If you were buying a new bay boat and had a choice between Evinrude, Yamaha, Mercury, or Honda what would you pick?

What horsepower? What brand and size of boat?

The one's I am looking at right now are NauticStar 24' or 22' but I see that alot of dealers for all kinds of boats offer your choice of motor so just wondering what brand is best.

etec or opti anyway only a 2 stroke

So I am guessing they are all good and it is more of a personal thing since no one really has an opinion.

Put a 225 Merc Optimax on that 22 foot Nautic Star and you'll be happy. Same goes for the Yamaha HPDI. I would NOT put a Suzuki on it merely because there arent that many dealers and Sujuki has always had a parts availability problem. I dont know much about the Honda outboards. Some people swear by the Evinrude Etec, too.

I might try an Evinrude next time....even though I lean towards Yamaha. But I heard Yammy is getting out of the 2 stroke business...and you couldnt give me a 4 stroke outboard.

On the coast, you'll see as many or more Yammy's as Mercs. Just dont let the dealer underpower that Nautic Star. They are notorious for doing that at certain dealerships. If you let them put a little 150 on either one of those boats, you'll be sorry. It'll be like a pig in the mud. Put at least a 200 on it. But I'd go 225. If you cant afford it with the 200...then drop down to the 19 footer and put the max HP on it you can. This is just my opinion...so take it for what you paid for it...

P.S. I'll be happy to break that boat in for you on Lake Calcasieu, LA. The big speckled trout capital of the world.

Thanks, that is the kind of information I needed.
The dealer closest to me only does Hondas it looks like, so I'll prolly look elsewhere. Don't want to get into anything that no one knows anything about.

+100! That's the only way to go. Stay away from the four strokes! No verado or etec. Or yamaha!

Why not4 stroke? I have a 200 suzuki on my 22 footer and have ZERO complaints. Better gas milage and very very quiet. I'm just askin.

I'd like to know why also. I prolly will get a 2 stroke but still would like to know why no one wants a 4 stroke.

unless you get a merc verado the perfomacne wont match up to the 2 stroke and the direct injected engines are lighter faster simpler and just as good on mpg

I see that the Coast Guard uses Honda 4 strokes.

I was just in Alaska, 90% of the outboards I saw there were powered by Honda.
It's a long walk home up there.
A 4 stroke will be a lot cheaper to operate and smell a lot better going down wind.

I run a 4 stroke Yamaha on an Allison, I usually cruise at 40 mph and always get 6.5 mpg or better. A Nautic Star is heavier so your mileage will be less.
I go 100 hours between oil changes and use Mobil, 1 the oil costs about $24.00 and the Fram filter around $7.50. I haven't ran an Optimax but I think your oil cost will be greater.
Nautic Star isn't famous for their hole shots any way.
Moe runs a Century with a 225 4 stroke Yamaha, the Professor has the same hull with a 150 4 stroke Yamaha. The big motor makes all the difference in the world.

Thanks fastguy!