Need help for choosing the proper outboard engine..............

skip · October 22, 2008, 08:15:37 CET

Quote from: LapsiBoy on October 21, 2008, 16:40:20 CET
I dont know But i would deffinitaley go with mariner mate Reliable and serius enginuity ! there great engines

Mariner are no longer! in the sense that they are Mercury outboards and have been for a while just with Mariner decals (stickers). They did this to keep those who were hooked on the brand when it was standalone. There is absolutely no difference whatsoever between the two engines, except here in Malta two different agents and maybe slightly different pricing. However Mercury are definately not top of the list with their mid range four strokes as they are focusing their efforts on the awesome Verado's.

shanook · October 22, 2008, 10:32:42 CET

so nick if its a 225hp u would choose a verado over a suzuki??

skip · October 22, 2008, 12:01:12 CET

Not sure what I'd choose, they are both good big 4's......the Verado is a beautiful engine but it's supercharged so has some potential for more problems over the Suzuki, but the Verado's are beautiful engines. On the US forums the consensus is that they are very good but they haven't been out long enough to give a long term reliability verdict.

Verado 225 is 25kgs heavier than the Zuke, the Verado revs higher up to 6400rpm, but has a smaller displacement 2598cc vs the Zuke's 3641cc, they run the supercharger to make up for the power loss from the smaller displacement but I wonder if there is any advantage running a smaller displacement, less fuel consumption maybe?

There is a big difference in gear ratio's, with the Zuke have a 2.29:1 reduction vs the more traditional 1.85:1 of the Verado.

I love the Digital Throttle and Shift of the Verado along with it's Smartcraft gauges and it's really nice to digitally slide in an out of gear.

The bottom line to me would be fuel consumption and the Verado's claim to be around 20% more fuel efficient across the rev range than the Zuke's and Yamaha's, but I keep thinking of what the Americans are always saying 'Buy the dealer, not the brand!'.

I don't know how well MM2 Ltd have come up to speed since they took over Mercury/Mercruiser servicing and parts, and whether their mechanics have been fully trained and certified on the Verado's. From what I heard they haven't sold very many yet, so that means they are unlikely to have alot of hands on experience, which often comes at the customer's expense.

If I was a Verado 'launch' customer for MM2 here I would want some kind of guarantees about servicing, so that I don't end up being a ginuea pig. That being said, both Mercury and Suzuki are offering 5 years on their engines so at least we get that level of support here, it's a tough call, but if I got a good price on a Verado I reckon I would go for one!

shanook · October 22, 2008, 14:59:32 CET

its the displacent that is putting me off the verado. Smaller cc and more power doesnt that spell trouble. Maybe am reasoning old style, we have better materials nowadays that can withstand stresses.
my inclination is still for the suzuki

rob1974 · October 22, 2008, 15:43:32 CET

I cannot understand why the Verado is heavier than the Suzuki given it has such a smaller cc??

Rob

skip · October 23, 2008, 10:27:14 CET

Supercharger mate!! Plus all the other nicities there are on the engine like DTS etc, they all add up weight wise.

But then from 200hp to 300hp the weight remains the same, as the block, engine casing, drive etc all stays as is and it's just modifications to the ECU mapping and supercharger, plus maybe some tweaks to the head to deliver the 300hp.

So if I was buying a 225hp, I would have peace of mind that I have mostly the same components as an engine tuned to run at 300hp.

visa · October 23, 2008, 17:57:54 CET

WHO said that in malta they are giving 5 years gaurarntee. zuki offered three years and merc are offering two years till now , but u can buy up to five years.
price differance will make a buyer think twice.

spiru · October 23, 2008, 19:52:16 CET

if you are using your boat for trolling go to 4 stroke mate.2 stroke engines are built for speed not for trolling.E TEC ,like skip said is a 2 stroke engine but it has to be serviced by the agent as it is computerised and their service is a bit expensive.surprisingly i have a 50 hp mariner,2 stroke, 2006 model and it trolls happily at 3.5knots for hours at a stretch with no problems.my friend has an e tec 75hp and it stalls after say 30 min of trolling amd he is not happy with the engine at trolling speed, but very economical.i think verado is too big for trolling being supercharged ,besides the 300hp is 21000 euros mate!!!.i am very happy with mariner but as i said if i had to buy another one i would go to 4 stroke,less noisy and more economic.suzuki are very good as well.yamaha are super in small engines up to 40 hp but somehow the big ones do not have a good reputation.to end up i think the most popular big engine in malta is defenetly mariner ,maybe because they are the fastest

ganni · October 23, 2008, 20:15:57 CET

yes spiru the mariner is the most common but they don't use them for fishing. letely we are starting to use large outboard motors for trolling in malta too and 2 stroke are useless. most boats which take turists to commino are using yamaha, 2 100hp motors on each boat, they must be good heavy duty engines, otherwise such people won't invest in them since they use them for their daily work

skip · October 23, 2008, 20:30:06 CET

Quote from: visa on October 23, 2008, 17:57:54 CET
WHO said that in malta they are giving 5 years gaurarntee. zuki offered three years and merc are offering two years till now , but u can buy up to five years.
price differance will make a buyer think twice.

Visa, MarinePower Europe http://www.brunswickmarineemea.com clearly shows 5 years warranty on ALL their Optimax's, Verado's and 4 strokes as from 1 June 2008 and don't let anyone kid you that it doesn't apply to Malta. We are part of EMEA and according to their warranty document that is where it applies, as usual the dealer is conveniently pretending that he has NOT read that as from 1 June 08 it switched to 5 years and that really pisses me off! If he has old stock pre-June 08 it won't apply probably although it still should. It is not an optional upgrade warranty where you buy another 3 years!

http://www.brunswickmarineemea.com/filereader/file/pdf/4/enen/outboard/2008/5%20years%20warranty/5_years_warranty_en.pdf

Unfortunately Suzuki 'matched' Mercury's 5 year warranty by issuing this statement http://www.suzukimarine.co.uk/promos/promo.php?id=000053

All Suzuki outboards sold in Europe carry a 2 year pan-European warranty (commercial ? 1 year). In addition Suzuki outboards imported by Suzuki GB PLC and retailed during 2008 are eligible for an additional 3 year warranty when they are registered for leisure use in the UK and Ireland.

They called it a 5 year warranty promo! But pretty cheeky that it only applies to the UK/Ireland