Mercury Verado

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Outboard builders are getting smarter about making better motors for boaters. Mercury's new Verado series in 200, 225, 250 and 275 horsepower were years on the drawing board and two more years in R&D before one rolled off the production line. These are the babies of engineers recruited from BMW, Porsche and Ferrari to provide the new engine with powerful, smooth and quiet operating traits -- all in a reliable package.

A vertical six-cylinder engine block reminiscent of Mercury's tall, skinny "Tower of Power" from the '60s and '70s bears little resemblance inside to that old design, which was made by stacking and welding two-cylinder engine blocks. Verado cylinders are cast in one compact block, built with hardened alloys to take the bumps and vibration and stress of high rpm. Weight and space are saved with clever tricks like "Siamese" cylinder walls and hollow stainless-steel camshafts that allow the block to put more horsepower into the prop and less into moving machinery.

The block is a rather diminutive 2.6-liters, but power is maximized with Merc's first-in-outboards supercharger. In lab tests, the lower unit and a unique motor mount were durable enough to withstand impact from a wooden pylon shot from a cannon -- time after time. Even with its strength, the mount cradles the motor gently, and vibration dampeners isolate sound and nearly all the vibration from the boat hull.

During a test run at 20 mph in a heavy wind, a power-steering pump was actually louder than engine noise. We understand Merc will make a muffling cover for that pump. We've been noncommittal about the fly-by-wire binnacles before, but Verado's fully integrated system is a great marriage of horsepower and electronics.

Hole shots in our test boats were head-snapping, and top speeds were just short of 70 mph in a Triton 21 and a Sterling 22. In twin setups on a Fountain and a Whaler, top speeds reached into the high 40s and 50s. Verados are going to bring a pretty price, but for those who can afford them, bragging rights are standard.

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Mercury Marine; Fond du Lac, Wisconsin; 920-929-5040