More of this Feature • Part 1: Engine Overview • Outboards Evinrude/Johnson Honda Mercury Nissan/Tohatsu Suzuki Yamaha • Diesels Alaska Diesel Marine Bugatti Marine Caterpillar CRM Cummins Mercruiser Daewoo Deutz Isotta Fraschini John Deere MAN MTU Perkins Sabre Scania Steyr Volvo Penta Westerbeke Yanmar • Gasoline Crusader Mercury Volvo Penta
Related Resources • Engines Editorial Index • Engines Resources Index

Guys who race cars often say it's what is under the hood that matters. Well, you can see from the dozen or so pages of PMY's 2003 Engine Preview that power matters for boaters, too.

This year there's more growth in the four-stroke outboard market, with manufacturers expanding their engine offerings. An interesting alliance has developed between Yamaha and Mercury, as these two major players are sharing this apparent wave-of-the-future technology. Evinrude and Johnson continue their way back to prominence with six new engines for 2003, including the ubiquitous four-stroke.

Gasoline inboard fans can find improved efficiencies for Volvo Penta's current offerings, while Crusader has a new 5.0-liter available with a 6.2-liter on the horizon, and an evolution for Mercury's SmartCraft system includes a digital throttle unit.

In the world of diesel, all the usual suspects have new offerings or improved products, including Caterpillar, Yanmar, Volvo Penta, MTU, and Cummins/MerCruiser.

So raise the hatch on our section and poke your head in for the skinny on your favorite powerplant. —Capt. Patrick Sciacca

Next page > 2003 Engine Preview: Evinrude/Johnson >