Mercury Optimax vs. 4 Stroke?

[Joe Pack]

I am considering a Tracker Tournament V18 or Pro Team 190TX, powered by either a 90 hp Optimax or a 90 hp 4 Stroke.

I was burned badly when a '96 Evinrude, one month out of warranty, blew the oil injection system and I burned it up. You might gather that I am hesitant to trust an "auto mix" oil system in "old" technology. My question is whether the Optimax system is an improvement concerning damage from improper oil mixtures. This would not be a problem with the 4 stroke, but are there trade-offs that I'm not keen enough to be aware of?

What do I gain or lose with the Optimax or the 4 Stroke?

Thanks for the help.

[fishincreek]

I wondered the same thing, so I meandered over to bassboatcentral. Seems the 4 strokes are very difficult to drain the oil, heavier, and have quite a bit of scheduled maintenence. I got enough info for me to go with the Optimax.

[barryj]

i think the four stroke engines are heavier and i have been told they do not have the torque of a two stroke.go with the optimax.my neighbor has a 135 optimax and he loves it.you are going with one of the best outboards out there.yamaha would be my other choice.

[BarkelyPup]

I know very little about the 4 stroke but I have a 2006 150 opti and I love it. very quiet and uses a whole lot less fuel than the 2002 xr6 150 I had. I would say that either are great engines.

BP