200hp Optimax, Fuel Figures

[Vitamin Sea]

Hi All

Took the boat out for a run with the new Opti last Saturday to get some run in time up, thought some may be interested in the fuel consumption.

Bear in mind that it was run in time and accordingly was up and down on the throttle the whole time.

3 POB, full tank of juice

This is what the smart gauges told me

3000rpm, 35 km/h ( GPS ) 17 litres/H
3300 rpm, 41.5 km/h 20 L/H
3500 rpm, 46.5 km/h 22.9 L/H
3550 rpm, 47.5 km/h 23 L/H
4000 rpm, 53.4 km/h 28.5 L/H
4500 rpm, 61.2 km/h 35.5 L/H

Travelled 84 K/M
Did 2.6 Hrs
Gauges told me I had used 44 litres of juice all up

Filled up Tuesday, put in 47 Litres, quite impressive, the old 175 would have used about 90 litres for the trip.

Will be interesting after it is run in completely and can maintain normal operating speeds

Cheers

Bill

[disorderly]

That must have put a smile on your face when you refueled,Bill.
Thats great fuel economy for a 200 straight out of the box.
Bound to get even better when it loosens up a bit .
So who said 2 strokes are a dying breed!

cheers Scott

[DALEPRICE]

gday bill,
those figure seem pretty good by the looks. when you get a few more
hours up those figures should drop down a bit more,
cheers dale

[reef_king]

so much for smart gauges, there off by 3 litres

[PADDLES]

that's awesome economy bill.

am I jealous ............................ yes

[mark221263]

What size boat are you pushing???

[Vitamin Sea]

Hi again

Scott / Dale: Yep, should only improve when it loosens up

Reef King: If they can stay within 5 - 10% I will be real happy

Paddles: All comes at a price mate, the Minister for War and Finance has had a bit to say since we got it

Mark: It's a Haines 19C

[Black_Rat]

Just out of interest Bill have you let her rip at WOT ? At only 61.2km/h @ 4500rpm she should fly and put a on your face !

[Vitamin Sea]

Damo

Not yet, this week end for sure, have to see if the prop is suitable, should spin out to 5800, any more and I will have to go bigger ( 19" Pitch )

It will fly at those RPM'S

Cheers

Bill

[Wayne_Red]

Hi Bill
Great figures there. How did the performace compare to the old motor. Like chalk and cheese I bet.
Wayne

[lee8sec]

Thanks Bill, good to see some real figures. Makes spending the extra dollars to buy one abit easier seeing those numbers. Leigh

[Smithy]

Having just done a day on a 685 Cruise Craft with a 225 Optimax and coming off the back of 2 weeks using a 200 Etec on a 6.2 Seafarer the Optimax is miles in front. All of the trips I did with the Etec had 2 onboard, Saturday we had 4. The 685 has got to weigh more than the 6.2 to start with yet the Optimax was 3-5 litres better an hour for similar revs doing similar speeds. Holding good clean plane I couldn't really keep the Etec under about 3600-3800 rpm for 37-39 litres per hour. Fast cruise was 62 litres an hour and flat out was 82. Both were swinging 19" props yet the 225 was around 35 litres an hour for 3900-4100 rpm at good clean plane. Not convinced of the Etec hype.

[DALEPRICE]

smithy, love reading those figures and stuff.
been doing a bit of work on a 3200noosa cat with twin 225
optimax on her, it returns 37-39 litres per side per hour with
about a tonne on the back deck. 3900 rpm cruise for 18 knotts.
cheers dale

[NEWBY]

I have a 150 Optimax on a 21 Alison (for sale by the way) It uses around 1ltr per nautical mile. 240 ltrs under the deck. Bloody fantastic motors. Very economical. I did an injector in on mine that cost me over a grand to fix though. apparently unheard of for them to go. My rig is flat out at 43 knotts but thats fast enough I reckon.

[craigie]

Bill,

From one Opti Owner (2004, 115hp) to another, the Merc Opti's seem to be holding there own in comparison to 4 bangers and e-techs.

Your Fuel consumption figures look very good, especially in the lower rev range where they are not that much different to my 115 Opti !!
I have averaged out your figures from your maiden voyage, 1.8 km's per litre (arguable the best I've seen from a 200hp outboard) and averaging 18 litres per hour on a slow to medium cruise which is very similar to what I get out of my 115 Opti.

3500 revs certainly looks like a sweet spot for economical cruising !!

I have a mate who has just bolted a 200 Opti on to his 19 foot Haines, very interested to see how his figures compare to yours, anything similar will be sensational !! 100 litre burn (or less) to the Northern barwons and back will be excellent.

My 115 drinks 15 - 20 litres per hour cruising between 3500 - 4000 revs. I get 2.3 k's per litre in this rev range. Very happy with the figures from my Optimax.
Have just racked up 500 hrs in 3 years and just got it back from it's annual service. Been told by the mechanic that motor is still in very good condition and couldn't believe the motor had done that many hrs..

Regards
Craigie.