Re: New Boat
I'll throw my 2 cents in here. I went through this exact analysis on the Mercury outboards last year. (200HP) Hole shot on the 2 stroke is much better than the 4. Fuel economy is marginally better at WOT on the 4 stroke, but in the cruising range or where I spend 70-80+ % of my time, the 2 stroke/4 stroke discussion was a wash. The Opti Oil is expensive, but if you've got the $$ to drop on the motor new and run it, that's part of having the toy. Smoke is essentially non-existent or hardly noticeable. 2 stroke is a little louder than the 4 stroke but out on the open water running that Tracker, you can't talk with either on the back.
The winner (as I deemed the fuel economy a wash) was the 2 stroke for several reasons. One was the cost (it was almost $2k less). Two, I reviewed the typical repair costs/parts for the 2 vs 4 stroke and the 2 stroke was on average less expensive (price the cost of the parts of the supercharger on a 4 stroke, which is what they've done to try to equalize the low end 'torque' of a comparable 2 stroke). Lastly, the deciding factor is one of my wife's relatives works at a place that uses Mercury Optimax outboards. Over a dozen engines, 8 years old, running avg of 350 hours per engine/year. All that has been done is routine maintenance and impellers.
Hope that helps.