jetdrive1 said:
....or a 30 Fitch Evenrude.The 30 evenrude is new for 2009....
What do you mean by Fitch Evinrude? As of yet, Evinrude makes only E-tecs. Back in I guess it was '98 to '03, they made a Ficht outboard, which was only in the larger horsepowers, mostly in V6 motors, but in some V4s as well. The Ficht fuel injection, well moreso oil injection, was a problem child from day one, and resulted in many blocks with viewing ports on the side.
I only wish the weight of the E-tec would go down. It is a great motor, but especially in the small to midrange sizes, it is as heavy as the comparable four stroke. But, the E-tech does have a lot going for it. It has a lot of the features that were formerly known only to four strokes. It will troll about as well as a four stroke, is exceptionally quiet, and if you are in certain states with limitations, it often exceeds 4 strokes in how clean it burns. But, you still have the old 2 stroke advantages, except for weight. No timing belts/chains, no oil to change, more simplicity etc.
But, it will be the first year that the 30 will be out. But, it isn't like it is a new design, merely just scaling down the design that has been on the 40 for years, and given BRPs record for testing their products thoroughly, and fixing problems before putting them on the market, it probably wouldn't be as bad as say them changing from one form of fuel injection over to the Ficht, back when OMC owned Evinrude, not BRP. Here, they have a tested design, and are just making it smaller.
Really, for me, it is a close call, but I think the E-tech is a bit cheaper than the Honda, and given that it is 2 stroke, thereby requiring less maintenance, I would probably lean towards it....