Outboard motors history

[tuffr2]

I am looking thru some of the old brochures of outboard motors dating back to 1980 when I bought my 1st little runabout.

Anyway I was wondering why an outboard motor does not get 10 mpg by now as every year there is a paragraph on improvments to fuel efficiency. Every year since 1980!!!

[Suijin]

Brochures are marketing.

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by tuffr2

I am looking thru some of the old brochures of outboard motors dating back to 1980 when I bought my 1st little runabout.

Anyway I was wondering why an outboard motor does not get 10 mpg by now as every year there is a paragraph on improvments to fuel efficiency. Every year since 1980!!!

Fractions of percent are still an improvement.......just not measurable without lab equipment.


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[a64pilot]

Depending on boat, I'd assume a great many do get at least 10 MPG.
Fuel efficiency is interesting, today's automobile motors are far more efficient, but people have elected to drive larger and heavier SUV's so actual mileage has been pretty flat for years, I think. I don't have the stats though.
I have a 1946 airplane, it burns 5 gallons per hour at 110 MPH, today you can't buy an airplane that is more fuel efficient than that, I would think that you could, but you really can't.
Sometimes there isn't as much progress as you would suppose.

I've had three Miata's over the last close to 30 yrs, they have all gotten 25 MPG. My wife has a very high performance car, a Cadillac CTS-V, and it gets 22 MPG.
You park the little Miata beside of the Cadillac and its just not logical.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by tuffr2

I am looking thru some of the old brochures of outboard motors dating back to 1980 when I bought my 1st little runabout.

Anyway I was wondering why an outboard motor does not get 10 mpg by now as every year there is a paragraph on improvements to fuel efficiency. Every year since 1980!!!

I can cross the lower Chesapeake on about a gallon and a half Max. It's 20 miles where I cross.

The motor is a 5 HP 4 stroke pushing a 6600 lb displacement Bristol 27

[SV DestinyAscen]

There has been huge advances in technology - the gains in fuel economy was traded for better emissions.

In the automotive industry you find people complaining about how their 1970s small clunker can get 40mpg. But they don't tell you that it'll take 15 seconds to get to 60. Light as a feather and will use you as the crumple zone in a crash. And the exhaust is dirty as hell.

My daughter bought a new Honda and it's easy to get 38-40 mpg, is reasonably safe and puts out 130 HP in a 1.5 liter engine. Thirty years ago that engine would have worked in a light roadster.

Engineers are awesome

[a64pilot]

People remember things that didn't happen.
There were very few if any cars in the 70's that returned 40 MPG, the VW bug averaged about 20 MPG for example.
I believe you will find ads for 1970's cars that claim 40+ MPG, but I also think that the claims were ridiculous back then, and have been corrected in the 80's and again recently.
In other words, they cheated, imagine that.

[tuffr2]

Heck, the cars from the 70's didn't even always start. Remember pumping the gas pedal before you turned the key? If you pumped too much or too little the car would not start. Remember that?

[a64pilot]

What I remember best is they wouldn't stop, remember turning one off and it kept Dieseling, rattled and stunk bad?
You had a good one if it lasted 100,000 miles

[Tayana42]

How about hand crank windows, manual door locks, aftermarket lap belts? ( on the cars, not the outboards)

[Cheechako]

In 1969 a Mercury Montego model regularly got 20-21 MPG hiway with a 302 V8. Today some "fuel efficient" cars get about that. Granted there are some high mileage modern cars, usually small. But it's a very long haul to improve mileage a lot. Physics vs $ I think. Every ounce saved in airplane design is worth a bunch of money.

[a64pilot]

Wife's CTS-V regularly returns 22 MPG, and it makes over 500 HP, 0 to 60 in a little over 3 sec and just under a 12 sec quarter mile.
In the 70s nothing could turn under about a 14 sec quarter
Nothing from the factory anyway

Dodge 426 Hemi, the baddest thing there was took almost 7 sec to get to 60 and could maybe squeak out a 13.9 quarter on a good day, and of course was an absolute pig on a road course, for years until Porsche built the Panamera (sp)? The caddy held the lowest lap times of any four door car on the Nuremberg ring.

Cars have never been faster than today

[tuffr2]

Manual door locks and manual Windows with hard to start carburated engines and rusty fenders. I am glad those days are over.

How about those hard to hear 4 cycle outboards that you turn the key and need to look at the tach to make sure they are running.

[Siberianhusky]

I get more than 10mpg, not sure exactly what I get but I know I have a 3 gallon tank for a 9.9 4 stroke. I did an 80 mile motor once, filled up once, think I had about 1/3 tank left - so about 5 gallons for 80 miles in flat calm at a bit over 5 knots. Ballpark 15 mpg.
Was horrible! stinking hot and not a puff of wind all day. Never seen Lk. Ontario so calm.
Thank dog for dodgers!

[tuffr2]

Could you hear that 9.9 4 cycle engine running on all that calmness?