Opti vs 4strokes - Page 3

thewavehumper · 28 October 2003, 17:59

Quote:

Originally posted by Richard B
I should think not... I'll get my snipers out to shoot at any Welsh Scorpion pilots seen smiling.

Your maths looks good to me - I was a bit upset when I realised it was burning 30:1 Never mind, I know where a Southampton guy keeps a big barrel of oil. That should do the trick. Just a thought - as you use Optimax oil, do you use Optimax petrol as well?

I have though about using Opti petrol, but I don't know if it's good or bad for the engine or just a marketing scam. Hello mr Esso Lawyer. That could be a new thread

DJL · 28 October 2003, 18:51

Quote:

Originally posted by thewavehumper
I have though about using Opti petrol, but I don't know if it's good or bad for the engine or just a marketing scam. Hello mr Esso Lawyer.

I use it in my car all the time - great stuff, works out about 1p cheaper per litre than the normal stuff. Mind you, economy wise you won't notice any differnce unless the engine has exhaust gas sensors etc so that the ECU can adjust timing/amount of fuel injected.

Outboards may not be smart enough? don't know anything about optimax's

Daniel

gavin · 28 October 2003, 21:45

To be fair to this argument surley as 2 strokes use oil in the cylinders, and are relatively simple and easy to service, now I am not talking about anything more than routine service or routine maintaince, part of any 4 stroke service besides oil, and filters, and gear oil , nobody has mentioned that 4 strokes apart from needing sump oil and a few litres at that ,and an extra filter to change each service (oil) also require routine inspection as part of services, of timing gear.This would include valve clearance intervals, timing chain/belt renewal, shim or tappet work, or at least inspection of such.The intervals may be big but they exist nonethless , this has to add a cost per mile factor to the routine running of a four stroke motor.What if your camchain comes to the end of its life and needs replacing, and its in the middle of the block, they dont reccomend splitting chains so the cost of taking the crank out to fit the new chain would be huge.Timing therefore in a fourstroke is part of its running maintaince and needs to be included in the cost of servicing of the motor.I dont think you will beat DFI technology we run 2x75 hp Fichts at 34 kts we can get a fuel economy of 1.2 ltrs per Nm in total, with 2 motors and an oil/ fuel ratio of 70/1 and no cam chain, no mechanical valves no cam shafts, no cam lobes, no cam adjuster no sump oil, no sump oil filter, no shims tappets etc etc, still a complex motor but less moving parts, remember the discarded sump oil from each four stroke service would buy a few litres of two stroke oil for the same peroid, and the cost of a new sump oil filter each service, would buy another litre of two stroke oil for you to burn.So are fourstrokes all that cheap to run compared to DFI and Optis I dont believe so.

Rick · 07 November 2003, 08:54

Last week Mariner held their dealer conference and presented a slide pack comparing the Otimax with other engines..............makes interesting reading........... this should stir up the debate.

Richard B · 07 November 2003, 09:00

Interesting...

I wonder if it would read the same if it were published by Suzuki at their dealer conference?

Were there any other comparisons, or was Suzuki the focus of their defense?

Rick · 07 November 2003, 09:13

here are the others, was trying to improve the image quality

Rick · 07 November 2003, 09:15

Rick · 07 November 2003, 09:18

yamaha

Rick · 07 November 2003, 09:23

yamaha VMAX

Rick · 07 November 2003, 09:24

Ficht 225

Rick · 07 November 2003, 09:26

And last but not lease Yamaha 224 4 stroke

Rick · 07 November 2003, 09:31

missed one

Cookee · 07 November 2003, 09:48

Mabe all you lot can help me? All of the above figures show the facts, but owning an engine is about the cost of ownership, what the engine really goes like etc not to mention any hassles.

I fancy the Optimax 225 on the back of the BananaShark leisure boat when it finally hits the water in the New Year (still not sure when), but someone whose opinion I value is trying to talk me into getting a Yamaha (HPDI VMax either 200 or 250 would be my choice).

His argument is that Yamaha are so much more reliable, and although I agree with him historically, the Opti has been around for a while so any problems like the injectors have been sorted, people like them so they are good when reselling, they seem to be quicker for the same horsepower, and I am struggling with what to get! Anyone got any arguments for either engine?

Oh I nearly forgot - the Optis seem to be cheaper!

thewavehumper · 07 November 2003, 20:15

You know what I am going to say. I find the Optimax really cheap to run. For the forst two months of ownership I was convinced the tank was bigger than it was supposed to be, or the smartguages were wrong as it was so Fuel efficient.

we haven't had any problems with it either and it does get a hiding, but we do kiss it better afterwards

I am fond of the Yamahas, but I genuinely don't think you'd be letting your customers down by going Opti

malcolm · 08 November 2003, 19:15

Being new to this, and having just bought boat & engine, I came to the conclusion it is just bloody expensive to run an outboard. Whats the point of debating between 40l/hr or 50l/hr?

I figured you either decide to spend the money on this or something else.

simmons0 · 08 November 2003, 21:00

My view on this is if you are a real speed freak that takes the great fuel consumption of an opti as a bonus then go for the big opti, it will be more responsive and lighter than a 4-stroke equivelent.
If however your like me and use the boat for crusing about the place at 3/4 throttle every odd weekend

or

use the boat day in day out all year then go for a 4-stroke. Malcolm has highlighted a 10L per hour running cost difference. Think how much that will save a guy using his boat all day every day.