Hi Kevin,

>>I do have a new 60cc ZDZ which is the finest gasser I have owned in every respect.

First, I have heard mostly only great things about the ZDZ's and my comment is the result of a well known engine builder that has torn them down and was disappointed in the internal finish quality and the quality of the bearings used. Other than that comment I have heard nothing bad about the ZDZ's. The only other issue, from the data I have collected, the Taurus 2.6 appears to pull a few hundred more RPM on an equivilant prop than the ZDZ40.

>>How are we to compare anything with Taurus when they dont publish the weight,

You're right, but none of the manufacturers publish weight information that is useful. They never specifically say what the weights do or don't include. That's why I started a movement to come up with real weights for these engines, complete with engine, muffler, mount and ignition. The database for this has been taken over by rcfaq.com, with a form to add data on the home page of their site. The DB has not been put up yet, but will be soon. I have a lot of numbers if you want reality, which is why I posted the numbers above.

>>they publish HP ratings which are meaningless

Agreed.

>>,they dont say whose ignition they are using and what type,

CH auto-advance ignition

>>They may be as good as some other modern engines from a tech point of view,but dont you think their marketing needs a lot of work?

You won't get any argument from me. I've been hammering on them for months. For me there's no excuse for it but unfortunately they are the norm in this industry and not the exception. As I mentioned they are at least working on a new site with complete information and prices.

Here are a couple of other example sof poor marketing, BME has had their 50 out for months and there's still no mention of it on their site and ZDZ publishes thrust numbers derived from a thrust calculator. Talk about worthless.

So, nobody's perfect, and that's why these forums are so valuable. You can get real facts and reality from people that own these engines.

Thanks for the input. If you have any more questions or comments, feel free to fire away.

Bill