www.iFourWinns.com

So, are you guys saying that you wish it had a Mercury? The color of the outboard used to have some significance...actually it still does.

I like white outboards myself....or dark blue....Evinrude.

Many boat builders are custom painting the outboards they are putting on their boats now. I saw a white Mercury the other day

I like white because it is pretty nuetral and goes with just about any boat color.

_________________
Current Operational Boats:
'04-Four Winns 180 Freedom 150 HP Evinrude
'72-Chris Craft Commander 31 Sedan Twin-350Qs

My last boat had an outboard on it, and the power to weight ratio was excellent, but it was a hastle to tube. You really can't strap a tube on the back like yo can a stern drive. I don't think I'll ever get another boat with an outboard. But this one does look pretty nice, just not for me.

_________________
2008 F450 TOW VEHICLE
2001 Four Winns 215 Sundowner

Your last boat must not have had the ski pole, which then makes tubing and wakeboarding superior to the low mounted ski-eye on an I/O. I'll add the pic of the pole.

And I'd probably prefer a black motor too

_________________
Previous Four Winns: 2003 Freedom 180, 150 Johnson XL, purchased new July 2005, sold Sept. 07
Current Four Winns: 2002 Horizon 170, 115 Yamaha V4, purchased May 2010 from family friend.

Ski pole (looks REALLY high to me):



Lifting the seat base:

_________________
Previous Four Winns: 2003 Freedom 180, 150 Johnson XL, purchased new July 2005, sold Sept. 07
Current Four Winns: 2002 Horizon 170, 115 Yamaha V4, purchased May 2010 from family friend.

JW,

Have you posted all the pictures that you got? I was promised pictures a while back and haven't got any yet. I'm actually very interested in these boats and may be looking to buy in the next couple of years or so. Had I not found my 2004 this spring, I would be interested in buying right now.

About that black outboard....I think your experience with your Johnson has affected your opinion...old tech carb'd fuel deliver attached to a motor/block that was designed to be direct injected. I have nothing against Mercury, I just really, really like my Evinrude. I would only consider a direct injected 2-stroke for sure. I like the e-tec system better than the Optimax.

If you prefer 4 strokes, I think either Mercury or Yamaha would be a good choice. I wouldn't think a Verado would make sense on this size of a boat.

_________________
Current Operational Boats:
'04-Four Winns 180 Freedom 150 HP Evinrude
'72-Chris Craft Commander 31 Sedan Twin-350Qs

That's about all the pictures I have. I have more, but they're just more shots of the boat on plane running from a distance like the first pictures. And I'll take any outboard that will offer me 5-7 years of full warranty
One thing is for sure, my blue/gray Yamaha is a fantastic engine but the colors don't work with a white/green boat

_________________
Previous Four Winns: 2003 Freedom 180, 150 Johnson XL, purchased new July 2005, sold Sept. 07
Current Four Winns: 2002 Horizon 170, 115 Yamaha V4, purchased May 2010 from family friend.

another side shot:

_________________
Previous Four Winns: 2003 Freedom 180, 150 Johnson XL, purchased new July 2005, sold Sept. 07
Current Four Winns: 2002 Horizon 170, 115 Yamaha V4, purchased May 2010 from family friend.

Yeah, Evinrude's standard warranty is 3 years...however, they frequently offer extended warranties to entice sales...right now they are offering a 5 year warranty.

http://www.evinrude.com/Content/Pdf/en- ... -Event.pdf

Mercury's standard warranty is 3 years also. I'm not sure if they offer extended warranties or not.

Yamaha's standard is 3 years and they offer an extended service plan...not sure of the length or the cost.

_________________
Current Operational Boats:
'04-Four Winns 180 Freedom 150 HP Evinrude
'72-Chris Craft Commander 31 Sedan Twin-350Qs

I updated my signature after looking at yours to show my mis-matched Yamaha and green striped Horizon

_________________
Previous Four Winns: 2003 Freedom 180, 150 Johnson XL, purchased new July 2005, sold Sept. 07
Current Four Winns: 2002 Horizon 170, 115 Yamaha V4, purchased May 2010 from family friend.

You know, I don't think that gray/blue Yamaha looks all that bad. I guess I have just gotten used to an outboard not matching perfectly with the boat it is attached to. If it cooridinates with the boat all the better, I guess, however, I don't see it as a requirement.

What differences do you see in your 170 compared to the 180 you had before? Is most the length difference in the cockpit between the helm seat and rear bench?

I really like how much cockpit space I have in my 180. I have 2 captains chairs and the bench at the rear with no sun deck. There are times where I wish the rear was a "U" shaped wrap around bench. I certainly have the space and the extra seats behind the windshield would be nice sometimes.

The one concern I had with this new boat was interior space. The boat only has a 7'7" beam and is only 17'5" long overall.

My 180 has a 8'0" beam and is a full 18' long overall. Your 170 has a 7'6" beam and is 16'6" LOA.

The new H180 actually fits between the 170 and 180 from the previous generation. Which is why I had concerns about interior space. Based on the pictures it looks OK though....I can't wait to see one in person.

_________________
Current Operational Boats:
'04-Four Winns 180 Freedom 150 HP Evinrude
'72-Chris Craft Commander 31 Sedan Twin-350Qs

Like I said I'd like to see them go beyond the typical smallest boat gets an OB offering...those boats are nice but way to small to be useful here...a 20' would be nice but a 22' much better and if utilitarian enough it would sell in coastal regions...same hull could be offered in dual console or walk around styles...and for the walk around 22' is about the minimum useful size...

_________________
88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

Four Winns did offer a more "coastal" centric boats in the past...on several occasions actually. They didn't sell all that many.

At this point Wellcraft offers boats for that niche. I'd highly doubt that Platinum would invest in a Four Winns model to serve the dual console and/or walkaround markets when they already have Wellcrafts for that market.

That being said, what would you think of a SL 222 or SL 242 with an outboard? I can see a nice 250-300 hp outboard hanging on the back of an SL 222 for some reason. Talk about a sport boat for use in coastal waters...

_________________
Current Operational Boats:
'04-Four Winns 180 Freedom 150 HP Evinrude
'72-Chris Craft Commander 31 Sedan Twin-350Qs

I'm 6' 4", so I have a disadvantage with cars and boats. That being said, I do notice quite a difference between the Freedom 180 and the Horizon 170, mostly in the area behind the diver seat. The Horizon has the sun pad and a bigger rear bench that folds out to make a huge sun pad. The Freedom rear bench was fixed, with no sun pad behind. This shortens the floor space behind the driver seat quite a bit, not as much room to walk around. The Freedom was based on a wider boat than the Horizon 180 at the time. The Freedom was closer to the 19' boat in width than the 18' boat, which makes it a HUGE 18' as you know. My current 16' 6" boat is 'OK' for me in the bow and the cockpit front seats, and fine in the back bench. Talking leg room here. I can sit in the bow of the Horizon 170, but have to sit cross-wise to stretch out. I do love the manueverability of the 170 as compared to the bigger 180, and appreciate the performance of the smaller boat with the 115 as compared to the bigger boat with the 150. I'm currently looking at another 'hot' boat, and will probably keep this 170 for family use I like it so well.

_________________
Previous Four Winns: 2003 Freedom 180, 150 Johnson XL, purchased new July 2005, sold Sept. 07
Current Four Winns: 2002 Horizon 170, 115 Yamaha V4, purchased May 2010 from family friend.

the size of the boat would be fine, and now with 300 hp outboards the power would be fine too...but it would have to have a self bailing deck, and get rid of all that hard to maintain fancy seating...plain white cushions that can be redone without costing a fortune would be a lot more practical...but yep I'd consider one of those with an OB

_________________
88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

I got a few additional pictures this morning.

These are too good not to share...

I actually really, really like the rear seating area:









This gives you a wall through on each side of the motor and a small walk way in front of the motor. That is really something on a boat this size. I really like it.


For those of you looking for a black OB...

The H180 LE ?????:

_________________
Current Operational Boats:
'04-Four Winns 180 Freedom 150 HP Evinrude
'72-Chris Craft Commander 31 Sedan Twin-350Qs