EVINRUDE G2

A radically new series of outboard motors.

Five years ago Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP) gave George Broughton a blank sheet of paper, an open checkbook and a mandate to challenge the “sea of sameness” in current outboard motor design. It was a career-capping assignment for Broughton, Evinrude’s director of design innovation and a 35-year veteran of the Evinrude brand, and he didn’t hold back.

“We’ve been doing things the same way for too many years,” Broughton said. “It’s time to change.”

The result is the Evinrude E-TEC G2, perhaps the most visually stunning and technically innovative outboard series to debut in a generation. BRP claims the 3.4-liter, 74-degree, V-6 two-stroke powerhead produces 20 percent more torque, 15 percent better fuel economy and 75 percent lower emissions than the best outboards in this category, thanks to a redesigned combustion chamber and refinement of the E-TEC direct-fuel-injection (DFI) system. Broughton calls it “a beautiful combustion situation.”

Six Evinrude E-TEC G2 models are rated from 200 to 300 horsepower — 225, 250 and 300 in standard trim and 200, 225 and 250 in high-output (HO) versions. All G2 motors require digital controls. Power steering is standard on all 25- and 30-inch models.

Starting from scratch allowed the Evinrude team to jettison “legacy” design elements. The steering system is located completely within the midsection. The rigging tube no longer moves with the motor. A massive tilt tube contributes to the exceptional rigidity of the mounting system. The exhaust manifold for the port bank of cylinders is moved from the center of the V to the outboard side so those pistons are no longer pushed into the very hot exhaust port. The drive-by-wire shift actuator is located within the gear case, eliminating the shift rod linkage.

A team led by BRP director of advanced concepts Andre Cote created the motor’s stunning wrapper — a composite exoskeleton to which are secured four plastic panels. BRP has never articulated a technical advantage for this design over the traditional bucket cowl. Its main function, it seems, is to look different. As Cote remarked, “Why should the beauty of the boat end at the transom?”

 

Six quarter-turn screws secure the lightweight side panels. Removal is easy on land, but maybe not at sea when the fuel filter clogs. Dealers will sell the panels separately in five colors (blue, silver, black, red and white) with 14 available accent-stripe colors. Boatbuilders can order custom colors.

 

Behind the starboard panel: The built-in, two-gallon injector oil reservoir is located below the white fuel-filter element. The reservoir with the green vent tube visible aft is a telltale for gear-case lube, to indicate lube level and water contamination. The motor is designed to go five years without dealer service.

 

The top panel pops off, providing access to the yellow oil-tank fill cap. Evinrude guesses many boaters will go all season on one fill (only with BRP oil, by the way). Oil level is indicated on each of three new Evinrude instrument screens. All rigging connections are concealed behind the lower white panel.

 

Evinrude G2 motors feature a new gear case with stronger internal parts and hydrodynamics shaped using computational-fluid-dynamics software. Two new stainless-steel props — the three-blade Raker HO and four-blade RX4 — are matched to the new gear case and the power curve of the motor.

 

Standard hydraulic steering lines feed a helix-type steering controller located within the transom bracket assembly. An electric power-steering pump fits in front of the helix. There are no external steering components. A 2.5-inch-diameter tilt tube resides under the chrome cover. Another hydraulic helix handles trim functions.