What Really Killed Evinrude
 

Harsh reality created by much more than COVID-19, https://www.speedonthewater.com/what...lled-evinrude/.

thanks for the write up on this one Matt.

Matt, Good article.

Puts things into perspective. Riding on ones laurels will eventually take one out.

I remember reading an article that compared the Corporate 500 of the 1950's to the Corporate 500's of the 2000's. From what I can recall, it was basically only 12% of the companies that were still on the list in their original form. The rest were gone....

Found it: https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/fortu...e-destruction/

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...c2a453893f.jpg
Still running, 1988 Evinrude 90 hp 2-smoke.

I dont really agree. I think there were a cmobination of things. The smaller dealer network. Also the fall out from fitch. How brb handled the dealers when it took over.

I think a big part was that many people said NO to 2 strokes without giving the g2 a fair evaluation. The premise being that 2 strokes cant be clean. Also that adding oil was more troublesome than oil changes or regular oil dipstick checks. Never heard of a 2 stroke "making oil".

In many ways a 2 stroke is better suited to marine use. Dependibility and cost to operate should be major considerations. The g2 met those criteria. It lacked the dealer network. The perception that 4 strokes are cleaner was another problem although the g2 is cleaner and doesnt need a cat for emissions.

Hopefully soon i can move to an area where owning makes more sense than us currently renting on vacation. A perfect boat for us is a manitou with a g2 for LOTO.

Well written... plain and simple! Sad for sure...

Sorry, I'm gonna side with Matt and his article.
I will say first, I've never read anything bad about the E-tec line or the G2, they sound like great engines. However, times have changed, four strokes have taken over, for better or for worse. Evinrude did not adapt to the changing market and the market voted with their cheque book.

Disappointing after inventing the practical outboard motor in the first place but when you stop growing to suit your market the best you can hope for is to stand still.

My 2 cents.
RR

[QUOTE=rak rua;4741548]Sorry, I'm gonna side with Matt and his article.
I will say first, I've never read anything bad about the E-tec line or the G2, they sound like great engines. However, times have changed, four strokes have taken over, for better or for worse. Evinrude did not adapt to the changing market and the market voted with their cheque book.

Disappointing after inventing the practical outboard motor in the first place but when you stop growing to suit your market the best you can hope for is to stand still.

My 2 cents.
/QUOTE]
How do you say Evinrude did not adapt. What is adaapting,?performance reliability, low emissions.
The g2 had class leading torque which translates to better performance at low to mid rpms. Is it fuel economy as the g2 was a leader. Was it emiisions. Two strokes are better at low nox emissions.


I dont see anywhere the g2 takes a back seat to a four stroke. Yamaha, suzuki and honda are forgein companys. US sales are a smaller part of their operations. In fact they can survive without US outboard sales.

[QUOTE=justfishing;4741551]Maybe careless wording on my part but I'm not saying anything negative about the quality of their product, I believe their offerings were top shelf. My comments refer to their not adapting to the market. Look at sales figures and clearly, the market wants four strokes. If you can competitively supply what the buyers are buying, you will be well positioned for success.

From a business perspective, it sounds like Kiekhaefer has been proven correct.

Hope that clarifies my previous post. 🙂

RR

Wait ! What ! Four stroke outboards have cadilac convertors ?

i thought everyone was going to outboard because sterndrive/ inboard had to have convertors on them now.

It's unfortunate as 2 strokes do have their merits, but the emissions were just a tough obstacle. The ficht/etec was trying to use direct injection to get around the emissions issues along with a different oiling system. Was actually a decent idea. The big problem with direct injected 2 strokes is the fuel has to be spray on the upstroke vs a 4 stroke can be sprayed as the piston is going down, which gives it more time to atomize. The only issue with direct injection on a 4 stroke is deposits on the intake valves, but automotive OEM's are finally starting to figure out that a hybrid system of direct injection and port injection is the best route to go as to help keep the deposits down with the fuel going by the valve.

I would be curious to know if anyone ever evaluated a valved 2 stroke with a variable geometry turbo, and a wet crankcase and a hybrid direct/port injection fuel setup? I could be way out in left field, but seems like that could have been a cool package with today's electronics/ecu capabilities....... I guess my dad always told me, there are 3 types of people...... Those who think inside of the box, those who think outside of the box, and those who ask what box?

I forget who is was but I believe it was in the motorcycle world where they tried the wet crankcase, valved 2 stroke. But That may have been late 80's early nineties when 2 strokes were going away from the motorcycle sport bikes. BIMOTA maybe?

Why deposits on the intake valve?

And GM has released a DI SC marine motor now. Expensive but when merc is selling $58K 450HP OB's I guess what the heck.

https://marineenginedepot.com/new-62...-airpac-620-hp

Now that’s news! But double the cost of a non marinized version, ouch.

Yes about double. It is a drop in ready but I was thinking of adding all the parts up, coolers, brackets, different exhaust valves etc. Not sure if the tune is different and what type of communication is it. GM has been moving to Ethernet, so what do you use for a display?

The weird thing they are working on new engine technologies “such as the next generation of engine technology with Project Ghost”.

You would assume that includes outboards so why get rid of the brand now.

They have not a bad 4 stroke engine in under their umbrella with the Sea Doo engines. Surprised they haven’t engineered one of those for an outboard application.