Best 4 stroke?

Mr Flibble · 06 August 2009, 15:23

Yet another 'Which one is best' type question.

All 115hp 4's

Yamaha?
Suzuki?
Mercury/Mariner?

Based on reliability, economy, cost of servicing.

Thanks

jyasaki · 06 August 2009, 16:28

I've always wondered about these "best of" posts. No offense intended, but doesn't "what is best" come down to your interpretation rather than someone else's? And wouldn't something that is up to the job be fine, even if it's not what others think is "best"?

As far as the motors, I seriously doubt one is "better" than the others; they are all fairly equal in terms of general reliability, economy, and performance. What will matter more is how easily you can get a particular brand serviced, obtain parts, etc., which means again, it depends on your particular situation.

I chatted with a guy in Alaska who had purchased a Suzuki, then found he had to trailer the thing over 300 miles to get it serviced, as the local dealer did Merc and Yam, but not Suzuki or Honda. Would that affect your decision as to which is best?

Again, no offense intended, just sort of curious about the reason for the question;

jky

Jizm · 06 August 2009, 18:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr Flibble

Yet another 'Which one is best' type question.

All 115hp 4's

Yamaha?
Suzuki?
Mercury/Mariner?

Based on reliability, economy, cost of servicing.

Thanks

with you on this jyasaki.

wil it be used commercially? are you able to service it yourself, how much warranty does the motor come with? where's the dealer? what will you be using the boat for?

how long is a piece of string.

There will not be a difinitive answer to which is best but personal recommendations, brand loyalty, experience, special offers etc...

Turbodiesel · 06 August 2009, 21:21

Mercury Verado, its so so good.

codprawn · 06 August 2009, 23:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr Flibble

Yet another 'Which one is best' type question.

All 115hp 4's

Yamaha?
Suzuki?
Mercury/Mariner?

Based on reliability, economy, cost of servicing.

Thanks

The lightest one!!!

oujakov · 07 August 2009, 04:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr Flibble

Yet another 'Which one is best' type question.

All 115hp 4's

Yamaha?
Suzuki?
Mercury/Mariner?

Based on reliability, economy, cost of servicing.

Thanks

The faster one!

nexus · 07 August 2009, 07:06

I'll never buy another Yamaha outboard. I have a 40hp 4stroke on my 14' sib that requires more attention and maintenance and special care than any other motor (of any type) I've ever owned. Reading the yamaha forums reveals that these are quite common issues with the yamaha motors. Months of a professional certified yamaha shop working on it failed to resolve the issues. Yamaha told me too bad. So I just live with it. It runs strong and reliable, but has issues transitioning from idle to acceleration. It also has abnormal sensitivities to fuel.

My next motor will without question be a Honda.

Mollers · 07 August 2009, 09:20

Etec.

IBWET · 07 August 2009, 10:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by nexus

I'll never buy another Yamaha outboard. I have a 40hp 4stroke on my 14' sib that requires more attention and maintenance and special care than any other motor (of any type) I've ever owned. Reading the yamaha forums reveals that these are quite common issues with the yamaha motors. Months of a professional certified yamaha shop working on it failed to resolve the issues. Yamaha told me too bad. So I just live with it. It runs strong and reliable, but has issues transitioning from idle to acceleration. It also has abnormal sensitivities to fuel.

My next motor will without question be a Honda.

That's surprising,I've only ever heard positives about Yamaha?..Could it be a dealer issue,as in, was your conversation with the manufacturer direct? Could you let us know the age of the outboard.

Never had, or presently own a Yamaha...Just an observation..

jyasaki · 07 August 2009, 16:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by nexus

I'll never buy another Yamaha outboard. [snip] My next motor will without question be a Honda.

Sorry to hear of your problems.

To balance things out a bit, I've run my F115 for the past 4 years (something around 350 hrs) with nothing more than a couple of overheat alarms from picking up kelp blades over the water intakes.

Out of curiosity, have you looked at Honda forums and see if they have the same complaints as on the Yamaha forum? I personally hear of more probs with Honda than Yamaha. Might just be me, though.

jky

Trickdog · 07 August 2009, 17:41

Surprised to hear of your experience with the Yam Nexus. I've owned 5, 25 and 30hp 2 stroke Yams in the past and I have a 115hp 4 stroke currently. Never had a single fault on any of them.

Had them serviced at various places over the years and all the mechanics that I've spoken to really rate the brand.

Though I hate to admit it, one of the 2 strokes was not particularly well looked after (NEVER flushed, rarely serviced), but it still proved to be 100% bullet proof.

ianhappy · 07 August 2009, 18:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr Flibble

Yet another 'Which one is best' type question.

All 115hp 4's

Yamaha?
Suzuki?
Mercury/Mariner?

Based on reliability, economy, cost of servicing.

Thanks

Have nothing else to compare it with, and agree with the first few replies to your question, just thought I'd give my experience of our particular engine:-

Mercury 115 EFi, MY2007, 70 hours use, 181kg, 5 year warranty.

Economy: on a ~25knot cruise in fairly benign Solent conditions the Smartcraft gauge hovers around 18-20l/hour. That seems a little optimistic, equating to ~0.8l/nm - from rough calcs of gps distances etc it's more like 1l/nm.

Reliability: so far it hasn't missed a beat, starting on the 1st turn even after several weeks standing still. Nothing has blown up/fallen off so far.

Performance: no idea how it compares with anything else, but it pushes our little 6.2m along well enough to give the crew big grins - 41knots so far with 2 up and 80l fuel in mild chop. It seems to pull well to get on the plane, have no idea how to assess its 'hole shot' abilities though. It feels very smooth going through the rev range.

Noise: very quiet at tickover/low revs, you have to shout at each other at wot. But the wind plays a part in that.

Servicing: cheapest quote so far is £135, tending to average out at £150ish.

Any issues? The centrally-mounted throttle doesn't give a great feel for the neutral position; you have to be careful not to put it in reverse accidentally (or that may just be ham-fistedness?).

I suspect the above experiences are pretty familiar to most owners of whatever brand, especially for a relatively new engine like ours.

Would I buy another Mercury 4-stroke? Yes on current experience.
Would I consider any other brand? Yes, including modern 2-strokes.

Not sure if that waffle is of any help whatsoever???

Have fun
Ian

Mr Flibble · 07 August 2009, 20:11

Thanks all.
I realise it was a pretty open question. I was just looking for a response of never buy X brand as there are known issues, or Y brand is without doubt far superior in reliability, quality etc, but I take the point that all modern outboards are reliable, and pretty much of a muchness.

I've a chance of each of these brands, the Merc is coming in circa £1100 cheaper than the Suzuki (and is the lightest). The Yam is coming in at circa £500 less than the Suzi. My Suzi/Yam dealer is a couple of miles up the road. A merc dealer about 30 miles away.

Due to price I think I'll rule out the Suzi so it's really down to dealer preference..........oh and colour :-)