Production has started on the innovative Yanmar Dtorque 111 50-hp, common-rail, turbo-diesel outboard, which the company says is the world’s first viable diesel outboard. The new outboard was developed as a Neander-Shark engine; Neander Motors, based in Kiel, Germany, on the Baltic, specializes in producing small capacity diesels with two con-rods per piston. The new outboard has two counter-rotating crankshafts in a lightweight aluminum block to create a perfect balance, free of vibration.
The diesel outboards are lighter and more compact than traditional gas outboards of the same size. The company says they have twice the engine life, up to 10,000 hours, and have better fuel efficiency and lower running costs than gas outboards as well. They also deliver a lot of torque at low rpm; indeed, they produce 50-hp at the prop with a torque output of 111 nm at just 2,500 rpm.
The outboards are being produced by Steyr Motors in Austria. They were originally designed for use in workboats and commercial vessels, but now the company is thinking that they will be useful in a wide range of boats. It would be interesting to see what two or three of them could do on a 30-foot cruising boat, for example. For more:
https://newatlas.com/yanmar-dtorque-111-turbo-diesel-50hp-outboard/51675/
