On Thu, 24 Apr 08, HK wrote:
gfretwell wrote:
PhantMan wrote:
Wayne.B wrote:
http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/8...erescuekx2.jpg
Lee County (FL) sheriff's boats sporting glossy new Evinrudes.
gfretwell wrote:
The charter boat guys have about a year on theirs here in the Estero
River and they still love them. They have broke a couple lower units
hitting logs in the river but no power head problems. They are doing
1500-2000 hrs a year.
I like everything about 'em except the price. Anybody have a theory on
why they're so much more expensive than their 4 stroke bretheren
(Yamaha in particular)? Logic would indicate the price should be
lower.... or at least close.

I suppose it is development cost. They had a jagged learning curve
with the ficht and Bombardier did honor the warranty on those as they
threw the Suzirude people under the bus. Etec survives the same way
the "flying wing" did, through better computers.
4 Stroke is a more mature technology but computers made it a lot
better too. Neither of these are your daddy's outboard that you could
fix oin the water with a pair of pliers and a paper clip but they do
run better across a wider RPM band.

There's no long-term production run possible for FrenchiRude unless it
starts to gain some serious market share. That hasn't happened yet.

True it hasn't happened yet but part of that can be attributed to the
price. Seems to me Bombardier should cut their price and take some
losses at first to gain market share. Only time will tell if their
technology has actually improved or is more of the same. I'm sure my
local Evinrude guy knows the answer to that, he's pretty sharp, but he
ain't sayin'. I asked him straight up if he'd seen the same problems
with the new ones as OMC had. and he looked me straight in the eye and
asked... "What problems?" That was the end of that conversation.

Rick

lid wrote:
On Thu, 24 Apr 08, HK wrote:
gfretwell wrote:
PhantMan wrote:
Wayne.B wrote:
http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/8...erescuekx2.jpg
Lee County (FL) sheriff's boats sporting glossy new Evinrudes.
gfretwell wrote:
The charter boat guys have about a year on theirs here in the Estero
River and they still love them. They have broke a couple lower units
hitting logs in the river but no power head problems. They are doing
1500-2000 hrs a year.
I like everything about 'em except the price. Anybody have a theory on
why they're so much more expensive than their 4 stroke bretheren
(Yamaha in particular)? Logic would indicate the price should be
lower.... or at least close.

I suppose it is development cost. They had a jagged learning curve
with the ficht and Bombardier did honor the warranty on those as they
threw the Suzirude people under the bus. Etec survives the same way
the "flying wing" did, through better computers.
4 Stroke is a more mature technology but computers made it a lot
better too. Neither of these are your daddy's outboard that you could
fix oin the water with a pair of pliers and a paper clip but they do
run better across a wider RPM band.

There's no long-term production run possible for FrenchiRude unless it
starts to gain some serious market share. That hasn't happened yet.

True it hasn't happened yet but part of that can be attributed to the
price. Seems to me Bombardier should cut their price and take some
losses at first to gain market share. Only time will tell if their
technology has actually improved or is more of the same. I'm sure my
local Evinrude guy knows the answer to that, he's pretty sharp, but he
ain't sayin'. I asked him straight up if he'd seen the same problems
with the new ones as OMC had. and he looked me straight in the eye and
asked... "What problems?" That was the end of that conversation.

Rick

One of the Parker boaters I know in another area repowered recently with
an eTec, and he hasn't reported anything but good things. The most
common "repower" for Parkers, other than Yamaha, seems to be Suzuki,
though. I don't read about many who have four stroke engines moving back
to two stroke engine, though I am sure it happens.

When OMC collapsed, some of the larger Evinrude-Johnson dealers in this
area began to order their boats with Mercs or Yamahas, and to a lesser
degree, Suzukis. I don't think they went back to Evinrude. There are
thousands of small boats in this area, but almost none with eTecs on the
stern. I used to be a two-stroke outboard fan, but no more. Not even the
full-of-b.s. "infomerical" Evinrude runs on the sport networks can
convince me to go backwards to a two stroke.