Posts: 32892
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | The 'old' EFI and carb two strokes are on the way out as of 2006, and cannot be sold in California now. The new direct injection 2 strokes are just at the point of refinement this year. Introduced a few years back as a result of the EPA regulations, the direct injection 'green' two strokes are actually a bit cleaner burning than the current 4 strokes. I don't know enough about the Mercury Project X 4 stroke motors to compare them to Mercury's Optimax outboards yet. I ran a Mercury racing 250 OptiMax last year. The 250 optiMax is the finest motor I have had the privilege to run. The new 4 stroke motors are heavier, but far more fuel effecient than their old 2 stroke cousins. The bigger bore OptiMax outboards compare fairly closely to the 4 stroke models.The 4 strokes idle, troll, and run through the power curve very smoothly. No nasty smoke to breath, either. Some of the new generation 4 strokes will compare nicely in hole shot and high performance top end, too. Of course, the new technology costs more than the old in most cases. I have tons of specs here, anything special you wish to know? |
Posts: 2037
Location: lansing, il | thanks for the reply im running a 125 mariner 2 stroke right now. my boat is rated for a 150 im looking into jumping to a yamaha 4stroke, i dont want to loose any power by going to a 4 stroke but i have started doing alot of trolling and instead of buying a kicker im weighing out the option of just going to a 4 stroke to give me better trolling speed range. how does a 125 2 stroke compare to say a 125 4 stroke, will i loose speed? am i better off jumping to a 150 4 stroke??
thanks again
john |
| Carbed 2 stroke motors will be around for a while yet. They are just too dependable. The 4 stroke motors can't be beat in the smaller motors, like about 90hp and under. They are quiet and get about 30% better fuel economy than a comparable carbed 2 stroke and of course no exhaust fumes. They all pass 2006 federal emission standards and are the most popular by the average boater.
The new technology DFI motors have all of the attributes of the 4 strokes in fuel economy, usually better, and even emissions. The 2 stroke DFI motors have one thing that the 4 strokes don't, however, and that's power. So when looking at a motor over 90 or 100 hp, the DFI 2 strokes are the way to go. Whether a Bombardier DFI, a Yamaha HPDI or a Merc Opimax, They are quiet running, are better on fuel, pass the same federal emission standards and have 2 stroke power in comparable horsepower motors. |
2 stroke vs. 4 stroke