Which Motors Should I Re-Power With

[Philip]

I have an '87 ZF33, that currently has '89 200hp Yamahas. Can I have some opinions on which makes and models that most of you like. I'm considering 250hp 2 cycle Yamahas, 200HPDI Yamahas, and thinking about the new generation Evinrude-Bombadier 250hp. Would appreciate any advice/opinions.

[marcdups]

Yamaha now offers the 200 and 225 4 stroke and from what I heard they are the way to go, they have been testing those engines for 7 years now and quality control is amazing, so is fuel economy, had a guy tell me the other day with his 115 four stroke ran 120 miles at nearly wot and consumed 16 gallons of gas!!!
I would certainly look into it, they are only 35 lbs more than the optimax from merc and the piece of ficht, as for the hpdi's they are great engines also.

Marc

stick with the rice burners!!

[BigGrizzly]

I would prefer the 225 Honda's when they come out the fal winter. They had a great display in Miami, but couldn't find the Yamaha there at all. Just my opinion.

Randy

[Tomahawk]

Well now - this is interesting! Actually, I would, pretty much, agree with the Poodle. The Ficht motors established a terrible track record for reliability and now the Optimax motors are proving even worse. You should have heard the customer comments at the Bass Masters classic last week. Bombardier has yet to restart production on anything and when, and if, they do, it's Ficht again. Yamaha is best of the 2-stroke direct injection motors but they were also last to market and are just starting to report failures with some hours.
Philip - since you are in California, you better become familiar with the CARB exhaust emission regulations for outboards AND the implications regarding useage on California reservoirs now, and in the future.
If you only plan to run in the ocean, the 2-strokes would be OK but you may have trouble selling them in California in the future.
The new big 4-strokes from Honda and Yamaha are a good way to go but will cost more, initially, and will be 50 to 60 lbs heavier than the 225 Optimax (not 35 lbs). I know what weight is being published for the Yamaha 225 4-stroke but it's not true. Also, be aware that if you are replacing motors already mounted on your boat, the 4-stroke Yamahas won't fit your existing mounting holes. They require 28 1/2" centers. The fabulous new Honda 200/225 four strokes will be out in January and will fit your existing hole pattern due to the Honda's more thoughtful, compact and sleek design.
Think about it and good luck! :)

[avanti]

We just installed two 250HP Evinrude 2001 Ficht engines on our 33Ft. Avanti which is the original Cigarette hull. We make regular runs between Freeport and Ft. Lauderdale and have found these engines to be perfect. They are quiet and smooth and the speed of the boat does not seem to be affected by the load factor. We can cruise at 33 knots no matter how much fuel etc. we have on board. We are running 19" props and we have noticed a reduction in the amout of fuel burned. If you are planning on running offshore like we do I would highly recomend these engines.