200hp Optimax, Fuel Figures

[Vitamin Sea]

Craigie

Yes, all seems real good on the fuel front, especially as you said Banks trips, which I do whenever I can arrange it.

3500 is probably the best economical speed, however for my mind it's a bit noisy at that range, 3800 sounds good, but it's a bit quick for heading out into a metre or more of sea, we will see.

Do you find your 115 loud? because I certainly do, unfortunately

Cheers

Bill

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.

[Daisy]

Firstly I do have an E-tec 50hp (baby) so the following comments could be biased

[Daisy]

A bit ruff mate lots of other factors to consider such as planing attitude and out of the hole (some hulls like to sit on their arse more than others) food for thought tho. A mate of mine has recently changed over from a 225 Optimax to a 250 E-tec on his 680 Patriot and while he's very happy with the obvious extra power he boasts similar fuel usage. Maybe the age of the Opti (over 700 hrs)

A bit ruff mate lots of other factors to consider such as planing attitude and out of the hole (some hulls like to sit on their arse more than others) food for thought tho. A mate of mine has recently changed over from a 225 Optimax to a 250 E-tec on his 680 Patriot and while he's very happy with the obvious extra power he boasts similar fuel usage. Maybe the age of the Opti (over 700 hrs)
I think I stuffed my quotes up but that one was for you Smithy

ps; By the way Bill congrats on the opti, the mate I mentioned got a great run out of his it was just a matter of circumstances that led to him purchasing the E-tec.

Cheers Mick Day

"Barramundiman watches you sleep"

[craigie]

Bill,

Have not noticed my 115 being any noisier than other brands ?
At Idle that's a different story, it's a lot quieter that conventional 2 strokes !!

Cheers
Craigie.

[Steve B]

I have a brand new 90 HP Opti and during the run in period at various rev speeds I did 176km (on GPS) on 50ltrs of fuel pushing a 5m plate side console up and down Monduran dam. The oil used was about 3lts. I have been told by the dealer that the Oil consumption will improve after the motor has done 10hours (apparently 200 to 300:1) depending on workload.

Can anyone give me further information or statistics of their oil consumption during and after run in period??

cheers steve

[FNQCairns]

Steve B, in no way am I doubting you as I have no experience to do so but your economy is equivalent to a boat I sold not long ago, a 4.2m 30hp very basic tinny.
You sure you got those numbers? again I am not having a go just seems exceptional is all, is the hull a low deadrise design? If you are getting economy like this the rig should really fly at wot.

cheers fnq

[disorderly]

SteveB,great fuel economy there, but 3 litres of oil for 50litres of fuel? Must of been puffing a bit of smoke out ,mate.
Just as well you were not using Etec xd100 oil,would have cost you around $65 dollars just for oil.
Does the dealer reprogram the motor after 10 hrs to reduce oil consumption?

cheers Scott

[scungey]

I went for a test ride at TR Marine in a 620 Offshore with a 175 Optimax. Superb motor with plenty of grunt!

[disorderly]

Scungey,you could really tell it was a "superb motor" from one test ride?

[Smithy]

During 2 weeks of use we used about 850 litres of boat fuel and went through a 20 litre tub of XD100 Etec oil with a store price of $300. Luckily I got the oil a bit cheaper than that. That added about 100 hours to the hour meter so to get to the claimed 300 hour first service you would be putting through about $900 worth of oil. Trade that off against the cost of 4 stroke servicing every 100 hours and I don't think there is much in it, or not as much as the pro Etec people will have you believe and their cost of servicing 4 strokes arguments.

[disorderly]

Smithy ,I'd be checking that 20 litre tub for holes ,mate.
As you most likely know,the 100 in xd 100 refers to a fuel/oil ratio of 100/1.
And if you are doing a bit of trolling (as your fuel usage figures suggest) then that can drop to as much as 300/1.(whilst at low rpm)
You should have used a maximum of 8.5 litres of oil for 850 litres of fuel and more likely less.
Your figures dont add up!

cheers Scott

[FNQCairns]

Possibly the marketing claims on oil consumption are just that? - Sooner or later it all comes out in the wash.
Or
the dealers have no good idea how to mechanically calibrate the ratio to the manufacturers specs at the engine OR they cannot be bothered as they can then effectively pocket that portion of the setup fee?

cheers fnq

[FNQCairns]

It's interesting, to oil an old tech 2 stroke at 50:1 costs aprox $255 with Yamalube for 850L of fuel (if my calculation is right).

I don't understand what's going on!! Thought these new tech o/bs were all about better economy - everywhere.

cheers fnq

[craigie]

Steve B,

Better than 3 k's to the litre for your run-in sounds good, especially if that was done at planning speeds !!

As for the Oil, with my 115 Opti, I buy the Quicksilver DFI in the grey 4 litre bottle for around $40 a pop. Maybe slightly cheeper at the boating, Camping, Fishing place.
Hard to give an accurate usage on the oil due to the variation in revs (trolling, cruising etc) at a gues I'd say I get between 20 and 30 hrs out of a 4 litre bottle.

Cheers
Craigie.

[disorderly]

Fnq,
The Etec is calibrated for oil usage via computer programming.
Justs sounds like more ETEC bashing to me.

cheers Scott