Trade-A-Boat – August 2019

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Quickspecs

TOHATSUMFS30C

ENGINETYPEThreecylinderSOHCEFI

four-strokeoutboard

RATEDBHP/MHP*29.6/30.0at 5750rpm

PISTONDISPLACEMENT526cc

BOREX STROKE61 x 60mm

GEARRATIO2.17:1

DRYWEIGHTS

Manuallong73.0kg

ElectricstartPT&Tlong82.5kg

RRPMANUAL$5,042

RRPELECTRICPT&T$6,162+ fitting

OEDASTARS 3

*Brakehp/metrichp

Sea Trials

Twin 6LPA-STP2 engines in a Cresta 32, with four-bladed 19 x

21” props, driving through 2.08:1 reductions and pushing a total

of 7.8 tonnes including 3 adults and 1100L fuel. Average of two

runs on Lake Macquarie NSW, calm water.

Range is in nautical miles with a 10% reserve. Fuel usage for both

engines combined.

RPM Kts Lt/hr Range (NM)

850 (trolling) 2.0 0.5 90

1000 2.4 0.7 77

2000 4.1 1.3 71

3000 5.5 2.0 62

4000 (planing) 10.7 3.6 67

5000 (cruise) 17.5 4.7 84*

6250 (WOT) 23.6 9.1 58

*Note best planing efficiency due to less engine load than at 4000rpm

three months. The recreational usage warranty for
all Tohatsu four-stroke outboards was recently
extended to five years, in line with Suzuki's five
year warranty.

ON THE WATER
With its side console just ahead of the aft casting
deck plus the 25-litre fuel tank and live bait
well also aft, the Stacer 400 Bass Elite vee-nose
hull used for the demo engine was well out of
trim. Fortunately the starter battery was in its
own compartment midships but to plane the
hull one of us had to sit on the forward casting
platform. However, I'd still not recommend
fitting an anti ventilation hydrofoil in this set-up
as I believe foils were created by idiots who have
no understanding of hull hydrodynamics and
outboard transom bracket stresses. Foils also void
outboard manufacturer warranties.
The demo engine started instantly hot or cold
with no oil smoke appearing at any time, nor
unlike the DFI two stroke E-TEC 30 was there
an oil smell backing upwind. Providing the anti
ventilation plate was kept immersed power astern
was good, useful for backing out of skinny water.
When trolling there was a slight tremor through
the hull structure but certainly not enough
vibration to affect my long-accumulated flab.
With the engine warmed up Wide Open
Throttle was needed to plane us but once up the
throttle could be backed off to 4,000 rpm where
a clean plane was maintained. The engine was
still under a fair amount of load at 4,000 rpm

but increasing to 5,000 reduced this load and

enabled the EFI system to reduce fuel supply

resulting in excellent planing fuel efficiency. The

quick-acting power trim enabled us to trim-in

the leg to get us out of the hole and trim-out the

hull when planing to return very good upper rev

range averages.

Through tight turns at 5,000 rpm there was

no prop ventilation and from here out to WOT

the engine was surprisingly quiet. My tinnitus,

a result of testing raucous two-stroke outboards

back in the eighties and nineties, was not affected.

Vibration levels were low too, making for very

pleasant boating.

THE WRAP

TMC revolutionised four-stroke outboards

when it released its battery less EFI in 2005. It

was possible to have a manual start 30 that had

none of the issues of multi carbie four-strokes yet

delivered way better overall fuel efficiency than

carbies. And provided much easier fault diagnosis.

More recent offerings like its MFS 20E that

weigh little more than comparable output two

strokes have reinforced the concept making it one

of the most significant developments in outboard

motor technology.

TMC is one of the outboard industry's success

stories. It also makes Mercury outboards up to 40

horsepower and Evinrude four-stroke outboards

to 15 horses. TMC might take a while to release

new models but when it does the offerings are

unique, as befits Japan's oldest outboard manufacturer.

For the location of your nearest dealer Google

Tohatsu Outboards Australia, click on Finda

dealer, enter your postcode and hit “GO”.