[Briguy]

I have heard from very reliable sources that the merc optimax 135 puts out 149hp and the merc 225 opti puts out 248hp. That's probably why the 2 stroke 225's are always 2-3mph faster than the 4's. The 4's are probably rated more true to the label. I hear what you are saying about the 225 vs the 250 ficht but I think the 250 may have a bigger displacement. I know in Yamaha's case it does have 3.3 litre vs 2.6 on the 200 hpdi. But, not to beat a dead horse, my 115hp Suzuki's have 230 combined horsepower and 3.8 litres of displacement. From the seat of the pants, my old yamaha 2 stroke 130's were faster out of the hole at 3.4 litres of combined displacement. So maybe 2 stroke displacement of the same size vs. 4 stroke equals more torque. As for getting out of the hole, my origonal engine was a 225 Johnson spinning a 15x17ss and it was really slow out of the hole. My 4 strokes, although giving up 30 horespower to the yamaha 130's were almost as fast out of the hole and only 1kt slower at top end and cruise. You don't drive 2 stroke car's and add oil every fill up, do you? You know the efi 4 stroke has been proven reliable by honda since the late 70's for sailboat motors, their only drawback is the weight issue, which isn't an issue with a flotation bracket. My local boat club has used Honda's and Suzuki motors for the last 8 years. No kidding, these boats are used really hard by many different people 5-6 days a week. The Suzuki 2 stroke 140's and 225's are getting about 700 hours before they are junk. The honda's put into service 6 years ago are all at 2000 to 3000 hours!!! No way you are getting that out of an OPTI or Fitcht. I really don't mean to start a flame here either. I guess you could say I'm sold on the EFI 4 strokes and like to spread the word.