Article by Danny Casey
Apologies once again for the quality of the image (which has been pretty much my standard excuse as of late!), but this is all I was able to find in the deepest recesses of the internet.
Whilst Outboard Marine Corporation (OMC: manufacturer of Johnson and Evinrude) originally had a pragmatic need to use Suzuki as an OEM supplier, the motor shown was a gallant, fairly competent and reasonably well executed attempt by OMC themselves to design and build their own in-house 9.9/15 hp 4-stroke outboard.
These engines were only built for five model years (1996-2000) before BRP bought the company from George Soros/Greenway and then decided to go solely down the Suzuki route for supply of all 4-strokes. There is, therefore, little doubt that this was one of the shortest-lived series of outboards ever made.
So how good (or bad) was OMC’s own 9.9/15 hp 4-stroke? The basic ingredients were, to be honest, pretty much on the mark. With an engine size of 305cc, it was firmly in the game – the Suzuki and Yamaha of the era were 302cc and 323cc respectively, and all three brands weighed in at around 45kg.
Where the OMC differed was that it was very “undersquare” (i.e. stroke larger than bore) against a “square” Yamaha and a slightly “oversquare” Suzuki. The OMC, therefore, developed reasonably good torque but, with a longish stroke, it would have been a bit of a “thumper”. It appeared to be quite a wide engine, too, but this was because it had to accommodate a large spin-off oil filter (whereas the Suzuki used a paper element behind a flat plate) – in reality, though, it was a little less bulky than the Yamaha and only a tad wider than the Suzuki.
I remember these in period and although they had some quality issues and myriad electrical foibles (like many OMCs of that era), my personal feeling is that had OMC managed to keep trading with no subsequent and ill-fated involvement from BRP, they had a fairly good chance of eventually being able to take the fight to the Japanese. But of course that was never, ever to be – so all we can do is wax lyrical and hypothesise about the theoretical viability and success of one of the greatest “mightabeens” in the world of marine engines.
Danny Casey is highly experienced, undoubtedly idiosyncratic, and immensely knowledgeable about things mechanical, new or old. His knowledge and passion are as a result of spending his whole life in or around anything power-driven – especially marine engines. His passion for boating is second to none, with his life a montage of fabulous memories from decades spent in or around water and boats, both here and in Europe. Danny has spent myriad years in the recreational marine industry in a varied career in which he has bamboozled colleagues and competitors alike with his well-honed insight.
His mellifluous Irish accent, however, has at times been known to become somewhat less intelligible in occasional attempts at deliberate vagueness or when trying to prevent others from proffering a counter-argument or even getting a word in. Frank and to-the-point, but with a heart of gold, it can be hard to convince Danny to put pen to paper to share his knowledge. Marine Business News is grateful for his contributions. Connect with Danny through LinkedIn.
