5 things we love about the biggest ever 350hp Suzuki outboard

The jolt of acceleration. The roar of the engine. The whirring stainless steel duoprop cutting like a cleaver. Spray flying. A banking turn with hold-my-beer G Forces. Then it seemingly changes gears and blows you away with its top end.

Hats are flying and history is made. Quick as that. Now we are ready to share our experiences with this new most powerful Suzuki outboard ever made.

There’s been a lot of hype around the DF350A, which Katsuhiro Fukuda, chief engineer at the Japanese engine plant, says represents 10 years' of evolution.

Using a 55 degree V6 block, the 350hp big daddy Suzy has displacement of 4.4L, a not-seen-before 12:1 compression ratio, dual fuel injectors, offset crank, and spins a counter-rotating duoprop. No kidding.

This and other extraordinary engineering feats make this DF350A a truly unique outboard in the world today. There is more technical information in this
Suzuki DF350A news story.

The new
DF350A cost about $44k (rrp). Steering and
installation added $8k when fitted to the cool Grand 850 rigid-inflatable boat.

After a day of test driving that cool RIB (full test to come), it's now time to share our personal thoughts on the DF350A. This is the best thing Suzuki has ever done for boating....

5 THINGS WE LOVE ABOUT THE SUZUKI DF350A
Here are five things we love about the new Suzuki DF350A four-stroke outboard engine after a long, hot day playing throttle man.

1. Acceleration: Our Grand 850 RIB weighed just 1200kg, but sports RIBs like this wear a lot of horsepower very well. What was immediately apparent was the acceleration. The DF350A has no lower-end lag like four-strokes of yore. Pull the trigger and the V6 propels you forward like a missile. It’s not jumpy power like a sticky throttle. It comes on strong in a smooth way. There’s refinement in this power delivery. That’s the first hint of the impressive engineering under the cool hood.

2. High-end torque: If you think the acceleration is snappy, keep going. Such is the top-end torque it’s almost like there’s a two-stage gearbox. From fast cruising to flat out, the DF350A kicks into another gear. The roar of the engine tells you it means business, the tone changes to one of pure grunt, and your world transforms. Our wide-open-throttle setting was at the lower end of the recommended operating range of 5700rpm-6300rpm. But the Grand 850 has cracked 50 knots with a light load. And to think our engine was tight. The last 500rpm are just so impressive. There’s a top-end surprise in this motor.

3. Duoprop grip: It’s all very well having a point-and-shoot boat, but a lot of the time we’re cranking the wheel, banking in hard turns, crossing bars, launching off wave faces, chewing air, then looking for bite from the blades again. When it comes to cavitation, the duoprop doesn't know the word. There’s very little slip when you trim up, up and up. We’d guess it’s below the 10 per cent you typically find in a conventional outboard set-up. The grip is so good you can crank the boat around and power out of the apex. The other big thing with this prop, and the power-assisted SeaStar Tournament steering setup we had, was the lack of torque. The boat tracked straight with no heel or tab requirement due to torque steer. You get big-horsepower with control for more driving pleasure. Anyone can get behind the wheel of this 350hp Suzuki and feel confident.

4. Dual water pickups: A lot of boaters are running bigger and bigger outboards in skinny water. Beyond flats fishing, major production pleasure-boat builders are creating new lifestyle dayboats from 25-45ft that have beach landings in their sights. It’s important in these environments that your outboard has plenty of water flow. We like the fact the DF350A has been designed to drink cooling water like a fish from its dual water pickups. The dual low-water inlet configuration increases water flow and improves cooling efficiency. Positioned forward on the gearcase nose, the main pickup delivers a greater water supply at high speed. But the second inlet positioned lower on the leg allows the DF350A to operate in shallow water more efficiently.

5. Compactness and weight: The big three outboard makers have gone about producing 350hp in different ways. Yamaha has its time-proven V8 with 5.3L of displacement; Mercury has supercharging on its in-line-six-cylinder 2.6L 350hp Verado lightweight; while Suzuki has this new 55 degree V6 with even more compact dimensions. Visually, the DF350A looks sporty and aggressive with a pronounced hood and tight and trim look-at-me physique. Out of all the 350s, it’s the leanest. The impressive DF350A also arrives at the right time to capitalise on the growing global demand for more outboard horsepower.

Our full test of the Grand 850 RIB will follow this article. More with this editorial search of all the Suzuki articles on our sites.

Specifications: Suzuki DF350A
Price (Dec 2, 2017): DF350ATX - $44,170 (rrp), DF350ATXX - $44,905 (rrp), plus steering and installation