[Boatdood]

My take on the 250HP arena.

Verados are heavy and fuel hungry, but they are one sweet package. Great power, user friendly, and quiet as they come.

Mercury's Optimax has weathered the storm of new technology mistakes and come out swinging. Pretty good stuff with great fuel economy, yes even exceeding most four strokes, if still a bit oil hungry and weak on the bottom end.

Yamaha's 250 Four Stroke is apparently a good contender from early reviews, but danged near impossible to get. And still a bit on the heavy side.

Yamaha's 250 HPDI is still causing problems, as is the 300. Maybe they will get it figured out. I hope so.

Suzuki's 250 four stroke is a fine piece of machinery. A bit heavy and complex, but still fine.

Johnson's four strokes are white Suzukis. Maybe better warranty and parts/service distribution.

Which brings us to Evinrude. Great fuel economy, exceeding most if not all four strokes. Very stingy on oil as well. Simple design. Relatively light weight. Great power across the board. Very quiet for a two stroke, and acceptable sound level even from a four stroke standard. Comparable price when compared with other cutting edge technology. Downside? Yes, there is a downside. These engines still suffer from the stigma of Ficht. Fair or not, that stigma may well keep the value of these fine engines in the gutter for a still to be determined time frame. And, these engines suffer from the perception of the general public that two strokes are bad and will be illegal in the next few years. Although that is not at all true, the majority of the outboard buying public today believes that it is true. Therefore, perception may kill a perfectly fine piece of engineering. It wouldn't be the first time it's happened.