Suzuki 90 vs 115 trolling speed

[rmsteve]

Looking for input fellas I'm in the middle of making a deal on a new 16.5' walk-thru crestliner and Suzuki 4 stroke motor and wondering if anyone has any experience as to how slow a newer 115 will troll down? A good friend of mine has a 2011 90 and its great but the boat I'm looking at is rated for a 115 and I'm thinking I'd like to max it out if the extra $$$ aren't too much to handle. I know there's trolling plates, bags and what not but hoping someone has first hand experience with the 115 on a similarily sized boat without add-ons. Thanks Steve

[Focker]

Steve, I can give a little first hand experience, and some general 115, 90 info.
First off, nice choice suzuki's are my personal favorite. My buddy's and I run them on backtrollers, so that trolling speed thing is on our minds. On my own boats, I've had a 90 honda and f115 yamaha on the same boat. The 90 was a bit more fishable in the exact conditions than the 115. That particular 90 had 2.33 gears, the yamaha has 2.15. This is important as I think it was largely the reason the 90 was a pinch better. I've ran the df140 suzuki on the same boat, and it is better than either in every catagory, including trolling speed. 2.59 gears on all of these, df90, df115, df140. Of note, the df115 is a lot closer in power to the 140 than the 140 is to any of the 150's. Same block, 2mm larger bore and 200 rpm more redline is the only difference. I don't know exactly what boat your putting it on but I would not hesitate at all, if you can stand the $$, to get the 115. Especially cause we're talking about suzuki's. The 90 is a great engine too if it will push it ok. Having said all that, if it's flat calm, none of these are slow enough except for cranks. For the most part we use our vantage right up until the wind is too much then use the big motor. I don't feel it limits how many fish I catch. good luck