New Yamaha F115 & Yamaha F175 Outboards
Yamaha has come to the party with two new four-stroke models to fill a few gaps in its existing range.
At the big end of town the Yamaha F175 is designed to bridge the gap between two of the company’s most popular models – the Yamaha F150 and heart-stopping F200.
Slightly down the scale, Yamaha has totally redesigned the F115A to create the F115B, and the company has pulled out all the stops – it’s smaller, more powerful and impressively, 15kg lighter than its predecessor.
Trade-a-Boat was invited to take both models for a run during testing on the Gold Coast and we came away hugely impressed.
Firstly, the term “redesign” barely does justice to what Yamaha has done to the 115. This is no mere cosmetic overhaul – instead, the F115B copped a ground-up rebuild, including the use of advanced composite materials and a greater cubic capacity (now 1.8lt). Yamaha has replaced the twin-ram power trim and tilt with a single-ram unit which is faster yet quieter in operation and the refreshed cowl design now adopts the styling cues of the 70 and 200 series.
Yamaha presented the engine to us in three interpretations that reflected its intended market: an alloy Sea Jay centre console, a Cruise Craft 530 Explorer and a twin-rigged Noosa Cat 2400 catamaran. In each case, throttle response was enthusiastic with a tuneful engine note. Over 4000 revs, the larger capacity engine really came to life with a meaty surge all the way to its heady 6300rpm redline.
Stay tuned for the full Yamaha F115B outboard review.