Ok, I thought I read where they were the competition to the Fict engines.
I’d normally agree for sure. But comparing the 115 version (same engine but ecu different) to the 2 stroke equivalent, the new 4 stroke is lighter, faster and the rest. There isn’t a 115 2 stroke on the planet that would come close to that new 2.1l 4 stroke 115. It even dusted the 125 optimax in a recent same boat test. On acceleration and top end. Incredible. Lighter too.
Most of them are jimmbo. Agree…and totally agreed with you belt and buckle…before by chance, I ended up owning one. But I’m almost embarrassed to confess…that certainly the one I have…is an exceptional thing. Was so surprised at what it manages. Will cast iron bet my life on it, that there isn’t a 2 stroke 115 that could come close to it for performance. As for the rest of the makers effort on 4 strokes though…your statement stands and fully agree.
If they are truely faster and lighter, then how long are they going to last ???? I remember when aluminum engines came onto the market, all the big talk about how wonderfull they were going to be, then what a flop they became. When someone comes out with a new 4 stroke that is faster than a comparable 2 stroke....I wouldnt want to be the first to own one !!! Especially when they are lighter, what corners have been cut or what poor quality materials have been substituted. Only time will tell.....
Call Tracker Customer Relations. I have had good responses dealing directly with the manufacturer of my old boats. Good luck!
Myself and a number of boating friends are not impressed with the newer 4 strokes. We have found there performance is less on holeshots, much more weight, down the road more costly to rebuild and more costly new. Things may change in the future, but for now and the near future, I will stay with my 2 stroke along with my boating friends. Now with that said we are refering to under 100 hp motors. If you have a bigger boat where big hp is needed, cant beat the I/O!!
I get you. Totally wondered the same thing. But all I’d say is that I’ve put close to 1300 hours on mine in the last 3 years. Had 18 when I got the boat. Now has about 1320 last I checked. Been faultless apart from needing the fuel rail filter cleaned every 300 hours. There is an aluminium small car ferry near me that just replaced their twin 115 2.1 litres as a matter of caution. Nothing wrong with them, but apparently both clocked up 4000 hours by the time they were replaced with similar again. Not too bad. Whole new casting process in house from merc these days. So far ahead of the rest as they are just now. Light years even. Fingers crossed mine keeps going as it is. 5 year warranty speaks volumes too I suppose. Honestly can’t fault mine at all. To fire along a deep v 19ft cuddy at genuine gps mid 40’s is incredible I think. Lot to do with having the larger gearcase no doubt. Running the performance props from merc is a great thing.
I did call Tracker. He said he could only look back to 2001 and said to call a dealer. Called 3 without any luck. I have seen one of the options for the 98 Nitro was a 75hp ELPTO Mercury that weighed 305lbs so that is something.
The last year of the Hydro-Electric gear shift. Back in those Days it was always a delight to see what new engines were being introduced and HP upgrades over the Previous Year. The V6s were still about 3 yrs from Production. These days the motors don't even have a Model Year. As for "New and Improved"? Todays Outboards are as exciting as a 3 hp Briggs and Straton lawn mower engine
