Suzuki, this is how the legendary Japanese outboards were born

A tribute to the companies and people who have made Barche a Motore great over these 35 years allowing it to be born, grow, and become great up to this historic anniversary. In these articles the great excellences of boating tell their stories and reveal their projects, making an important contribution to the knowledge of this world, which allows us all to go to sea, in all forms and contexts.

Suzuki, the art of inventing outboards

For Suzuki’s 60th anniversary, we tell you about all the Japanese giant’s most important marine engines, capable of changing recreational boating.

It can be called, without any hesitation, an obsession. Obsession with technology and its development. Modernity and efficiency the watchwords. Suzuki Marine, at first a division of the Japanese giant founded by Michio Suzuki in 1909, was born in 1965 with its first outboard, the D55, and right from the start it was clear that its ball was “inventing.” In fact, it was a 98 cc, 5.5 hp two-stroke developed to optimize seaweed harvesting in Lake Hamana (in the Shizuoka region, about a two-hour drive from Tokyo), which in those days was still done with rowboats. The first milestones of the era were then the DT5, a compact 5-hp, 2-cylinder outboard engine in a market made up only of “mono,” and the DT25, water-cooled and available with an electric start version.

Then in the 1980s Suzuki was the first to introduce oil injection to the outboard world with the DT85, DT115, and DT140, thrusters equipped with Suzuki’s Pei (Pointless Electronic Ignition) system, thermostatically controlled water cooling, and a one-piece crankshaft, a feature that in texmpo ensures excellent durability. The 1985 DT200 is its first V6, 2,693 cc engine with an oil injection system and electronically controlled ignition. In 1987, in its Exanté version, it was the first engine to receive the award for “Most Innovative Product” of the year, from the NMMA, the leading U.S. trade association representing manufacturers of boats, marine engines and accessories.

In 1990,electronic fuelinjection and Micro-Link Ignition, a computer that monitors combustion and other key parameters, were introduced with the DT225/200/150, while in 1994 the first 4-strokes arrived; they were the DF9.9 and DF15, both two-cylinder, 302 cc cubic capacity. From there on, within four years the 40-, 50-, 60- and 70-hp DFs. In particular, the DF40 and DF50, are the first 4-stroke outboards with 12-valve DOHC. The 60 and 70 hp, on the other hand, stand out because they are the first electronically controlled 4-stroke outboards with the multi-point sequential electronic fuel injection system. In 1999 Thai Suzuki was born and all production of small models up to 30 hp was transferred to Thailand. New millennium: Suzuki is the first in the world to launch a 250-hp 4-stroke (in 2003, which brings it the fourth NMMA Innovation Award to be presented to it at the Miami International Boat Show) and then the iconic DF 300 presented in 2006: a 4,028 cc V-6-cylinder that made outboard history. Two years later came another innovation fundamental to Suzuki’s history and success, the Lean Burn system, a technology that calculates the exact amount of fuel to use based on operating conditions, allowing the engine to run in lean burn, thus optimizing the gasoline mixture. The first applications are on the DF70A, DF80A and DF90A.

Then in more recent years come the Suzuki Selective Rotation on the 300 hp where the foot is able to rotate in either direction depending on the needs of the installation, and the DF350A (launched in 2017) with the revolutionary counter-rotating twin propeller propulsion system. In 2021 Suzuki first introduces Drive By Wire technology in the 115- and 140-hp categories, both of the 2,045 cc inline four-cylinder. In 2023 the DF250 KURO is launched, a new model with cutting-edge styling and technological details.

Featuring an unprecedented distinctive Matte Black livery and a new grille designed to contain a different system for inputting and filtering the air needed for combustion, the range expanded last year with the Suzuki Stealth Line DF115B, DF140B, DF150A, DF200A, DF300AP and DF350AMD. A separate chapter deserves Suzuki ‘s longstanding commitment to environmental protection. In 2010 it embarked for the first time on a worldwide cleanup effort, starting right at Lake Sanaru, the very place where the first D55 outboard engine was developed. Instead, in 2020 the Suzuki Clean Ocean Project was launched, with multiple environmental conservation activities such as “World Cleanup Campaign,” “Reducing Plastic Packaging,” and “Collecting Marine Micro-Plastics.” Two years later Suzuki then introduced the Suzuki Micro-Plastic Collector technology on the DF100C, DF115BG, DF115B, DF140BG, and DF140B outboards . A filter that allows microplastics in the sea to be collected while sailing through the engine cooling circuit. A technology that earned it, at the Genoa International Boat Show, the Design Innovation Award.