What Is the Most Powerful Suzuki Outboard Motor?
Suzuki is a Japanese giant that hasn’t sold a car in the U.S. for over a decade, but it’s still successful thanks to its other ventures. Of course, the company has its well-known motorcycles, but it also makes other engine-related products, including boat motors. Here’s a look at Suzuki’s most powerful outboard motor and how it took the boating world by storm.
Here’s a brief overview of Suzuki outboard motors
Since Suzuki is a major player in boat motors, the Japanese company has many options available. The company’s smallest motor is the DF2.5, which, as its name suggests, gets 2.5 hp from its one-cylinder engine. That’s the naming scheme that the company uses for its motors, and the number is how much horsepower it gets.
The Japanese company has dozens of motors that get incrementally more powerful than that. Naturally, this means that the motors get heavier and have more cylinders. For example, the DF300B gets 300 hp from its V6. Suzuki’s most powerful outboard motor is the DF350A, which gets 350 hp from its 4.4-liter V6 engine.
A closer look at Suzuki’s most powerful outboard motor, the DF350A
Like every other outboard motor the company offers, the DF350A is a four-stroke engine. Suzuki also offers different shaft lengths for most of its outboard motors, and the longer the shaft is, the more the machine will weigh. For the DF350A, the Japanese company offers a 25-inch shaft and a 30-inch shaft. The 25-inch option weighs 727 pounds, while the 30-inch option weighs 747 pounds.
That weight is important because, like with cars, the heavier a boat is, the slower it’ll be. Suzuki spent time researching and developing the DF350A to provide the most power at the least weight. For comparison, the DF300BMD, which provides 300 hp, weighs at least 761 pounds and can weigh up to 794 pounds. This means the DF350A gets 50 more horsepower while weighing up to 67 pounds less than the DF300BMD.
Not only that, but Suzuki also spent time making sure that the outboard motor’s power was actually translating to speed. As the company said, factors such as propeller design, gear design, engine mounting, and more all affect how much “water grip” the motor has, affecting the engine’s actual performance. One of the ways that Suzuki addressed those issues was by repositioning the crank shift to shift the engine’s center of gravity.
Other interesting facts about the Suzuki DF350A
The company also had to push the limits in other ways to get the most out of the outboard motor. For example, the DF350A’s compression ratio is 12.0:1, which Suzuki says is the highest compression ratio ever achieved by any production outboard motor. On top of that, the company gave the DF350A some smart features to ensure it’s living up to expectations.
For example, it has a knock sensor monitor that monitors the combustion process, helping the electronic control module do its job. This also helps improve the engine’s durability. Additionally, the outboard motor has a “drive-by-wire control system,” which smooths out how the engine shifts, making it more maneuverable.
Suzuki made an effort to improve the engine’s fuel economy too. Like the company’s other motors, it has a “Lean Burn Control System,” which tries to predict how much fuel is needed, thus optimizing fuel economy. That said, real-world fuel economies will vary by the boat that the DF350A is attached to, and it averages about 2 mpg.
