Best 15hp

[jreau]

What year and/or model would you guys say was the best produced 15 hp Mercury when it comes to performance

 

[20hpmercury]

Re: Best 15hp

This is kinda of like the Chevy truck vrs Ford truck discussion.

I will share one data point. I bought a 93 15hp 2stroke new and run it in the swamps and can promise you it is in tough service. The motor mount broke after a couple of years, I installed a new one which I noticed was an improved design. I liked it because it only weighed a few pounds more than the old 9.8 and had more hp. In fact it nearly had the hp of the old 20hp. I had a couple of friends that bought later years of the same motor, 99 and 01 I think until they quit making them and they had good luck too. One of my friends bought a 15hp 4 stroke before the 15hp 2 stroke and got rid of it. Too heavy and less hp or certainly the hp curve must be different.

My 2 cents, get a Mercury 15hp 2 stroke from this timeframe.

 

[halmc]

Re: Best 15hp

'Performance' for me includes idling along on a pontoon boat downwind where you occasionally have the smell the exhaust and always the noise of the engine. So for me, two strokes are non-starters.

 

[jreau]

Re: Best 15hp

This is kinda of like the Chevy truck vrs Ford truck discussion.

I will share one data point. I bought a 93 15hp 2stroke new and run it in the swamps and can promise you it is in tough service. The motor mount broke after a couple of years, I installed a new one which I noticed was an improved design. I liked it because it only weighed a few pounds more than the old 9.8 and had more hp. In fact it nearly had the hp of the old 20hp. I had a couple of friends that bought later years of the same motor, 99 and 01 I think until they quit making them and they had good luck too. One of my friends bought a 15hp 4 stroke before the 15hp 2 stroke and got rid of it. Too heavy and less hp or certainly the hp curve must be different.

My 2 cents, get a Mercury 15hp 2 stroke from this timeframe.

That's kind of what I've been hearing and reading. I have a 1999 mercury 8 hp 2 stroke and it weighs about the same as the 15hp. I want to use it on my Zodiac and am looking for the most performance per pound and this seems like the best way to go. Thanks for all the info guys