Outboards of the Future

By Mark Romanack

This Evinrude E-Tec 135 H.O. is mounted on a Starcraft 176 Starfish.The Fishing 411team has conducted a series of test ride videos featuring all
the popular Starcraft, Smoker Craft, American Angler and Starweld fishing boats.

These days outboard engines come in two flavors including standard models and High Output or H.O. models. High Output outboards feature a special gear case (lower unit) that is beefed up to take the abuse of constant use, tournament tortures and the long hours of service often dished out by guides and professional anglers.

What a lot of anglers don’t know is that the gear cases provided on H.O. outboards are actually designed to provide more performance on the water. This performance is achieved by streamlining the shape of the gear case so it passes through the water with less friction. 
Less friction means that the boat can achieve higher top end speeds, faster hole shots and run on plane at a lower RPM level. Believe it or not, these beefed up gear cases also deliver improved gas mileage because they perform better across the power and speed curve.

The author’s Starcraft STX 2050 is rigged with a 200 horse power
Evinrude E-Tec G2. The author rates this package as the best boat/motor
combination he has owned in over 30 years of running and fishing
performance fishing boats.

EVINRUDE’S E-TEC G2
The latest generation of outboards take performance and maintenance standards to new levels. The new Evinrude E-Tec G2 that hangs on my Starcraft STX 2050 is a state of the art engine. Designed to provide five full years or 500 hours of maintenance free service, no other outboard in the world can make this claim. That’s right, no scheduled maintenance for five full seasons. All I need to do is turn the key and go fishing.

This amazing feature is possible because the E-Tec G2 has over 100 fewer parts than a typical four stroke outboard and the engine components are honed so precisely there is no required break-in period. This “turn key” operations guideline is unheard of in the outboard industry and Evinrude is leading the pack.

The “look” of the G2 is also new. The integrated side panel design of the G2 allows anglers to custom match the color of their outboard to their boat. The side panels come in five standard colors with 14 different accent color options. Literally hundreds of color combinations are made possible thanks to this unique design. 

Performance on an outboard usually comes at the cost of fuel consumption. With the G2 performance actually costs less because this outboard is so efficient at combustion it actually delivers 20% better fuel economy while increasing torque and top end speed over competitor’s engines. 

The side benefit of improving combustion is the G2 is not only a better performing engine, it also features the lowest emissions of any outboard in the world! 

The Evinrude E-Tec G2 fishes as well as it performs. Getting this engine to
 idle down to trolling speeds is no problem thanks to the wireless throttle
controls standard with G2 models.

Another benefit of the G2 is the fly-by-wire throttle control and streamlined steering mechanism. The throttle on the G2 are as smooth as silk and provides instant performance. Evinrude’s redesigned steering controls eliminate the need for a traditional cable driven linkage system and enable the E-Tec G2 to be rigged on the transom of any fishing boat cleanly and with less hardware and moving parts.

The fly-by-wire throttle delivers instant performance, but this throttle system is also ideal for adjusting trolling speeds. With throttle control adjustments provided down to 1% increments it’s possible to dial in and maintain precise trolling speeds with the E-Tec G2.

Last but certainly not least, the E-Tec G2 comes with a digital command center gauge that at the touch of a finger tells the operator critical functions like the percentage of trim, RPM’s, fuel burn in gallons per hour, the fuel burn in miles per hour and both the fuel and two stroke oil levels.  

Collectively every piece of information the operator needs to know is made available on a digital gauge that mounts into the dash board of any boat. Say goodbye to analog gauges forever.

The Evinrude E-Tec G2 is currently available in 200, 225, 250 and 300 H.O. models. To schedule a test ride, visit an authorized Evinrude dealer or simply ask any of Evinrude’s team of professional anglers for an opportunity to run the world’s most sophisticated outboard.