The User Experience
Achieving performance and emissions goals might seem good enough, however the very important common denominator to both of those attributes is what Evinrude refers to as the user experience.
Within this view, high performance and ease of maintenance and ownership are not mutually exclusive. The highest-horsepower E-TEC would be just as easy to operate and maintain as the smaller models. This approach covers many aspects of consumer ownership and use of the engine, even when it may come to service. Evinrude’s unique and stringent goals set for the E-TEC series resulted in some very interesting specifications. For example, it might surprise you to know that first-generation E-TEC engines from 40-200-horsepower all share the very same bore and stroke specification.
Why is this important? Because it means that all of these engines use the very same pistons and connecting rods, which goes a long way toward streamlining design, production, and service needs. Additionally, all E-TEC engines have the very same maintenance procedures. This uniformity across an entire series of engines not only makes ownership much more practical but servicing as well. And the maintenance intervals - or the lack thereof - are sparse. The first-generation E-TEC engines required no maintenance for the first three years or 300 hours. That, in addition to the lack of a mandatory break-in regiment, that in itself was a breakthrough in the industry. The G2 series, which will be discussed in the second part of this feature, further increased the maintenance intervals to five years or 500 hours, whichever comes first, in freshwater recreational use. Many owners will not log 500 hours on their outboard in the lifetime they own it.
Miami, 2006: With the E-TEC's introduction, Evinrude came out swinging. This is the on-water Evinrude demonstration area at the Miami International Boat Show. |
The last 20 years has been a very transformative era in the outboard marine industry. The technology-driven evolution of the clean-running, easy-to-own outboard engine taking place now is not unlike the evolution that has taken place in the automotive industry. Development of new technologies has produced the rewards of the highest-performing and most environmentally conscious cars in history. We are witnessing that very same technologically-driven progression in outboard engines such as the Evinrude E-TEC, with all of the benefits that the two-stroke engine design provides and none of its historical bad habits.
Video: The well-known "Tug of War" demonstration was first introduced at the 2006 Miami boat show. It's definitely a very entertaining way to showcase the torque of an E-TEC. I remember the moment we all saw the Yamaha-powered boat pulled underwater, people at the show were actually cheering. It's just a fun video to watch, but also a powerful demonstration, in more ways than one. This particular video is lesser-known, but just as entertaining. It demonstrates the same test, but against a Mercury four-stroke powered boat. |
During the course of my research for this article, I have learned a great deal about the intricacies of how the Evinrude E-TEC took shape, from the comprehensive customer feedback that drove its design goals, to the evolution of the technologies that created the most advanced two-stroke consumer outboard available today.
Part Two of this series will focus on the new Evinrude G2-series of E-TEC engines with many photos and details of my experience at the Evinrude E-TEC G2 press event. This feature article became more of a journey for me than anything else previously undertaken with Scream And Fly, and there's so much more to tell.
It's a very good time to be an outboard engine enthusiast.
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