New 4 strokes

[elcamino12sec]

I was at the Miami boat show to see the release of the new supercharged Mercury 4 strokes. My question to all the Mercury guys is: What do you think of these? Air to water intercooler, supercharged, 650lbs, It may get good fuel economy but damn thats alot of moving parts to break, and alot of weight to push through the water. What were they thinking? Or is there another picture Im not seeing. I would like to here some opinions of other people out there that know a bit about these motors. Thanks.

 

[JoeW]

Re: New 4 strokes

I'm waiting for them to put a Chevy 350 on top of a lower unit. I haven't seen the superchargers. I'm still trying to get over the size of the four strokes in general. Alas, they are required on most of the lakes in the upper Sierras where I live (Lake Tahoe etc.)<br /><br />What hp motor was all of this on to justify 650 lbs?<br /><br />What, exactly, is an air-to-water intercooler anyway?

 

[elcamino12sec]

Re: New 4 strokes

The 200,225,250,275,and 300 (also available) All the new Verado line, look on there site, there heavy. An air to water intercooler cooles the charge before entering the combustion chamber by moving the air through an area that is cooled by the water, somewhat like how an a/c system works.<br />I would assume that corrosion would eat up the motor in a few years, this is the reason why I posted this question and wondering if any one else thinks the same thing?

 

[JB]

Re: New 4 strokes

Moving to General Outboard

 

[JasonJ]

Re: New 4 strokes

I don't know every last detail on this engine, but from what I have read there has been extensive R&D on this thing. I doubt corrosion would do any more to this motor than any other. I believe the cooling passages on this motor are empregnated with some sort of corrosion inhibitor, but I could be wrong. It looks to me like it will be a very good motor, if you can get past the alien drop-ship appearance. The supercharging is a good thing, gives more power from a smaller motor and is reliable. I agree there are a lot of parts, but all new outboards are packed with a gazillion computer controlled parts. I guess we will see in ten years how well the new technology holds up, but the same thing was said when automobiles started going high tech. You can't get more reliable than the modern auto, so it is safe to assume that marine versions if protected from the marine environment should do at least as well. I would buy the new Merc in a heart beat if I had the wallet.