Welcome to the era of Outboard 2.0: until a few years ago, as the length of the boat increased, the choice of an outboard model was a must, today things have changed.
Here are 8 things to know about outboard engines
- Consumption: Thanks to direct (and/or electronic) injection system, consumption levels have become significantly lower over the last few years.
- Acceleration and performance: Within just a few seconds, you can get your boat on plane. In 20 seconds, you will have touched your top speed. This is made possible by the new built-in “management modules” which ensure perfect control of both acceleration and speed.
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- Weight: The use of lighter materials like titan, combined with traditional (and reliable) stainless steel, have reduced the amount of interior pieces and weight of outboards.
- Manoeuvrabrility: Smart power steering and hydrodynamic drives guarantee easy steering and stability. At low speed, you can use the joystick to moor or move laterally easily thanks to built-in systems.
- Maintenance: In some cases, you don’t have to remove the engine grill for inspections or oil level checks. Simplicity is total.
- Electronics: Electronic fuel injection, electric steering system, automatic trim control. You can manage data and functions directly from your chartplotter, smartphone or tablet.
- Propeller: We recommend models made of steel or special alloys instead of aluminium in order to prevent corrosion. Some brands propose an additional counter-rotating propeller for better stability and more powerful thrust when in reverse.
- Appareance and design: Design plays a very important role: lines are increasingly cleaner and more aerodynamic, for both V and inline models. In some cases, the grill, too, is custom.
Welcome to the era of 2.0 outboards: until a few years ago, the increase in the boat length was always accompanied by the choice of an inboard/outboard engine. Today, things have changed. Outboards are increasingly more powerful, lighter, easier to use and able to deliver increasingly better performance and acceleration. It is rare that manufacturers does not offer models of 300 hp or more ( the tip of the iceberg is the Seven Marine 627hp engine). Not to mention the maintenance factor: forget narrow engine compartments; in most cases, you only need to remove the grille. In some cases – such as Mercury’s ranges – you can even monitor the oil level without removing the grill. The final step is inspection (to carry out every 100 hours of activity, preferably: filter, liquid and spark plug replacement).
“Even for shipyards – Ernesto Chiesa of Yamaha told us – installation has become a piece of cake thanks to “plug and play” systems where you can’t get wrong”.
