Mercury 200 optimax what to expect?

[QBhoy]

Hi
Quick theoretical expectation question.
A good friend has a lovely old classic Fletcher 170, with a lovely old Yamaha 225hp 2.6l 2 stroke on her. She’s a quick machine, as you can imagine.
She’s not often used these days and silly fuel and oil prices play part in this further perhaps.
So, just this week, he has been offered a late model mercury 200 optimax, at a price that’s too good to ignore. All checks out and no issues. He has decided to go for it.
The thinking is that it’s the boat itself that he adores and will be a keeper for years and years to come. So why not modernise and bring her up to date with modern smart craft and modern fuel efficiency etc etc.
So…although the big Yamaha is a lovely thing…and badged and performs every bit of her 225hp…we might wonder around how the 200hp might compare to it. Obviously might expect a little drop in performance, but the optimax being a bigger displacement 3.0, might offset some of it, perhaps having an assumed comparable feeling of torque?
So just wondering if anyone has any real world experience or thoughts, having known or seen similar situations?
Lastly, do some of these big optimax have a low water pick up as standard?
Thanks.

 

[Scott Danforth]

its heavier
not much savings in fuel

 

[Chris1956]

In theory, the performance should be about the same, and plenty for a 17 footer. I expect fuel usage will be quite a bit less on the optimax.

I am interested in this topic, as my neighbor had a 150HPV6 Optimax, and I thought it slow, compared to my Johnny 150HPV6 2 stroke carb motor. The displacements was the same, and my boat was a bit heavier, BTW.

 

[dingbat]

Hi
Quick theoretical expectation question.
A good friend has a lovely old classic Fletcher 170, with a lovely old Yamaha 225hp 2.6l 2 stroke on her. She’s a quick machine, as you can imagine.
She’s not often used these days and silly fuel and oil prices play part in this further perhaps.
So, just this week, he has been offered a late model mercury 200 optimax, at a price that’s too good to ignore. All checks out and no issues. He has decided to go for it.
The thinking is that it’s the boat itself that he adores and will be a keeper for years and years to come. So why not modernise and bring her up to date with modern smart craft and modern fuel efficiency etc etc.
So…although the big Yamaha is a lovely thing…and badged and performs every bit of her 225hp…we might wonder around how the 200hp might compare to it. Obviously might expect a little drop in performance, but the optimax being a bigger displacement 3.0, might offset some of it, perhaps having an assumed comparable feeling of torque?
So just wondering if anyone has any real world experience or thoughts, having known or seen similar situations?
Lastly, do some of these big optimax have a low water pick up as standard?
Thanks.

You talking HPDI or saltwater series?

Keep in mind the Opti requires DFI oil.

 

[QBhoy]

You talking HPDI or saltwater series?

Keep in mind the Opti requires DFI oil.

It’s neither Dingbat. It’s a 225 from around 87’. Not many of them around I’d think. 2.6l carb.
Yeah. Aware of the dfi oil. Will still be a saving there. With the oil the old Yamaha uses. He also mixes a little in the tank too, being cautious. All round costs a fortune to run really.

 

[QBhoy]

its heavier
not much savings in fuel

Thanks Scott. I couldn’t find any definitive details on what the Yamaha 225 weighs in at. Very scarce info on them out there.
You not think there will be much saving on fuel ? I presumed there would be a significant difference. Just with these optimax engines usually comparing almost like for like with modern 4 stroke engines of the same power perhaps. Not that it’s a huge deal to any owner with a fast boat…but would be nice if it was a bit more frugal perhaps. If you have any info on a spec sheet for that 225 Yamaha. I’d love a link to it Scott. If it’s handy for you. Not finding much on them over here at all. Very rare machine here.

 

[Scott Danforth]

the 225 2.6 liter V6 was the lightest 225hp motor ever made. https://global.yamaha-motor.com/design_technology/technology/daysgoneby/010/
motor listed as 97kg (I believe that is just the power head)

1989 yamaha 225 ????

i was told this is a 1989 yamaha 225,is it an excel? anyone know an specs on this engine,IE rpm, weight, etc,thanks any user manuals?239538

www.screamandfly.com

the 225 excel weighed in at 410#

if your 225 yamaha is an excel, then it will run circles around the merc that weights in at 505#

as far as fuel consumption. both are 2-stroke, the optimax is just direct injected. so you are looking at 0.55#/hp/hr for the yamaha and 0.52#/hp/hr for the merc. but the 95 extra pounds in the worst place on the boat will suck up extra fuel.

so you will burn about the same fuel per trip.

 

[Chris1956]

Gee, the Optimax is low emissions, because the scavenging is done with air only, not air+fuel, like in the carb engines. This should result in very low fuel an oil consumption, in comparison to the carb motor.

Also, A lot of Optimax's could run on standard TC-WIII oil. You might check it.

 

[QBhoy]

the 225 2.6 liter V6 was the lightest 225hp motor ever made. https://global.yamaha-motor.com/design_technology/technology/daysgoneby/010/
motor listed as 97kg (I believe that is just the power head)

1989 yamaha 225 ????

i was told this is a 1989 yamaha 225,is it an excel? anyone know an specs on this engine,IE rpm, weight, etc,thanks any user manuals?239538

www.screamandfly.com

the 225 excel weighed in at 410#

if your 225 yamaha is an excel, then it will run circles around the merc that weights in at 505#

as far as fuel consumption. both are 2-stroke, the optimax is just direct injected. so you are looking at 0.55#/hp/hr for the yamaha and 0.52#/hp/hr for the merc. but the 95 extra pounds in the worst place on the boat will suck up extra fuel.

so you will burn about the same fuel per trip.

Thanks for the info. Don’t think it is an excel. Had it in mind that they might be 2.7l maybe ? It’s just like the usual 200 of that era..but a 225. I think the 200 version is about 220-230kgs. The optimax is about 225-230kgs I think.

 

[dingbat]

You can buy a whole lot of fuel for the cost of a re-power

If the guy isn’t using the boat much due to high fuel prices, footing the bill to re-power the boat to save 30-40% in fuel cost is going to be a hard sale.

I’m still running my motor simply because the ROI was not there.

Example:
500 gallons of fuel - $1,700
10 gallons of oil - $300
$2,000 - 40% = $800 savings
Cost of re-power /$800 = ?

 

[QBhoy]

You can buy a whole lot of fuel for the cost of a re-power

If the guy isn’t using the boat much due to high fuel prices, footing the bill to re-power the boat to save 30-40% in fuel cost is going to be a hard sale.

I’m still running my motor simply because the ROI was not there.

Example:
500 gallons of fuel - $1,700
10 gallons of oil - $300
$2,000 - 40% = $800 savings
Cost of re-power /$800 = ?

Thanks dingbat. It’s actually an unbelievable bargain. Not far off what the Yamaha will sell for. Added to that, it’s the boat he is in live with and is a forever boat. So he’s thinking, why not upgrade the tech a little Perhaps.