anything else in my power range....

In the end it'd all come down to what you want to do with that boat, and what you're happy with.

Either way I don't think you'll go wrong - assuming you'll do enough hours to recoup the extra cost over a basic two stroke which imho is still a real option in your power range. Don't write them off just because they aren't latest tech.

[ozscott]

GBC - the optis are a very nice motor. From all accounts they are a bit noisier compared to new 4 strokes and the Rude, but tried and tested design and solid (and as you say dont use much fuel and go hard). I wouldnt overlook, especially a good second hand one properly serviced thats done hot hours, say from a net boat).

Cheers

[White Pointer]

Thanks Siegfried, that is the information that I was looking for. There is not much of a price differnece between the optimax and the 4 stroke, less than $800.

Thanks Angla - the 4 stroke only comes with analouge guages and the optimax standard with the smart guauges. Options are available for the 4 stroke, so might consder that.

When talking with the mercury dealer, they really didn't have a preference or a reason for going either way. They stated that perfomance was approx the same in terms of top speed, hole shot and fuel consumption (between mercury only!!!) Made we wonder why they then manufacture both. I have heard and seen in other posts that 4 stroke fuel consumption is far better than the 2 stroke, but merc dont seem to think so.

Useage would be bay fishing, offshore occasionally, family to tangalooma etc. I dont tow anything behind and really a second difference between hole shot is not a decision maker or breaker.

G'day,

Congratulations on dismissing the old 2-stroke VS 4-stroke argument. Now, I don't recall you telling us what it was going on and what it was replacing. It it a new or existing boat? The space on the pod and the weight of the engine are actually more important considerations than the induction system.

Be as careful about putting too light an engine on as too heavy.

Come back to us if you want to follow up.

Regards,

White Pointer

[Micadogs]

Hi Thanks guys for the input so far. The comments coming back are great and if you go through them in detail it is close to the advice that the dealer was saying - there is not a lot of differnece between the Optimax and 4 stroke in terms of fuel consumption, noise, vinbration. Hole shot will be slightly better using the optimax but this is reported as less than a second. With an $800 difference between the two this is not even a deciding factor. Maintenance costs are approx the same also.

From all of this, for me personally, I think I will go the 4 stroke. As you can see there is very little in terms of performance so has to use other factors **My deciding factor** - when i'm looking at boats, the first thing that I look at - has it got a 4 stroke motor? My personal belief is that when I go to sell, having a 4 stroke advertised will give better resale value.

I'm looking at buying a new boat. The boat that I have narrowed it down to is the Pursuit 550F - manufactured in Noosaville. As they are not an OEM motor dealer, I have the option to put whatever power plant on the back from any dealer.

Thanks ozscott - I will give Wonadall Marine a call to go through options and pricing.

Thanks everyone for your input. It confirmed that there is not much of a difference between the Optimax and Mercury 4 stroke. I had to use other factors outside of performance to decide.

[business class]

I know of a 115hp Suzuki 4 stroke for cheap. Is band new in box never used, still has full warranty and i think he is after around 12grand for it. Reason for selling is Financial reasons (wife). is an awesome buy if this interests you. Pm me as i tried to pm you but your box is full.

Cheers
Mat

[Zooter]

Go the Zuki :)

Thats a good price for a new 115 m8:D

The Suzuki 50hp 4 bangers are around 10k retail now with the 17% price increase this year,

Defo worth a look :o