Are Honda motors more efficient then B&S?

[CarLuver]

i have a all Briggs motors on my pressure washer and mower. they seem to use quite a bit of gas and i need to refill them frequently. i borrow a honda motor once while my briggs was waiting for parts and i noticed i did not need to fill it as often


So are briggs engine style more thirsty than a comparable honda ?

 

[supton]

Flathead or OHV?

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Honda probably is more fuel-efficient, especially the OHC engines.

If you can't get a Honda engine right now, consider an iridium spark plug for your Briggs engines. That might help a little bit with fuel consumption

 

[ripcord]

A fancy spark plug will have zero impact on fuel consumption unless the existing one is bad. In that case a quality conventional time will yield the same results.

 

[pbm]

I've has B&S on every walk behind mower I've had until the current Husqvarna which has a Honda 160.
The Honda is definitely more fuel efficient but it also doesn't have the grunt my B&S motors had. The B&S would never bog down in tall grass but the Honda sometimes does.

 

[meep]

I’m not sure if I can claim the same. Purpose and loading vary depending on the use? No argument that the Honda motors sip gas. I’ll just add that the single cylinder OHV 14.5 Briggs on my mower is strikingly efficient for what it has to do… I can cut my large and thick lawn 2-3 times on 2.5 gallons of gas. a twin would require more. It seems to me about even in terms of design efficiency.

Totally different application, but my 13hp Honda pressure washer burns a full gallon per hour or so - swills fuel.

The smaller Honda engine in my eu2000 runs chronically lean and has had to be disassembled easily 6 times now for carb-lean issues. Even with a filter added, the smallest hint of dust or particles sends it into a surging condition. Of the 3 generators I’ve owned, it seems the most efficient, while also being a pain to keep happy. I like efficient in a generator, though, definitely.

 

[georgemiller]

Any gas savings you'll pay for more in parts.

 

[Lubener]

OHV engines are much more efficient than flatheads. Those being equal, I would say the Honda is more efficient. Ever notice for the same horse power (or torque) rating, Hondas have a displacement of around 160 and Briggs are 190.

 

[jeepman3071]

Any gas savings you'll pay for more in parts.

Have you priced B&S parts lately?

 

[jeepman3071]

OHV engines are much more efficient than flatheads.

This.

The OHV Briggs engines are pretty good on fuel also.

 

[wag123]

Ever notice for the same horse power (or torque) rating, Hondas have a displacement of around 160 and Briggs are 190.

This was true with the older B&S flat head quantum engines but it is not true with the newer B&S OHV engines. The Honda OHV 160cc engines produce 6.9 ft/lb torque and the OHV 163cc B&S engines produce 7.25 ft/lb torque. This prompted Honda to come out with the higher compression 170cc engine that produces 8.2 ft/lb of torque, but the higher compression ratio is partially to blame for Honda's compression release and carburetor problems with this engine.

 

[Cujet]

In my experience, Honda engines use a touch less fuel than the competition, in just about all cases. BITOG's least favorite review channel, which shall go nameless, (if I remember correctly) noted that the real Honda engine consumed a touch less fuel than its Chinese clone.

 

[oil pan 4]

i have a all Briggs motors on my pressure washer and mower. they seem to use quite a bit of gas and i need to refill them frequently. i borrow a honda motor once while my briggs was waiting for parts and i noticed i did not need to fill it as often


So are briggs engine style more thirsty than a comparable honda ?

I had a 208cc 6.5hp Briggs and Stratton Honda clone that drank gas. It drank more gas than my old school Briggs 5hp flat head.
It ran so rich it make your eyes burn from 50 feet away.
The 208cc Briggs clone ran on a wood chipper so it spent most of it's time running running unloaded.
The flat head is on an air compressor that runs hard, the unloader valve barely ever trips because I use it for sand blasting.
Eventually I swapped a cheap knock off Honda carb on there and swapped main jets till it would lean bog with e10 gas. Filled with ethanol free and it ran perfect, used significantly less gas after I put the cheap carb on there and tuned it.
The Briggs Honda clone factory carb had a fixed air bleed and took main jets that I couldn't find anywhere, it was engineered to be untuneabe. The Honda knock off carb has an air bleed screw and takes normal thread size Honda main jets.

 

[oil pan 4]

In my experience, Honda engines use a touch less fuel than the competition, in just about all cases. BITOG's least favorite review channel, which shall go nameless, (if I remember correctly) noted that the real Honda engine consumed a touch less fuel than its Chinese clone.

I don't think I saw that video.

 

[sloinker]

I've owned many a different small engine over the last 5 decades. Given a choice, I always choose Honda over other brands. My experience has shown them to be worth the higher cost. Briggs, IMO, is near the bottom of the pile duking it out with the DuckPoo, LongPoo and Yudong brands. I worked in a small engine shop in the late 1970's before Honda was a player. Wisconsin, Kohler, Lawnboy, Fairbanks etc were all superior to B-S under 8 horsepower. We would not rebuild them as they were made and designed to be thrown away. Maybe they have gotten better? I will probably never know as the Honda powered stuff I have just keeps plugging along. Hope I didn't just jinx myself.