Evinrude drops the big E-Tecs: RIP light outboards

When researching for the outboard article series we are doing I noticed just last week that Evinrude removed all of the G1 outboards from 175 and up. The 135 HO and 150 (non-HO) remain, for how long it is hard to say. I will reach out to BRP to see. What does this mean? It only means the G2 series is taking over, which is not a surprise. The R&D and creativity they put into those engines is great and to push sales, why have a competing platform under the same roof. I really liked the old school approach of the G1s and the G1 200 hp, 2.6 liter was the lightest 200 on the market at 418 lbs. 

Light

The Evinrude E-Tec G1 150 HO was among the lightest 2-stroke outboards. It was discontinued.  

Embrace the G2s. I wish the smaller G2s were lighter but for now, under 200 hp, we have the Mercury Pro XS, Yamaha V-Max SHO i4 and Suzuki 140 coming in under 500 lbs, with the Mercs being the lightest at 431 lbs. 

The 4 cylinder Yamaha V-Max SHO is 480 lbs and is popular on bass boats, could be used on performance boats but lacks solid mounts and a few other features. 

Winner

431 lbs, semi solid mounts, 196 HP at the prop. The king of the lighter engines. Fuel sipper too.