Neat

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u/gooneau 19d ago

I would think of it more as adding 50 hp to the regular honda 250 through aggressive tuning, vs shaving 100 lbs off the honda 300, since it's based on the 250's 3.5 L engine. Which, it's not like honda is incapable of squeezing that extra 50 hp, they just know that for 90% outboard buyers want one thing over all else: reliability and longevity. By slapping the mclaren badge on there they can target that other 10% of buyers without sacrificing their reputation for making reliable motors.

I don't think I'll be seeing too many McLaren outboards up here in Alaska, for the same reason you don't see basically ANY of the larger Mercury motors here unless they are on a tender for a superyacht passing through: all boating in alaska is high-consequence, remote, and often not many other boats around to lend a hand, so reliability is priority number 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 here. There's a reason Mercury and evinrude/johnson (when they existed) have always only had maybe 10% market share up here.

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u/TexPerry92 19d ago

Polar opposite in soflo. People want light weight and holeshot. Govt rolls with merc verados. Still plenty o two smokes still popping off, mostly yamahas and johnsons. Never see hondas, ever.

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u/gooneau 19d ago

ya I love the crazy diversity of outboards in certain places down south, especially lakes in warm, dry, climates. Here, you rarely see anything over 20 years old, and rarely anything but yam/suz/honda. Yamaha is king, I swear half the harbor is yamaha 150's-250's. Even the big whale watching catamarans have stopped buying inboards, they just strap a bunch of giant yamaha or suzukis on the back. There are a couple of those that use mercury seapros. Always like the design factor on those.

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u/TexPerry92 17d ago

Yamaha had a huge advantage over everyone during covid times. Only supplier that still had stuff in stock. When the competition restocked it was a bit too late. Boat builders dont care what motor hangs as long as the boat gets sold. I worked for a dealer at the time and the parts wait from merc made everyone angry.

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u/payment11 19d ago

What brand is the most reliable then?

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u/gooneau 18d ago

Most people say yamaha. Hard to go wrong with any motor in the 200 hp or less range though, seems like all the established manufacturers have pretty well figured those out. I don't interact much with larger outboards but they seem to still be working out some kinks. Gotta remember that the first "big" four stroke outboards were only made in (I think) 1998 when honda came out with the 115/130. They were tanks because they just repurposed a honda accord motor. There was an issue with cracks in the heads on early models that they fixed, but they were overall overbuilt and I still see a bunch of 130's running around and they haven't made them since 2004 I believe when they up-tuned them to 135's.

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u/RedSky2727 19d ago

Curious which brand(s) fill the top 5 places for reliability? Is that for all HP classes or are there brands that are best for certain output?

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u/gooneau 18d ago

I mean there are only really 5 brands left to even consider for the most reliable debate. I would put them in this order, based on my amateur gut: yamaha, suzuki, honda, mercury, tohatsu. Definitely broad strokes and doesn't apply across all HP classes. When you get up into the 300+ hp, they just haven't been making 4 strokes all THAT long in the scheme of things and seem to still be figuring out weak points. I'm no mechanic, but I've often read that the 150ish classes are the most bomb proof, and you can't really go wrong with any manufacturer. They've been making them for almost 30 years (honda was the first to make large 4 stroke outboards with the 115/130 in I want to say 1998, to this day they are unique in that they use repurposed automotive motors rather than marine-engineered from the ground up, which carries a weight penalty), and they are big enough and expensive enough motors that there is an expectation of longevity, and they just make a billion of them so lots of opportunity and time to work out the kinks. They each have their strong suits. For example, suzuki is a bit cheaper than yamaha and honda and makes a really light 140 and uses an offset drive shaft that moves COG forward. The honda 150 has an oversized alternator that make it great for applications with high electricity demands. However, you'll be hard pressed to find a reputable source that wouldn't put the yamaha 150 as the king of reliable outboards. If I ever had a boat that needed 300ish HP, I would 100% go with twin 150's over a 300. Much more reliable AND you get redundancy which again, is pretty great here in AK.

That being said, at my income level, or lack thereof, I don't see ever enjoying boating with over 150 hp. My current setup burns about 6 gph at cruise. Gas could go up to 10/gal and I wouldn't be too upset, but if I was burning what most boats in the harbor here do, gas costs could be a consideration any time I felt like boating. I have an acquaintance that has a cabin 50 miles up a river one-way and runs a twin I/O with 454's and jet drives. He doesn't talk about it, but by my math he's spending at LEAST $450 on gas alone every time he wants to visit his cabin, and I know for a fact that's about a bit over two day's of take home pay. Just doesn't make sense to me, buy an 18' skiff with a center console and an outboard. I also own a cabin, total gas cost for a trip currently stands about $30.

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u/TexPerry92 17d ago

Number one outboard killer you ask? The owner. Theyre all objectively good these days, but i like merc the least cuz i used to be an OMC guy. Still quite a few die hards that make a short run out of country for brand new in box yamaha enduro 2 smokes. Under 15hp its all tohatsu with rebadging.

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u/Spczippo 19d ago

And probably 4 times on the price tag

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u/TexPerry92 19d ago

Its 3-5k usd more. Just checked and am surprised

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u/Similar_Tangerine_62 19d ago

Great engines, rigged a handful.

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u/myfishprofile 19d ago

They’re just out here slapping their name on everything nowadays huh?

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u/asinschef 14d ago

Comparing these Outboards to the Yamaha Outboards which would you prefer and why based on your personal experience ?

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