Evinrude G2 200 HP1

T

thataway

Active member
Boat Test.com has done a review of the new G2 Evinrude E Tec. Some very interesting features, including the steering mechanism built into the mount, so no rams in the splash well, or bracket. There is a 81 degree tilt--which will put every motor out of the water. Very low water pickups for shoal running, and a redesigned gear case--less chance of weed/kelp hang up, plus gone back to electrical gear shifting in the lower unit (I had that in the 70''s on an Evinrude) Plus ability to swing a larger prop.

Magneto type of charging system, eliminates alternator belts. 133 amps of charging capacity, and joystick maneuvering with twins, eliminating the necessity for thrusters....

These features seem to be in the 200 on up series currently---but I would suspect that they will "trickle down" to the size of motors we are usually using.

If available, these features might even sway me to get twin 50's instead of the single!
 
Oh man, I've been awaiting the day that outboards would get joysticks. I always kind of thought sea star would come up with an after market system. I've tried the joystick world out a little on inboard jets, and it is SO. VERY. NICE.

I like the idea of an internal steering mechanism, but my guess is that the proprietary internal ram would be much more $$ than a replacement from sea star. Is there a proprietary helm as well?

I've also tried to reproduce the effect using twin tiller outboards, and trying to get all of the control inputs done is a juggling act with two motors independently steering, shifting gears and throttling, but it can be done!
 
Quite sure that it is a mated steering system, and probably same for the shifter (as it was in the past--buttons in the 70's).

There have been a few tiller steered motors, which combined shifter and throttle in the tiller handle. I had a mid 1980's 18 HP Merc which had that combination. I think having 4 hands would also help!
 
This is definitely a neat invention! Mercury was the first I saw with it. Now Evinrude and Yamaha have it as well.(not sure who had it first)

Like Bob said I have only seen it on larger outboards, including triple 300 Yamaha's.

SeaStar has a retrofit kit - but it wouldn't be cheap and I'm not sure what applications it is available for.

Regards, Rob
 
Teleflex [now Seastar Solutions]was the inventor ,and Merc did a similar system it at the same timeframe . Wefings is a trained , certified installer of the Optimus 360 system, for those of you that want to spend 15 or 20 k on a joystick . Yamaha's system and Suzuki's are made by Optimus and are similarly priced and we do those too . The technology is more expensive with mechanically controlled engines , a bit less for more up to date fly by wire systems . It is awesome!

Boat test dot com is paid [advertising ] for by the manufacturer and is hardly an unbiased review . Keep in mind you are dealing with dead horse 2 stroke technology and there are more proprietary and untested parts and less dealers to get them from [to leave you stranded] than any other motor available . Just my observations.

But they do have alot of cool colors available ............
Marc
 
Alaska Mining and Diving recently put out this video that shows the optimus system on a 30' aluminum pilothouse boat. It isn't always easy to tell what the boat is doing in as it cruises around the Whittier Harbor, but around 3:30 it clearly pulls up to the fuel dock sideways. Very neat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXH4yK2aIWI

I'd like one please!
 
Looks like a Suzuki kicker on the 3025... Some love, some hate the 2 stroke Evinrude. I have not owned one, but owned at least 25 Evinrudes thru my life and they all performed very well.

Marc--It was my impression that the Optimus 360, Merc. Yamaha, and Suzuki all use hydraulic systems with external rams. They have been around for several years. This was not the point, I was making. It is that the Evinrude uses a helix system for steering built into the mount system, with no external hydraulic ram.

Although Boat Test.com is supported by the manufacturers--it still gives us a lot of useful information (even if it is slightly biased, and gives better mpg than any of us can get...)
 
Like them or hate them you have to admit the Evinrude G2 is driving innovation into the market and that's a good thing. Once you start looking at the details of that engine it's pretty clear they're not in a "me too" mindset. It's WAY more than colors - there's a lot of technology under the cover.

Unfortunately it doesn't seem likely all those features will be available in the smaller engines anytime soon. I asked my local dealer about it and he said it'd be difficult to scale down the full set of enhancements. Some things like the improved block/lower unit metallurgy and components that allow the 500 hour service interval might make it. Things like the internal power steering probably not.
 
Back
Top