Best New Outboard Engine Options For Boaters

Walk the aisles of any boat show or look around any marina and it’s impossible to miss the explosive growth in outboard engine production that’s been taking place over the past 10 years.

Outboards have certainly grown in size – where a 300 horsepower engine might have been considered “big power” only a few years ago, today it’s not uncommon to see outboards of 400, 425 or 450 horsepower, often mounted as twin, triple or quad installations across the back of ever-larger boats. And there are more outboards being sold than ever, with sales increasing from 385,440 engines worldwide in 2009 to more than 500,000 engines in 2019 – a 30% gain in just 10 years.

All of this has made the outboard engine market a terribly competitive space, driving manufacturers to innovate like mad and bring better, more refined product to market. Here’s what’s new and exciting for the 2020 season.

Evinrude

Evinrude’s 150 Power Tiller is its largest tiller-controlled engine yet.

Evinrude first announced its new 115 H.O., 140 horsepower and 150 horsepower models last July, but the first units are just making their way to market now. With advanced features including digital shift-and-throttle, Evinrude’s iTrim control system, digital instrumentation, custom color panels and optional iSteer dynamic power steering, the new G2 models target aluminium fishing boats, pontoon boats, mid-sized RIBs and fibreglass runabouts.

In a nod to the fishing market, Evinrude has also more recently launched a new tiller controlled version of its 150 horsepower G2 outboard engine. Described as the industry’s first 150 horsepower tiller-controlled outboard with integrated power steering assist and digital shift and throttle, the new engine targets boaters who want premium features in their engine along with tiller steering control.

Mercury

Mercury’s Pro Tiller will be a hit with anglers.

Mercury Marine has been among the market leaders in terms of bringing larger and more powerful engines to market, introducing a 400-horsepower supercharged Verado outboard engine last year, followed by a new 450 in its Mercury Racing series. But this year the company is looking toward the mid-range, with a new tiller control for its existing outboards from 40 to 115 horsepower. Tiller controls enable anglers to steer and control the throttle with one hand, leaving the other hand free to hold a fishing rod – which makes comfort and ergonomics critical. Mercury’s new tiller provides a wide range of vertical and horizontal angle adjustments and is truly ambidextrous in its design, allowing boaters to mount the shift handle and adjust the throttle grip to rotate in either direction for true left-hand or right-hand operation. The new tiller also comes with Mercury’s Troll Control feature, allowing trolling speed adjustments in increments of only 10 rpm. An integrated engine warning display includes visual and audible warnings for engine oil, temperature, electrical and other faults, while boaters who suffer from cold hands can order the tiller with an optional heated grip with three temperature settings. The best part is that it’s fully retrofittable to existing engines.

Seven Marine

Seven Marine 627 lineup totaling 3,135 horsepower on an HBC Estrella.

Now owned by Volvo Penta, Seven Marine continues to build the biggest outboard engines in the world with its 527, 577 and 627 horsepower offerings – each built on a massive 6.2L GM V8 engine block. Seven Marine has more than just brute power though, with its new ownership it’s now fully integrated into Volvo Penta’s glass helm system bringing features like joystick driving and docking, dynamic positioning, autopilot-joystick integration and Easy Connect remote connectivity.

Suzuki

Suzuki’s new DF300 is based on its venerable DF350 platform

Suzuki has been riding a bit of a wave over the last couple of years on the strength of its DF350 V6. Launched as “the ultimate outboards” it’s since spawned a DF325 sibling, and now for 2020 a DF300B version that offers all of the original outboard engine’s high-tech engineering – including its twin contra-rotating propellers – but in a power rating that will make it available to far more boats. Suzuki launched the new DF300B at the Miami International Boat Show to tremendous interest from boaters and boat builders alike.

Also new at the Miami show were new DF150 and DF200 outboards, which each get a bunch of engineering upgrades to make them more fuel efficient than ever.

Yamaha

Yamaha has been busy filling orders for its high-torque 425 horsepower XTO Offshore.

Still basking in the success of its new 425 XTO Offshore model, Yamaha has been so busy filling orders for existing engines it hasn’t had a lot of time to focus on developing new gear for 2020. One exception though is the addition of a new X-shaft model in its Super High Output line.

Announced last summer, the newly-available 200 V Max SHO X-Shaft model Yamaha outboard engine joins existing 250, 175, 150, 115 and 90 X-Shaft models offering a 25-inch shaft that’s ideal for deeper draft boats. The company also added to its XTO OS propeller lineup with three new models for 2020.