This has probably been pointed out before but I ran across a fairly objective review of 15 HP outboards. (Both 2 and 4 strokes) The article compares Honda, Johnson, Tohatsu, Mercury, Yamaha and Suzuki in a shoot out measuring weight, noise level, cruising speed and other areas. You may find some surprising information! You can read the article at http://www.cruisingworld.com/article.jsp?ID=201826&typeID=397&catID=571 