Evinrude has done an admirable job of getting a product that can compete with the 4 strokes. Bombardier had to make a very critical decision back in the day of the FICHT as the knew they were close to folding the division sue to the `success`of the FICHT Direct inject motors. They almost moved away from 2 strokes altogether. However, they made a very bold move and it has certainly paid off in both a quality product and customer loyalty. While I am undecided about the "new look" E-tec, it is certainly nice to see the first 500 hours without servicing. For those who are unable to service their motors themselves that is a distinct advantage. I looked up the specs for the 250 and the claim of lighter engines is no longer a claim that can be made. These new E-tecs will run 558 lbs, the Yamaha is 562 lbs. I always felt that the`weight`claim was a bit far fetched for anything less than 50 lbs. as anyone can make that up or lose it with an extra cannon ball and 6 pak
I'd like to see their claims to "best fuel efficiency" compared to the fours. I would also like to see any of the manufacturers do an operating cost per hour comparison. None of them seem to want to compare operating costs.
The one thing that always get neglected in these discussions is the cost of the 2 stoke oil used. XD-100 runs about $12.00 a litre(almost 10 times the price of gas and runs at 100:1 ratio. This means that you always have to add almost 10% to your running costs. With four strokes you have to add the costs of an oil change and filter (about $100) every 100 hours. If we assume that fuel consumption is the same between 2 strokes and 4 strokes, the only real difference in operating costs is 2 stroke oil vs. oil changes. personally I believe that 2 strokes still have higher fuel consumption figures, but for the sake of this comparison we`ll assume equality in consumption.
If we compare the costs per 100 hours for both motors and assume that the 100 hours is all at cruising speed and your average consumption is 10 GPH then each motor would use 1000 gallons of fuel every 100 hours (4000 litres) of fuel and 40 litres of oil. At 12.00 a litre that is $480.00 of 2 stroke oil vs. a $100 oil change.
This is not meant as a criticism of the E-tecs. I like them, and if I was looking at 2 strokes again, it would be the one.
