115 Johnson - 115 Suzuki - Any difference?

[Moray2004]

I am soon to purchase two new motors for my cat and thus far have only priced 2 new 115 suzukis (four stroke). I have read on US sites that the suzuki and johnson four strokes are the same motor but the johnos have used the suzuki powerhead and their own gearbox. In similar forums to this they refer to the motors as johnzukies.

A friend of mine spoke to a mechanic and he told him that the johno gearbox is better than the suzuki and that he would recommend a johno motor ahead of the suzuki for that reason.

Does anyone have web links or definitive information (not speculation) about the johnson - suzuki relationship and whether one has a difference gearbox. If so what is the better motor? First hand experiences would be great to hear.

Lastly, what would be a fair price for the 115 HP four stroke suzuki (excluding fitting).

I have yet to go and see the e-tec dealer but will do so mainly for a price comparison and to hear their sales pitch.

Cheers

Moray

[joey_1987]

Hey, Suzuki provide BRP with the 4 strokes and they market them as Johnson 4 strokes. They are identical except for the paint. Was this dealer a Johnson dealer by any chance ;D . Joey.

[MulletMan]

SUZUKI
SUSIE
SUZY

Being purchased by many of the marine rescue groups and feedback is they are brilliant!

Forget the Johno!

[Moray2004]

Yes it was a Johnson dealer. He also deals in Etecs and pushed them a lot more so than the four strokes.

[Coontakinta]

Moray, I had the BRP dealer push the E-tec over the johnson also, when I looked @ a 4stroke for my rig. Wouldnt bag them just kept pushing the value of the E-tec over a 4 stroke.

Wondered if it had anything to do with the mark up :-/

[joey_1987]

He probably gets more incentives to sell the E-tec's. I would go the fourstroke. Go to a Suzuki dealer and price one of these up and compare it to the Johnson. Also have a read of this review. http://boatpoint.ninemsn.com.au/portal/alias__boatpointau/tabID__200859/ArticleID__119833/DesktopDefault.aspx The Johnson and Suzuki are identical motors except for the colour. Many commercial, water police and VMR services are switching to Suzuki these days. I'm not biased because I own a 2 stroke 30hp Mariner which is built by Tohatsu. If you can test the motors out, then do so. Joey.

[insideout]

Gday Moray 2004 , our first boat was a kevlacat 38 flybridge with twin 250 suzis four strokes ( which was only the second set of 250s in aust at the time) and they were a the best outboards id ever owned. Being the only set in eastern aust at the time, we had countless amounts of people from VMR ,suzuki, and professionals, to your average fisho on the boat at times to test these motors and they all came out smiling. You could not go past suzuki for fuel eco, power ,weight,cost. VMR was so impressed the next thing i knew thay were all swapping to them, now the police boats , and the marine parks have them also. If this is not a testament to these engines , I dont know what is. Now i own a cat with twin suzuki 140 four strokes and still as happy as a pig in mud. The design is so good that Johnno had to copy them, and as joey 1987 said ,the only differance is the paint. Mate i hope this helped you out.