Capt. Rob Smith takes a good look at Evinrude’s 225 DI engine.

Evinrude won the 2-stroke DI outboard engine category in the 2009 J.D. Power study, beating Yamaha by 15 points and Mercury, which was in last place, by 21 points. A J.D. Power spokesman said Evinrude demonstrated “considerable improvement in both satisfaction and quality in 2009...and performs particularly well in shifting smoothness, fuel economy and reliability.” Todd Markusic, the Power spokesman, said, “Engine hesitation during acceleration and the engine running roughly have the most significant negative impacts on customers’ satisfaction with their engines.” This is the third time in eight years that Evinrude has won the 2-stroke DI award; the other years were 2003 and 2007. This years' rankings were --