4 Stroke Outboards

[Sportfish_5]

Guys,

It's time for me to prepare my budget submission to the Minister for Home Defence and Finances for approval to purchase of a new 115/140 hp 4 stroke engine. :P

I've done the rounds at most of the local dealers and have found them to be pretty helpfull but some information is not readily available regarding real fuel economy and service costs so I hope some of you guys can give me some real numbers regarding just what it costs to have these engines maintained by the dealer and just what fuel consumption can be expected. It would be great to compare fuel consumption to your previous 2 stk engine if you have repowered.

I have shortlisted two engines those being the good old Yammy 115 and the relatively new Suzi 140 hp so appreciate any info from current owners.

Cheers

Greg

[jack.d]

Hi Greg, I posted a question about Yamaha v Suzuki motors a week or so back. Got heeps of replies. I think you will find some interesting comments. Just go back a page to post "Yamaha or Suzuki".
Cheers Jack.D

[RyanP]

G'day Greg,

I was in the same boat as it were, in February this year and did some serious researching on all 115HP models.

I found a great article in the Australian Propeller magazine,, who did a 115HP Shoot Out in one of their issues. It was theJan/Feb 2004 issue which has the 115HP Shoot Out !

It tests eleven 115 HP outboards side by side on eleven identical boats ( all 5.35m Bonitos ) and each boat has 2 people roughly the same weight.

From that mag story and a few other reasons, I decided on a Suzuki 115HP 4 Stroke but everyone has their own reasons for their choices. I have no regrets whatsoever, but would be just as happy with the Yamaha 115 4 stroke.

Plenty of information in this article...

______________________

The summary results in this article are as follows :

Sounds Levels in dBA:-
Idle measured at Helm,
Honda 4 st 59
Mercury Optimax 61
Mercury 2 st 64
Mariner 4 st 67
Tohatsu 4 st 67
Yamaha 4 st 68
Yamaha 2 st 69
Suzuki 4 st 70
Johnson 2 st 70
Johnson 4 st 71
Evinrude DFI 71

4500rpm measured at helm
Yamaha 4 st 86
Honda 4 st 88
Mariner 4 st 89
Evinrude DFI 89
Suzuki 4 st 89
Mercury 2 st 90
Yamaha 2 st 91
Johnson 4 st 91
Mercury Optimax 92
Johnson 2 st 93
Tohatsu 2 st 93

Max rpm measured at helm
Honda 4 st 91
Evinrude DFI 92
Suzuki 4 st 93
Johnson 4 st 94
Mercury Optimax 94
Yamaha 4 st 95
Yamaha 2 st 96
Tohatsu 2 st 96
Mercury 2 st 96
Johnson 2 st 96
Mariner 4 st 97

The "Facts at a Glance" were as follows :

Quitest at WOT & Idle : Honda 4 st
Quietest at 4500 rpm : Yamaha 4 st
Fastest at WOT - 40.0 knts Yamaha 2 st
Slowest at WOT - 37.0 knts Honda 4 st
Fastest, 10 sec after holeshot : 32.6knts Suzuki 4 st
Slowest, 10 sec after holeshot : 24.7knts Mariner 4 st
Most economical @ 20knts : 1.55nmpl Mariner 4 st
Most economical @ cruise : 1.57 nmpl @ 4000rpm (22knts) Mariner 4 st
Most Economical @ 25knts : 1.48nmpl Mariner 4 st
Most Economical @ 30knts : 1.49 nmpl Suzuki 4 st
Most Economical @ 35knts : 1.14 nmpl Yamaha 4 st and Mercury Optimax
Lightest 158kgs Mercury 2 st
Heaviest 225kgs Honda 4 st.

There are heaps more information in this article and worth buying the mag for if you are interested in the performance of the 115Hp class.

The weights of the 4 strokes are :

Suzuki 194 kgs
Mariner 175 kgs
Yamaha 188 kgs
Johnson 191 kgs
Honda 225 kgs

The weights of the DI 2 strokes are :

Evinrude 170 kgs
Mercury 170 kgs

The weights of the normal 2 strokes are :

Yamaha 171 kgs
Mercury 158 kgs
Johnson 160 kgs
Tohatsu 163 kgs


Hope all of that helps somewhat and from what I can tell the Suzuki DF140 is a great motor, but I haven't done any research on 140's, my boat a SIgnature 530C can only handle a 115. ( which is more than enough ;D


Regards



RyanP

[Aaron_Fogarty]

Greg
I had a 115 Yammy 4stroke on the back of a 5.8 sportsfish supa v. The economy was fantastic in comparrison to the mid range two stroke yammies I had (60) .Is yours a 5m or 5.8m? The supa V hull`s ride down in the water due to their sharp deadrise, they seem to push through rather than get up and dance on top ,like the standard hulls do....Therefore the Supa v needs a little more HP to perform. I fitted a hydrofoil to my 115 as it needed a touch of asssistance getting out of the hole. Overall though i was very happy with the rig. I think, if thats a 5m standard sportsfish hull Im looking at in your photo you ll be more than satisfied with the 115 if all you do is fishing and your not a speed freak. You should get about 5900rpm with a top speed around 32-35Kts from a 115. As for fuel consuption, the yammy dealers have a book which tells you fuel consumption related to rpm. Im sorry I dont remember my exact figures off hand it was a couple of years ago.What I remember though is that last 1000 rpm almost doubles the fuel. Ill never go back to a 2 stroke the noticable featurs being 1 fuel economy 2 no fumes 3 peace and quite of a normal conversation while driving.....
Regards Aaron

[dfox]

GREG- The only problem with that article (which ive read) is all the engines swing different props, so even though its a good and interesting test its still floored in some ways.My yammies 115 4strokes at 4000rpm use roughly 15 litres each an hour. In calm seas slightly better, rough seas its more like 20 litres each. At these revs im travelling at 24mph spinning 17-13inch yammie sst props. at WOT it does 5800-5900 at 39.7mph and burns 35-37 litres an hour each,in comparison i owned a 5.8 sportfish for eleven years that went through several engines the last engine was a 150 v6 mariner 2 stroke, its fuel consumption was about the same as the current cats engines combined. Greg put a 4stroke on her it will eat that old 2stroke. As for running costs- oil filters, oil,and check the plugs. easy...foxy

[spaniard]

Greg,
I have a 60hp yami 4str on a 16ft, been on foxy's with the 115's, mate deos not compare to 2strokes they are way out in front. Great performance, reliabillity, fuel etc. Plenty of research material out there and at the end of the day the brand is totally up to you. 8)

[Big_Kev]

I am waiting for the response from the Etec lovers to tell us how great they are gonna be.
Come on guys don't let your team down.
LOL 8)

[Sportfish_5]

Aaron - Mine is a 2001 built 5.5m and was the last std hull made before the Supa Vees went into full production. It strangley is the same size (length/width) as a mate who has an older 5.8m so I guess they changed the way they measured them #:-/.

Foxy - I ve got that magazine with the 115 shoot out and find it confusing as well regarding the results, especially the Suzi/Johno and Mariner/Yammie results. What a difference props and engine positioning make :o :o

Thanks for the replies guys. I am not expecting to recoup the extra cost for the four stroke with fuel saving (although if oil reaches the predicted $70 US/barrell it just may in 12 months) but would like the extra nm range.

Cheers

Greg

[s-pac]

Hi Greg

I have a similiar rig, mine is a jbs 5.5 centre cab with a 115 yamaha 4 stroke. Last trip to deep tempest , shallow tempest and general mucking around we did 138k's round trip from spinaker sound and I used 63 l's. First major service (100hrs)was about $370 I recall, which included all your oils,filters, but no plugs. The real killer is labour costs, 4 hrs @ $68/hr. Hope this is of some help.

Andrew

[Sportfish_5]

Andrew - Thanks just what I was after. Same trip to DT for me I would use close to 100 litres.

Cheers

Greg