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Thread: 275 Verado

  1. #1
    BILLY.B
    Just bought the 275 Verado by Mercury, does anyone out there have one on there boat and if so how is it????. I've heard nothing but good things about it from all the SALESMAN but i'd like to hear from someone who has one on there boat and has been using it. Thanks in advance.

  2. #2
    Kim Hanson
    Just bought the 275 Verado by Mercury, does anyone out there have one on there boat and if so how is it????. I've heard nothing but good things about it from all the SALESMAN but i'd like to hear from someone who has one on there boat and has been using it. Thanks in advance.
    Billy Boob Whacker, too funny and I don't run Mercury , so happy hunting...I found this for you though!.........( . )( . )..........
    Verado, Mercury Marine's new 4-stroke outboard engine, was finally unveiled February 12, 2004, at the Miami Boat Show. Most all information leaked about the engine turned out to be true: it is supercharged, it is an in-line six (2.6-litre displacement), it is a great performer, and it uses all electronic remote controls. However, weight, an important element that had not been given much pre-release publicity, was not as impressive as the rest of the engine. And price remains a bit of a mystery, too.
    VERADO
    The Basics
    The Verado engine is built on an entirely new straight-6 double overhead cam (DOHC) 24-Valve aluminum block with 2.6 Litre displacement. This engine provides four models in 200,225,250,and 275 horsepower ratings. The in-line six configuration has not been seen in outboard motors since Mercury stopped making their "tower of power" 2-stroke engines in the 1980's. It is a good choice for several reasons. The straight-6 is an inherently balanced engine, and the slimmer profile allows for mounting of twin engines on standard 26-inch centers. The engine uses a "square" bore and stroke (82mm), and there is some research to suggest this is an optimum approach to the trade-off between horsepower, RPM, and torque--I'll leave it to the gearheads to debate. The engine uses multiport sequential Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI) controlled by microprocessor.
    The Not-So-Basics
    The rest of the Verado engine is very different from most other outboards. Mercury calls Verado a "propulsion system" and in many respects they're correct. This is not your grandfather's outboard motor.
    Supercharged!
    What sets the Verado apart from every outboard ever made is its induction system: a supercharged, intercooled, air boost with computerized control of throttle and boost pressure!
    A supercharger provides a significant boost in power by forcing a higher volume of air into the engine. Because compressed air heats up, a large copper radiator provides cooling to keep air temperature lower and improve performance. The supercharger runs all the time, but a computer controls a waste gate at the output, so pressure boost can be regulated and applied as needed.
    As a result of the supercharger, the Verado engine delivers higher horsepower and more torque from a smaller displacement engine.
    Mercury's vice president of research and development is Claus Bruestle, formerly of Porsche where he headed development of Formula One race-car engines. Mercury also cites design consultations with Lotus and Cosworth, well-known auto racing companies. You can see where this engine's design heritage came from. The supercharger was developed in conjunction with IHI Turbo America.
    Fly-By-Wire
    At an unprecedented level, Mercury has implemented electronic control of the Verado engine. Throttle and shift functions are entirely electronic and controlled by very impressive remote lever controls. There are no mechanical linkages between the engine and its remote controls; everything travels on a wire and as a digital--not analogue--signal. The controls communicate with the engine over a digital data bus. At the same time, this data bus also provides the SmartCraft gauge information, and also permits engine monitoring and protection functions.
    If there were nothing more to the Verado engine than these new controls, they alone would be worthy of all the hype. They are a "break through" by themselves and are a fantastic improvement over all existing engine throttle and shift systems available for outboards
    The throttle and shift controls are beautifully done. They are both attractive and very smooth to operate. The touch of the controls is just right--not too stiff and not too loose. They just feel "right." For dual engine installations they have significant advantages. For tilt and trim control, there are three sets of rocker switches: PORT-BOTH-STBD. You can control both engines with one set of switches. The trim-tilt speed can be programmed to enhance the operator control and convenience. Again for dual engines, an automatic synchronized function is available to keep engine speeds matched. For anyone who has used twin engines, this feature is going to be a hit. No more watching the tachometers or the synchronizer gauge, you can keep your eyes on the water instead.
    In the helm area the controls are interconnected with digital gauges, key start switches, local microprocessor controllers, and a data bus 6-port hub. The hub connects to the engine via data control cables. This sounds complex, but the system has been given over 30,000 hours of on-the-water testing, and elaborate engineering provides triple redundancy in critical components.
    The throttle/shift controls also include a remote control center for the SmartGuage display, so you can keep your hands on the throttles while flipping through the many display pages on the SC5000.
    By using a digital approach, installation of multiple control stations should be greatly simplified. While this does not have much application in smaller boats, some larger outboard powered offshore fishing boats do have tuna towers with second engine controls.
    Steer-By-Wire
    The Verado engines also introduce an electro-hydraulic power steering system. The actual steering wheel is an electrical device which sends electrical commands to a remote hydraulic steering pump. The pump can be placed in the helm area or in the transom area, whichever affords the best location on a particular boat. Hydraulic lines from the pump connect to an integral hydraulic steering ram in the Verado engine mount. The hydraulic ram in the engine remains stationary as the engine pivots, so the hydraulic cables do not move. This makes the transom rigging very clean with no long hydraulic cables dragging around the splash well.
    The result is a system that eliminates steering torque at the wheel yet claims to provides proper engine "feel." We didn't actually get to try this out while underway in our test ride, but the demonstration display at the booth felt very nice.
    This is quite a departure from the traditional engine design, where steering control was left to the builder or rigger.
    Monitor-By-Wire
    With an all-digital and all-computer-controlled engine filled with electronic sensors, the gauge and monitoring options are endless. In small boat applications this will probably be limited to driving a combination of LCD displays and individual gauges, but on larger vessels this technology will offer highly integrated vessel management software systems. It should also enable very advanced diagnostics for engine trouble-shooting.
    THE TEST RIDE
    Mercury has about a dozen boats in the water at Miami and available for test rides. Of course, we want to go for a spin on a Boston Whaler 320 Outrage with a pair of 250-HP Verado engines on the transom.
    We walk out on the Mercury test pier and come upon the slip with the big Outrage. It has just come back from a ride. Guys are shaking hands and saying thanks, and as soon as they clear the boat we hop aboard. We meet Keith Ranieri from Boston Whaler, our pilot. Keith is a good choice as he also happens to be one of the designers of the 320, so you might say he knows the boat rather well. I introduce myself and Keith immediately responds with a compliment on the web site and says he reads it all the time! Hey--I am enjoying the test ride already and we haven't left the dock yet.
    The boat fills up with several others, until we have about nine aboard, and Keith gives the word to cast off. Our crew is another gentleman from Mercury/Fond du Lac (forgot to write his name down)--one of the Verado project guys. He casts off the stern lines and goes to the bow to get the forward lines. Keith clicks the throttles into forward and the boat nudges ahead. My jaw drops. You probably think this is an exaggeration, but I was taken by complete surprise. Both engines, 500-horsepower total, had been running all the time and I was completely unaware of it. It was just amazing how quiet the engines are at idle. They are literally inaudible.
    Our timing for this test ride looks bad as we are in Government Cut in the Port of Miami, and a very large cruise ship, guarded by the United States Coast Guard in a Safeboat with flashing blue lights, is just in the process of departing its berth and swinging around in the turning basin. The Coasties give us instructions to stay at least 100-yards clear and to proceed straight up the channel, very nicely letting us continue our test ride.
    We idle past the big cruise ship and into the main channel. Keith asks if we are ready; we are. He slides the DTS throttles forward and away we go.
    Now a few words about this moment. The day before we had been cruising all afternoon and evening with LHG aboard WHALE LURE, a 25-OUTRAGE with twin 200-HP Mercury EFI 2-strokes. The hull weight on that boat is 3,300 lbs. The engines weigh only 425 lbs a piece. We had about 70 gallons of fuel aboard (450 lbs) and five people (850 lbs). Roughly the total weight was about 5500-6000 lbs, so our WT/HP ratio was about 15 lbs/hp, and our engines are conventional 2-strokes known for good performance.
    The 320 OUTRAGE hull weighs 8500 lbs, and a pair of Verado engines another 1300 lbs. I am guessing the boat had about 200 gallons of fuel, so add another 1400 lbs, and our nine people probably weighed about 1700 lbs (mostly guys over 40-years-old). The rough total weigh has to be in the neighborhood of 13,000 lbs. With 500 horses on the transom that makes our WT/HP 26 lbs/hp, and our engines are 4-strokes, often criticized for taking a while to spin up to rated horsepower.
    I mention all this because we've are acustomed to excellent boat speed and performance for the past day of boating--probably some of the best ever seen on a 25-foot Whaler--so we are not coming to this test drive like babes in the woods.
    What happened next is impressive. The big Outrage just jumps on plane, the noise level increases to the point where we can now actually hear the engines, and my brand new Boston Whaler visor goes flying off my head and overboard!
    "I lost my hat," I say to Keith, standing at my right, as I turn around and watch it flying behind us in the wake. "And that was a brand new Boston Whaler hat, too," I lament.
    "Darn," says Keith, "but I can't go back to get it; the Coast Guard said we had to go straight out and stay away from the cruise ship." "I'll get you another one," says Keith with a smile.
    I scanned the SC5000 display and find the boat speed: about 25-MPH. The engines are loafing along, RPM is somewhere in the 3500-range. We have a clear channel ahead, and Keith tells everyone to hang on. He pushes the twin throttles ahead and the boat accelerates. Now we are going about 40-MPH! I am hanging on with one hand on my sunglasses and one hand on the console railing.
    The engines are still very quiet. The wind noise is the dominant factor, but you can still have a conversation without shouting. The big Outrage just eats up the chop in the channel. We run down toward the ocean at 39-MPH, the engines turning about 5400 RPM.
    The Verado straight-6 red-lines at 6400, so I think there was some throttle left. Also, the boat was very heavy with fuel and people, and the props may have been a bit tall for that load. In any case, it is an impressive ride. The time to plane and acceleration are both excellent.
    This boat has the Active Deck Suspension System ($18,000 option!) We take turns trying it out. As people step on an off it automatically adjusts to the weight changes. The channel is not rough, but there are some boat wakes to cross, and we get a taste for how it works.
    "After you get used to it," says Keith, "you can keep your knees locked and let it take the bumps for you."
    Keith cuts back the thottles and makes a few figure eights; the Outrage turns beautifully at speed. Then he is back on the throttle and going 40-MPH again.
    I take off my sunglass and zip them into a pounch on my shirt. I work my way to the stern and sit on the transom, looking back at the engines. The noise level is very modest, and there is no sign of any vibration. I carefully fish my camera out and try to take some pictures of these new engines. We cross some more wakes and the Outrage throws a little spray, but in the stern I am perfectly dry.
    The splash well rigging is amazingly clean. The twin engines are linked with a tie bar, but only the standard-rotation engine has the integral steering cylinder. The counter-rotating engine typically comes without the steering unit.
    The engine mid-cowling shape is very unusual ("the shrimp curve") and it seems to be very hydrodymanic. At off-plane speeds the water runs very smoothly around the lower unit with minimum turbulence.
    Finally, our test ride is ending, and we head back to the dock. We pass close abeam the cruise ship as she comes down the cut, then pull back into the marina docks at the Mariott Hotel. Again, the engine noise disappears, and we glide silently into the slip.
    THE REST
    There is more to the Verado than all this. It is also a "first" in many other ways, and not the least in styling. It also has many other features, which I'll try to cover in another article.
    The Mercury Marine website has great information available now, too.
    The Verado is a very impressive product, and it shows the results of five-years of development and sophisticated design. However, there are two areas of concern with this new engine: its weight and its price.
    Heavy Hitter
    At 650 lbs. for the "comparative" weight, the Verado is the heaviest outboard around. It has done something I never thought possible, but it makes the 580-lb. 225/250-HP four-stroke look like a welter-weight. Of course, the additional 70-lbs on the Verado can buy you as much as 50-75 more horsepower, significantly better performance, and new-world levels of technology. In that respect, I would not worry about the Verado weight differential when compared to existing engines.
    The "comparative" weight refers to the engine weight minus propeller, fluids, and also the weight of the integral hydraulic steering gear. On other engines an external hydraulic steering cylinder has to be added, along with drag links and mounting rails, etc.
    Price and Availability
    At the moment I have not been informed of any specific pricing, although figures have been mentioned in the $16,500 to $20,000 range. The precise price is really not important because it is going to be impossible to buy a loose engine for some time. Mercury has promised all production of the Verado to OEM boat builders for the present. Installation of this engine is not something to be left to the average owner or to even the average boat dealer or rigger. There are entirely new methods of rigging and controls that have to be mastered, and these will be crucial to proper engine operation, proper performance, and ultimately to customer satifaction. So for the present, the Verado will only been available on new boats from builders with a strong OEM relationship with Mercury.
    As Mercury acknowledges, this is not an outboard motor but a new propulsion system.

  3. #3
    stoker2001
    i was considering one for our new boat but opted for a new 250SX with sportmaster lower unit as our application is a 22' stoker tunnel and will see 80+ speeds.there are pros and cons of the verado and this is just my opinion.from what i hear they are 4000.00+ more then the 250SX and they dont offer a surfacing,go fast drive (lower unit).they are huge and heavy,so the 250SX has got the 275 verado beat in power to weight ratio (i hear from people with dynos that the 250SX is at 265+).they have a 10% rule on power rating them.they are equal in fuel effeciency.the verado is whisper quite,the 250 is slightly louder.the verado has its place and i think it is on huge offshore fishing boats.i am a diehard outboard guy,but for the extra dough for the verado,i think i would go with I/O.just my .02 cents

  4. #4
    Kilrtoy
    Verado 275
    $22,400.00

  5. #5
    CrazyHippy
    Verado 275
    $22,400.00
    Does that come w/ a can of Vasaline, or is that raw??
    BJH :sqeyes:

  6. #6
    stoker2001
    Verado 275
    $22,400.00wow,i was thinking right at 20k,more the reason to go with I/O.i also heard the clamp bracket has no side load strength/support,meaning no performance surfacing props boston whalers and grady whites will have no problems with that

  7. #7
    Kilrtoy
    Does that come w/ a can of Vasaline, or is that raw??
    BJH :sqeyes:
    Is that alot.....
    i saw that price this past weekend at the shop

  8. #8
    CrazyHippy
    That's a lot, but a fairly frugal (cheap) person anyways, and usually dont buy new, so the price of a 300X is outrageous as well...
    My whole boat cost less than that :notam:
    BJH :boxed:

  9. #9
    BILLY.B
    wow,i was thinking right at 20k,more the reason to go with I/O. I bought a Hallett 210 bare hull a few years back from Nick Barron and he asked me what kinda power I was going to use figuring that i'd put a blown deal in it with an IO package and you should of seen his face when I said an OB. After rigging the boat myself and hanging a 2.5 on it he was amazed how many people called him asking if he was making an OB again and how they worked to which he stated call Billy-B and ask him how it works because we only build them in an IO. The boat was built with an OB on it so I wouldn't try and make it go faster, add chrome stuff to make it look cool, and pretty much make it a worthless family boat seeing as I already have one of those. The 2.5 took a $hit and was gonna cost several thousand dollars to fix and with all the EPA bull$hit going on I figured it was as good of time as any to step up and get the best they had to offer. Speed isn't an issue as this is a family boat used for skiing and tubing and just plan cruising around. I know it weighs more then your average OB but then this engine isn't close to being your average OB either. Hope it all works out. Hey Hanson thanks for all the info it made for some good reading.

  10. #10
    Speedin' Ian
    Hey Billy you going to have that motor on the boat in the next month or two? Sounds like a sweet set-up if you ask me. Just started tearing down the motor in the Cole and it ain't pretty, looks like we lost a lifter, so I am hoping the needle bearings didn't do any damage on there way down. Also looks like we are going to have to replace the heads. Oh well, it's just money :cry: , and hopefully all the changes will finally make this thing respectable. Tell your bro hi!

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