OMC AND MERCRUISER INTRODUCE FUEL INJECTION TO STERNDRIVE ENGINES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, February 21, 1993                   TAG: 9302210002
SECTION: BOAT SHOW                    PAGE: BS-13   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Bill Cochran
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short
OMC AND MERCRUISER INTRODUCE FUEL INJECTION TO STERNDRIVE ENGINES
If you are shopping for a sterndrive engine this year, chances are you will be adding electronic fuel injection - EFI - to your marine vocabulary.
Both OMC and MerCruiser are offering EFI in 1993 models.
For a decade, the feature has been a standard in car and truck engines, lowering exhaust emissions and improving fuel economy and performance.
Boaters quickly will notice many of the benefits of EFI, said John Schlegel, vice president of Ford Power Products. Among them will be ease of starting, idle quality, superior driveability, fuel economy and performance, he said.
Ford introduced the first production marine engines with EFI technology, two small-block V-8s. One is a 5.0 liter (302 CID); the other a 5.8 (351 CID). Both are available from OMC in its Cobra sterndrive line.
MerCruiser was out with its own EFI a couple of months later, an impressive V8 with 415 horsepower and 502 cubic-inch-displacement. It is called the 502 Magnum EFI.
The 502 Magnum will appeal to the boater with deep pockets and demands for high performance while OMC is aimed at the bigger runabout market.
EFI is expected to quickly become a standard on marine engines, as it has in the automobile and truck market.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB