Outboards vs I/O Is a change coming again?
 

In the late 70"s and early 80"s all you would seen in performance boating were High Performance Outboards.Then the Early and late 80"s it was I/O with Jet Drives.Then came 90"s with the I/O with High H.P. and exotic out drives. Now maybe a change the industry and the way we boat is going another direction.Higher Horsepower Outboards such as Merc Optimax 300"s XS with performing lower gear cases, Pro-Max"s,Merc Supercharged Verado"s. Evinrude with the E- Tec, and Yamaha.The Outboards as mentioned have much improved fuel efficiency over the I/O along with engine torque, less weight and less cost to operate and maintenance.To insurer performance boat with O/B 's is less money than one with Blue Motors.I would seem to miss the muscle sounds and a slight cut back in top end performance. Do you see a trend change on the rise here? Which way would you go, if you had the option to choose?

Re: Outboards vs I/O Is a change coming again?
 

I would have thought that there would be a change in the wind toward outboards, but, I'm not seeing it yet. In our case we are showing a very fast outboard but still you can see the dreamy look on the face of people when we describe the I/O version. Unless they were already partial to O/Bs they still want the big block.

Re: Outboards vs I/O Is a change coming again?
 

i recently went from a 28/30 checkmate w/540 to a new 24 checkmate with a 225 opti. i'm impressed so far with the economy and performance. i expect that in a year or 2 i will take another shot at this and end up with something a little bigger with twin o/b's. the big blocks and bravo's have beat me up pretty bad over the last few years and i think the o/b's will put the fun back into boating for me

Re: Outboards vs I/O Is a change coming again?
 

I Went From A 34 Ft Vee To A 28 Cat With Outbords Love Them Wont Go Back But If I Go To A Bigger Boat Down The Road Will Have To Get Big Blocks Again To Get The Speed I Will Want I Moving Up To A New 30 Now But Outbourds Will Still Do For Now Just My 2cents

Re: Outboards vs I/O Is a change coming again?
 

A friend of mine recently purchased a boat with a Mercury Optimax 225... the thing screams... plus, it burns a fraction of the gas that the twin I/O's did.

Re: Outboards vs I/O Is a change coming again?
 

Years back, outboards weren't that much money. But today your looking at around 20K for a motor. We just put together a new model 21' Superboat Millenium center console. Instead of a 250 outboard, we're selling it with a 260HP 5.0 EFI Mercruiser. The motor and drive package is around 8K. And has a 6 year warranty. Thats a big saving$ when you think about it.

Re: Outboards vs I/O Is a change coming again?
 

Yup

Re: Outboards vs I/O Is a change coming again?
 

Don't get me wrong, I love my I/O's but the power/weight ratio's and fuel economy of outboards are no match compared to I/O's for many applications, and this leads to better performance numbers in a lot of tests. I think with increasing pressure from the oil industry, we'll see outboard use in many offshore applications continue to grow. The technology we've seen in recent years with them is awesome! :cool:

Re: Outboards vs I/O Is a change coming again?
 

Bring back the Johnson/Evinrude 300hp V8! :evilb:

Re: Outboards vs I/O Is a change coming again?
 

No