DF 175 4 stroke suzuki reviews

[trueblue]

whats the good bad and ugly on these motors?

[oldie]

all good mate excellent donk same weight as the 150hp more KW know someone that has one on his ski boat and loves it and know others with one on fishing boats they love em could only dream of owning one myself though

[Zimkideo]

I have had nothing but trouble with my 2009 model.
Engine whines, seized VVTI motor, etc. Poor warranty support from Haines too.

Get a Yamaha

[TREVELLY]

Hi,

I got one on my noble 625 and am very happy with it for fuel economy, power, reliable, quiet, good hole shot, works well with the rig I have it on which is rated for a max 200hp motor.

http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?p=1178966#post1178966

[peterbo3]

Had mine for three years. No problems.

[thylacene]

Purchased a 6.3m Caribbean Reef Runner (rated to 200HP) with a DF175 Suzuki on 4 January, now has 64 hours on it and absolutely no complaints. Quiet and minimal vibration. Have actually forgotten to turn it off after letting it idle down due to how quiet it is at idle.

Fuel economy is great with NMEA Garmin showing 0.5l/km at 7 knots trolling and also at 19-23 knots travelling, pushes up to .8 at 11-15 knots off the plane. With current prop pulls 38 knots at 6K, way to fast for open waters.

Hull is 1020 Kg plus three adults and 200lts fuel when tested. Fitted a Solas 4 blade prop and picked up a bit extra economy over the standard prop. Also feels better in a following sea.

Ran side by side with a mate, same hull with 200 Opti from Bermi to Montague and back, at around 23 knots, used 8 lts less fuel than the Opti, each boat had 3 adults on board and full tanks. Props may have influenced fuel usage, but I was still $11 better off at the pump.

Hole shot is really good, although have not timed it, and runs consistently into a big swell with no surging.

Reasoning for selecting the Suzuki;

Engine is 225kg, the 200 is 45kg heavier, figured it was diminishing returns. 8lt oil capacity, slightly higher service costs but more oil means it runs cooler inside. Timing chain rather than belt, could not find a bad word when researching. NMEA2000 connectivity for real time fuel usage. Mid range performance, we fish out wide, seldom troll livies and never get to run flat out, so the 2 smokes offered no advantages and the Zook doesn't smell bad.

Only minimal hours so far but really pleased.

Cheers

Thy

[devendiva]

I have a 2010 model on a 6m centre console platey. I and everyone who comes fishing with me, love it. Very quiet, heaps of grunt on my boat. GPS history shows top speed at 41.5 knots, not that that's important, but nice to go fast from time to time.

Last trip out to the reef, with 4 good sized fellas, sleeping gear, 3 big eskies full of ice, and heaps of other fishing gear, averaging about 22 knots, punching into a nice chop from 15 knot SE breeze, with trim tabs dug right in, we were getting about .7 - .8 NM / Litre from memory. On the way home, much calmer and doing 32 - 34 knots with bugger all trim tabs, got 1.2 NM / Litre.

Had small issue when motor had 10 hours on it, stopped dead 20 NM out. Had to be towed back home. Injector pump power wire had been pinched when the japs built the engine and it let go. The wire should never have been routed where it was apparently. Complete new harness installed under warranty. No other issues.

Did I say I love it?

[oldie]

I have had nothing but trouble with my 2009 model.
Engine whines, seized VVTI motor, etc. Poor warranty support from Haines too.

Get a Yamaha

did you buy new or second hand?

if new must of been a lemon mate sorry to hear. As you can see on this post lots of happy owners same old story mass produced always the chance of one being bitten

[Zimkideo]

Yeah, brand new.

All of the trouble occurred < 10hrs on it. And it is still not right.

[White Pointer]

G'day,

Mine has done a bit over 300 hours on a 6M plate boat with B&M weighing in at 1.3 tonne dry. It's powerful, has good hole shot, and excellent economy and fuel range from the 250Lt tank.

The 175Hp is a VVT version of the 150Hp so the weight is the same but the engine response is much better in monohulls with one engine. In twin engine set ups, especially on cats, the 150Hp might be better in terms of value for money, but I'll let the cat fanciers vote on that.

What's the interest, new boat or replacement engine?

Regards,

White Pointer

[trueblue]

Was researching about potential engine replacement options.

I had been told by a Suzuki dealer that they were only 190 kg's, but have since looked it up and found they are listed at 220kg.

I liked the idea of the variable valve timing.

my boat currently has a 130 hp yamaha 2 stroke, which is a bit underpowered. a 150 would be nice. but for the same weight, the thought crossed my mind re the 175.

problem with my boat is that in heavy swell weather conditions, I normally can't get much past 15 knots, because of the hull design, and the way it bangs. Its like the torque band of the 2 stroke is all wrong at that speed (31-3400rpm) and it uses ridiculous fuel in bad weather. in calm weather, the fuel usage is tolerable. But there isn't much calm weather to fish in...

If a 175 4 stroke vvt engine (DF 175) was overpowered a bit, and running easily at lower revs, would that be better or worse than a 150 conventional 4 stroke (DF 150) running at higher revs and working a little harder?

cheers

Mick

[SnapHead101]

I have two on my cat. Great engine. The dealer told me using the same amount of hp in a 150 vs 175 would use the same fuel consumption, ie half throttle. The benefit of the 175 is the extra grunt when needed, eg holeshot or large wave etc. Absolutely go the 175 over the 150 if money is not a problem. Only thing, DO NOT get the Commander gauges with fuel flow , they are cr*p, use an NMEA interface instead.

[trueblue]

thanks snaphead, would the lowrance fuel flow meter connected to nmea be better? (I already have a set of that kit ready to install)

[SnapHead101]

The NMEA flow meter would be the way I would go. THe commander gauges work on a paddle wheel system. When it gets really rough (2 to 3 metre waves) mine start to get effected by the bouncing of the boat, so read under or over. The NMEA plugs straight into the CPU. I would have changed to NMEA, except I now know what my boat uses (1.5 to 2 litres per nautical mile all up) and this doesn't change between 10 and 32 knots, so for me there is no point. Personally I would get the 175 as there are no downsides except for weight and use the NMEA.
There is a charter operator with almost the same boat as mine with 150 hp fourstrokes of a different brand. He has driven my boat which is heavier, and states the performance difference is enormous. I think you get a lot more torque with the 175 vtec option, and that makes a lot of difference. If you run an underpowered engine hard, you will suck more fuel and stress the engine, thus shortening it's life.

[SnapHead101]

Sorry, only downside of 175 hp is cost, not weight, they obviously weigh pretty much the same !!

[Argle]

I have a DF175 on my 580BR Signature and love it. Heaps of grunt down low and everywhere else for that matter. The big thing is how smooth and quiet it is like others have said I have to be careful not to hit the start key when its already running - no vibration or smell or smoke etc. The VVT is great too, with my old 2 stroke when going into a power turn ie towing a skier or tube you had to increase throttle to maintain speed, no such issue with the VVT it just holds. Fuel economy is awesome - I dont have exact figures but I go by the pain in my wallet being a lot less;D
Chalk up another happy owner of a DF175!!

Did I mention I love my Suzy?

Cheers
Scott

[Tinlegs]

I've got a 2009 model on my 6-ish metre centre-cabin platey which weighs around 1300kg loaded. Had it fitted in June 2009 and now have about 115 hours on it.

So far, it's been excellent - Noise-wise, I've got a canopy over the back of the boat that transmits the noise back into the cabin, so it's a bit noisy at cruise. Still, it's very quiet at idle and smooth at all revs.

Power-wise, it delivers as good a hole shot as I need for my purposes, and the torque of the engine allows it to keep speed at sea with little adjustment to the throttle neccessary. This was a bigger benefit for me than I realised it would be - the black anchor I had on the boat before needed constant attention, which adds to your fatigue at the end of the day.

Economy - my Navman sounder has a read-out telling me I get between 1.5 and 1.9 km/L at cruise depending on conditions. I have not bothered to work out whether that's true or not, it tallies well enough with the fuel gauges and charts tell me and it's good enough for what I do.

Performance - top speed over 75km/hr when it's very flat and I'm being silly, cruise at about 40km/hr and 4200 revs for the rest of the time.

Reliability - faultless so far. Not one issue.

Servicing Costs - manageable, I account for just over a dollar an hour and it's about right so far. If you get one, and you're around Brisbane, I recommend using John Eadie for servicing. He comes to you and knows the engine well.

When I was looking, it came down to this one and a Yamaha 150 four stroke. I chose the Suzuki because I got a great deal, there were very few complaints about them and because I didn't want to have to give away 25hp for the Yam.

Good luck with your choice.

[Moonlighter]

Hi guys

Regarding the instrumentation for the new Suzuki outboards, I was talking to my Suzuki dealer Jon Eadie a while ago and he mentioned that a new option you can select instead of the normal set of analogue gauges, you can get a Garmin GMI-10 multi-function display which Suzuki now has as an option.

This display works on the NMEA 2000 network and if you hook up your GPS antenna to it, will give you the ability to display the full range of engine data plus fuel economy data as well - you'd have to check the price but I think he said the price difference to the standard set of 3 gauges is negligible.

Some details:

Sunlight viewable 3.5" colour QVGA display.
320 x 240 pixel resolution.
Sleek 4" flush-mount bezel.
Configure as a single function stand-alone instrument or build an all-in-one multifunction instrument system.
Can display data from multiple sensors (optional extras) on one screen.
Capabilities include wind, radar, depth, speed, fuel & engine monitoring, and navigation data (when connected with the appropriate accessories, sold separately).
Data ports accept NMEA 0183 and NMEA 2000If I was getting a new Zuke it's what I'd be getting:D They look similar to the Yamaha display that you can get with their big 4 strokes.

This is what they look like:

http://www.biasboating.com.au/images/PRODUCT/medium/2429.jpg

[Noelm]

I looked at that when I got my motors, almost went for it, but in the end I ended up with "old fashioned" gauges, I think the Garmin 750S sonder/GPS can do the same thing, but I may be wrong, I dont own one so only going on rumour.

[thylacene]

I looked at that when I got my motors, almost went for it, but in the end I ended up with "old fashioned" gauges, I think the Garmin 750S sonder/GPS can do the same thing, but I may be wrong, I dont own one so only going on rumour.

Noelm,

You are correct, the Garmin 750S has full NMEA2000 connectivity and allows display of Suzuki engine sensors, fuel and economy etcetera. We have this setup on our boat, just put a post in the electronics category about it. If you were fitting up a new boat it is an economical proposition, but from memory, the rigging kit was about $700 so the unit installed runs to just over $2500 all up.

The Suzuki is everything we expected and a bit more. Fuel economy is 0.5l/km or 2km/l at 21 knots consistent with 6.3 m hull, hardtop, fuel, passengers and gear coming in just over 1500Kg. Not having owned a boat this size previously I have little to compare with, but a mate has the same hull with a 200 Opti and his fuel usage is slightly more, but that could be the different drivers

Cheers

Thy

[odes20]

I have mine on a Yalta Odessa 6.1 and its just a marvelous donk. I get 1.7-1.8 litres per KM in almost all my boating . I cruise long distance at 4500 rpm which is about 51 -53 kph. I run a Suzuki 15x21 3 blade prop and wot is 6100

Can't fault

Cheers
John

[thylacene]

I have mine on a Yalta Odessa 6.1 and its just a marvelous donk. I get 1.7-1.8 litres per KM in almost all my boating . I cruise long distance at 4500 rpm which is about 51 -53 kph. I run a Suzuki 15x21 3 blade prop and wot is 6100

Can't fault

Cheers
John

John,

Are you sure about your fuel, my numbers are the other way around, getting 1.8 to 2 Kms per litre, or .5 to .6 liters per Km which represents about half of what you state you are using. Our hull is 6.3M and weighs 1020kg bare, add engine, fuel, gear and people and I reckon its close to 1600Kg all up on the water with a 21 degree deadrise.

You might be selling yourself short.

Cheers

Thy

[trueblue]

those figures sound a bit back to front to me as well

[thylacene]

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/P_qxWaXSpF4MZI5###9pyg?feat=directlink


Putting a couple of hours on it at Wallaga Lake to make 20 for the service to avoid three week delay due to dealer bookings.

Get the same out front as well

Cheers

Thy

[odes20]

John,

Are you sure about your fuel, my numbers are the other way around, getting 1.8 to 2 Kms per litre, or .5 to .6 liters per Km which represents about half of what you state you are using. Our hull is 6.3M and weighs 1020kg bare, add engine, fuel, gear and people and I reckon its close to 1600Kg all up on the water with a 21 degree deadrise.

You might be selling yourself short.

Cheers

Thy
Yes thanks mate and true blue! Sorry for the blunder

It is the other way around. 1.8 kms per litre Other way is seriouly bad !

Cheers
John

[Jakers 69]

Cost difference only $1250 from the 150 to the 175

[stabi 659]

Can not fault the 175hp Suzuki. Have had mine since 2008 on 2 boats now, a 6.4 plate boat and now a 659 Stabicraft. Not quite the hole shot of a 2 stroke yet economical, quiet and no smoke. Over 300hrs on mine now and runs like new. Service can be a bit pricey depending on who you get to do it.

I avearage about 1.2km/lt anywhere between 3500 - 4500rpm @ 18-24knts. 5000rpm gives me 28knts and Flat out at 6100rpm about 36knts. Could pull close to 40knts on my last boat.

Lowrance also do a NMEA setup but still trying to sort mine out. Looks like they have moved from Lowrance to Garmin due to the problems.

If you do go with the Suzuki you will never look back.

Cheers