New Etec on the market, impressions?

My dad always had the Rude on the stern of his boats. I grew up liking the brand and my brother's 190 had a Rude on her. My initial response to the look was wow, they hung an AlienWare gaming computer on the stern and attached a prop to it! (lol). I like my Yammy's look and then I like the new look of Yammy. This "look" seems very terminator meets robocop meets outboard motors. The look though is not a major deal breaker but on classic looking Grady's it will seem funky. If they can make a classic blue and gold grady color cowl or what ever it is now called then maybe it will work.

The big part of the motor though is reliability and costs to service. The onboard steering seems like a winner, but I dont want to be guinea pig 40 miles out to prove its worthiness. The old hydraulic steering is true and tested. I would consider these motors for a repower once the bugs got worked out on the steering and so forth. Over all, it is a weird bold move, but they are built in the USA and Evinrude at heart I suppose.
 
Lots of interesting technology that should drive the other manufacturers to meet the competition. Etecs have become as reliable as 4-strokes after the first few years that shook out some problems.

Like Bob said, I'd let the Evinrude fan boys work out the bug in the Gen 2 motors for a few years before considering them.

I don't think I'll ever get used to the vertical lettering. I've seen pictures of a white engine with white lettering that you can't really see. That looked better.

The problem with 2-stroke technology is that when they start to require catalytic converters on outboards in a few years, the engineers are going to have a tough time meeting the upcoming emission regulations. The Etecs exceed the current standards by using sophisticated fueling and charge stratification tricks. But designing a catalytic converter for a 2-stroke, which requires exhaust tuning for good performance, might be a challenge.
 
IF the 15% fuel savings turns out to be true in real world testing I'd consider the Gen2 for a repower. As others have said, about year 3 or 4 in the new series might be time enough to try them. I'm wondering if current auto pilots will work with the new steering system?
 
I am an Evinrude guy too. Love my old Ocean Pro. But man, this motor looks horrible. I couldn't see hanging this on my Grady White. I am not getting into the merits of the engineering. I just can't get past how bad it looks. I am trying to envision the outboard in all white. Maybe that would make it better for me. :-|
 
I like the technology they've come up with and hope at least some of it transfers to other manufacturers. But I have to agree the appearance is not that impressive.
 
Lightweight and efficient 250 and 300HP motor would be great. BUT, it's way ugly and would look very out of place on a grady. Looks great on a bass boat.
 
It would need to stand out from the crowd with fuel numbers to cancel out the ugly.

In the absence of fuel economy numbers, that says they are no better than what we are all already running.
 
Doc Stressor said:
.... The problem with 2-stroke technology is that when they start to require catalytic converters on outboards in a few years, the engineers are going to have a tough time meeting the upcoming emission regulations. The Etecs exceed the current standards by using sophisticated fueling and charge stratification tricks. But designing a catalytic converter for a 2-stroke, which requires exhaust tuning for good performance, might be a challenge.
Click to expand...

(I just returned from a few weeks in Australia and I think I saw more White motors than Gray motors where I was down there. (I also saw more Caterpillars than Kamatsu but they have big SUV's made in China by Great Wall Motors...)

I read that it is the 4-strokes that are going to require the catalytic converters, not E-tecs. Take a look at the emission numbers for the new Etecs below. Granted these were compiled by Evinrude but I haven't seen any other manufacturers posting their numbers in this manner. (You have to click on each photo to see the whole thing.)

Cheers,
-Scott
 

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fishbust said:
It would need to stand out from the crowd with fuel numbers to cancel out the ugly.

In the absence of fuel economy numbers, that says they are no better than what we are all already running.
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The claim is "20 percent more torque, 15 percent better fuel economy, and 75 percent lower emissions than the best outboards in this category" but I haven't seen the numbers yet. The current generation E-tec is already more efficient than 4-strokes in the 500-1500 RPM range and equal to the 4-strokes at WOT and only falls behind at cruise. It is the cruise performance that I am really looking forward to seeing for the new E-tec. If they just matched the 4-strokes at cruise, they might be able to claim 15% better fuel economy when figuring that most outboards spend more time running below 1500 then above it.

I kind of agree with the "ugly" - it may take a bit of time to get used to. (I also remember that I hated the 68-69 Corvettes compared to the 63-67 models back in the day when I was a kid but I would love to own a 69 Corvette today.)

One thing they did that make a lot of sense is they got rid of the steering ram. That functionality is now built into the engine which cleans up the transom area quite a bit.
 
I'd put a Force or Chrysler outboard on my boat before I went with one of those things. Hell, I'd even do a straight inboard coversion. Ugly as $%*@)!!!! :cry:

Bring back the styling of the OX66 and EFI Mercs. Those were the best looking outboards.
 
Just too ugly.

Sorry, but I can't imagine superior engineering to overcome that handicap. At least for the stern of a GW.

JMHO,
Brian
 
gw204 said:
I'd put a Force or Chrysler outboard on my boat before I went with one of those things. Hell, I'd even do a straight inboard coversion. Ugly as $%*@)!!!! :cry:

Bring back the styling of the OX66 and EFI Mercs. Those were the best looking outboards.
Click to expand...

I know I'm heavily biased but I don't think anything looks better on the stern of a Grady then white on white shown in the photo below - white nicely matches the hull color very nicely... 8)

I get a ton of complements on my boat from other boaters and their guests at my club. (With my old 1990 Yamaha 225 I mostly got dirty looks when I warmed it up at the finger because it was loud and the smoke used to drift down the pier.)

Anyway, the guy next to me with the 29 ft Stamas is upset because he just repowered last year and would have waited had he known the new E-tecs were coming - he likes the new look and says it is futuristic, like the Transformer Robots. (He had a 225 E-Tec on his last boat as well)

One thing they did right is build the power steering into the motor which cleans up the transom area and eliminates the need for the steering ram and long flexible hydraulic and rigging cables. The video below demonstrates this and one guy says "I can't believe nobody had done this before - why did we have to wait 20 years for this?" I have to agree. They also stiffened the attachment section of the motor apparently to reduce flex and added "automatic trim" which will help novice boaters and may help some with the fuel economy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIXH1E09APE

My neighbor also likes the way the side panels come off to service the engine so it will no longer be necessary to lift off the big bucket cowling. That is shown in the video below. One thing shown there that is interesting is the lower-unit oil reservoir up near the powerhead that allows the owner to inspect the gear oil. I'll speculate that this is partly how they can claim that you don't need any service for 5 years - no doubt you would be instructed to check the reservoir yearly (looking for water intrusion, etc.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gypn7rYep9U

(27 ft Sailfish at finger)
 

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