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I"ve been pondering this thought for a while,how come suzuki marine makes such great outboards,but yet suzuki motors make very poor cars according to research magazines like consumers digest and ect''.Any thoughts.
Because in a car there is a transmission, suspension, electrical system, accesories, ride quality, handling, brakes.......you get the picture. Theres alot more stuff to go wrong or be built cheap than an outboard with a powerhead and a gear case.
Suzuki cars/suv's have actually had decent power trains for a while. For a long time Suzuki competed mostly with the cheaper cars made in Korea but were better. Suzuki's were made in Japan. Suzuki's traditionally were a price point vehicle so they were made cheaper than the more expensive Honda's and Toyota’s.
While Suzuki Marine Engines share some parts and technology with the Automotive and Motorcyle divisions, the outboards are built from the "get go" for Marine use.
Suzuki marine engineers has been very good at adapting the other divisions parts ad technology for there use. Suzuki was the first marine two stroke engine to use the direct oil injection with an under the cowling oil resevoir rather than a VRO as OMC did. They were also the first to use a self adjusting timing chain in an oil bath resevoir rather than a belt on there four stroke engines.
In my opinion, Suzuki Marine engines have more technology, better weight to horsepower ratio than any of the competiton. One of the reasons for there 10-15% market share increase.
JMO
C Soul
"I would say price has more to do with it" Tommy 904
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If market share increases were just a function of price, Nissan and Tohatsu would be leading the pack.
I bought a DF300 because it was the only one (as of fall 2007) that would work as a repower on an older 24 footer. Bottom line, the engineering was very thoughful for an older hull, 1996 vintage, repower.........my fingers are crossed that the electronic controls....electronic everything holds up.....because the dealer ranks are thin!......I did not buy soley on price...but it did help..........
I cannot believe no body agreed with me. Think about a car review. What do they bitch about the most. Ride quality, steeering feel, how the brake pedal feels when mashed, how cold the A/C blows......all the things that ARENT on an outboard. Oh well, I thought it was logical. LOL
"I would say price has more to do with it" Tommy 904
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If market share increases were just a function of price, Nissan and Tohatsu would be leading the pack.
C Soul
Tohatsu/Nissan are not the lowest priced outboards.
There sure are a lot of old beat up suzuki cars and jeeps running around. Its very hard to kill them. They were cheap but they run. many under the GEO badge and a few other names.
I think some of it is consumer perception. We just didn't grow up saying- "boy, when I grow up I can't wait to buy a Suzuki Swift". They certainly don't make anything that I would want to drive!
It could also be consumer expectation. For example, I know a guy that bought his very first new car- a Toyota Corolla in 2005. (Prior to that they were hand me down type beaters.) He bought it because of the great consumer ratings, but was disappointed shortly after buying it. It was back at the dealer almost every week for warranty. The one example I will give is that when he pushed the power window buttons down or up, they did not go up or down at the EXACT the same speed. Point is, there was nothing wrong with the car. The impact of this is that the car kept getting a service/warranty record that will show on reliability reports. He also trashed the car in CSI reports. This is the exact reason that I don't put a lot of faith in consumer reports. Most consumers are just not that smart.
Well some taxi drivers in several Latin American countries would disagree -- they regularly put 200k + miles on their Suzuki taxis and like them because they don't require a lot of expensive repairs. I work with a guy that has a Suzuki, he has over 200k on his, and is counting on 50k more. They aint the most refined cars on the road -- pretty basic actually, but they sure do last a long time.
I'm told they also make a good dirt bike.
__________________ I'm not a boater, but I play one on THT.
Suzuki Marine Vs Suzuki Motors 
