CD25 with 200 or 175 E-Tec?

[tomtom1941]

A couple of weeks ago, Traveler was stolen and her Honda 150 was taken along with some of the electronics. She was recovered in good shape. I'm waiting for the insurance adjustment now.

SInce I will have to buy a new engine, I'm thinking of moving to a 200 hp (or 175) E-Tec. Does anyone have such a setup on the 25?

There is also the possibility that I would be willing to sell Traveler less motor to allow someone to buy a motor of their choice. I would then likely move to a Tomcat.

Comments will be appreciated.

[Morning Star]

I have a 26 Venture with a 175 E-TEC and I am very satisfied with it. It has enough power to push the boat over 30 knots. It has a lot of torque out of the hole. The fuel economy is good. I'm averaging around 3 gph when I run in the 15 to 20 knot range and around 5 gph when I run at 25 to 30 knots. The noise level is good and it has a pleasant deep sound. It does not smoke like "old style" two cycles. It is about 400 pounds lighter than the equivalent four stroke. I get about 12 hours to a gallon of oil (I used to get more, but it seems to have settled in around 12). I don't know if you would get the same performance with it on the CD25, but I would expect it to be similar.

[journey on]

Just to throw a few numbers in for 175 HP engines
Evenrude e-tec weight 418 #
Suzuki 4 stroke weight 474 #
Difference 56 #

Mileage
18 knt/3 gph = 6 nmpg
25 knt/5 gph = 5 nmpg

Normal of Honda 150 on C-25 is 3-4 nmpg @ 15 knts.

Boris

[Matt Gurnsey]

Just to note-
There are two E-tec 200's, the small block 200 (shares its block with the 150/175) and the big block 200 HO (shares its block with the 225 / 250).

I think the regular 200 would be the right application for the 25C.

[rogerbum]

[stevej]

Just finished the second season with a 200 e-tec on my 25.
200 hours with no problems and very pleased with the motor.

If I were to do it again I might go with a 175 hp e-tec. The power curve would be a bit lower in the RPM band with best economy around 3600 RPM . My 200 is most efficient around 3800/4200 RPM so 24 to 26 mph. I can get 3 mpg even with a heavy load in the ocean but its not often I can run that fast off the Oregon coast.

All said and done though having 200 hp on tap does not have a lot of down sides. If you need to keep on top of a wave or run the boat heavy it's not a problem and the economy scales well across the RPM range.

stevej

[Matt Gurnsey]

[thataway]

One thing to consider both in re-rig and re-sale, is that the boat is already rigged for the Honda. The shifter, trim tabs and guages etc will all have to be changed out for an e-tec (an exception might be if you were using all NMEA 2000 guages, but I don't believe that these were available for your 150 Honda).

So the Rigging cost for a e-tec would be more than for a replacement Honda. I doubt if the insurance company would pay for that upgrade.

As for mpg--with a 135 on the C Dory25 (and we did run heavy almost all of the time) we felt pretty good if we would get 2.5 miles per gallon at cruising speed or 17 or so knots. As I recollect we got about 3 mpg overall on our 1200 mile Alaska trip, but of course that included time at lower speeds where the boat was more effecient. I would think that 5 miles a gallon would be a bit optimistic no matter what engine you are using. Basically a gas engine will give 10 to 14 hp per gallon of gasoline per hour . So if you are using 3 gallons an hour, then you will be only using 30 to 42 hp--and I assure you that 42 hp will not plane a C Dory 25 (or similar boat)!

I suspect that the biggest difference in the 175 to 200 e-tec will be at the higher throttle settings--and top end speeds. The gearing of the "regular" block is the same.

[BrentB]

on the flip side, what is the asking price for the boat and trailer?

[JamesTXSD]

For comparison sake, at 15 - 18 knots, we see about 2.5 nmpg with our Honda 135. Push it harder and that goes down. Pull it back to displacement speed, and we see 5 - 6 nmpg. Are others getting 5 to 6 nmpg with a Venture 26 hull at speeds in the mid-teens? Twice the fuel mileage? A bit sharper bow and a little more deadrise on the Venture vs the C-Dory; I can see where it might make a slight difference in ride, but that's quite a mileage difference.

[Ron on Meander]

[stevej]

The 200 on Shearwater is a "small block" 2.6 L. It would be difficult to justify going with the "big block" 3.3 L 200 H.O. on a C-dory. The 150 H.O is still a 2.6 L tuned to H.O. levels I suspect that the tune would place it just below the standard 2.6 L 175hp.

For the most part I believe that the H.O series are aimed towards the bass boat crowd. However with the increased displacement there would be a ton of torque available and it appears the 200 H.O is a pretty mild tune.

2008 RPM Range Quick-Reference
Model Operating Range Optimum Range
150 HP (60°) 4850 - 5850 5500-5600
175 HP (60°) 4850 - 5850 5500-5600
200 HP (60°) 4850 - 5850 5600-5850

200 H.O.(3.3 90°)4500 - 5800 5500-5600

The chart above is good information that goes beyond the standard "glossy print" motor specifications. Had I found this before my purchase might have put more weight on the 175 hp due to the lower RPM band. Following that logic though the 200 H.O. would be ideal for around 3400 RPM cruise range.

Honestly though even my higher revving 200 2.6 L lays down so much torque you better be hanging on when you nail the throttle. It will idle all day at 500 RPM trolling for salmon without a glitch. Delivers the same or better mpg as the smaller four strokes for similar cruise speeds and has reserve power if needed.

One other item I find very nice about the e-tec is that you can download a maintenance version of the diagnostic software for free then view history, error codes and run diagnostics with a laptop. All in all I find that BRP goes slightly beyond the other manufactures in providing end user tools for those who wish to use.

stevej

[tomtom1941]

Thanks very much to you all for your information and advice. It is greatly appreciated.

Tom