Mercury Is Building a 600-Horsepower V-12 Outboard Motor

 The most modern Verado marine motor is a 7.6-liter V-12. And 600 horsepower might be just the start.

 Mercury has launched a V-12 outboard marine motor that makes 600 horsepower. outboard motor covers

Sound outrageous? bear in mind that, Mercury says, a couple of these provide 20 percentage higher gasoline economy than triple (Yamaha) V-8s.

If Mercury's past practice is some thing to head by way of, we will assume a supercharged version of this motor from Mercury Racing within the near future. 

closing yr, Volvo shuttered Seven Marine, which built outrageous outboards based on supercharged GM LS V-8s. What to do, then, if you need a six hundred-hp outboard (or three or four) to throw at the stern of your modest runabout? don't worry, Mercury has you protected. And no, they didn't crank their supercharged 4.6-liter V-8 up to 600 horsepower. They went naturally aspirated, with a 7.6-liter V-12.

that is right: a V-12 outboard. you could have questions, which includes "Huh?" And, "Wha?" possibly you are thinking how they in shape all those cylinders and pistons into a package that might bolt proper onto a transom and then be capable of, you realize, steer and stuff. well, you can say they had to do things a little in another way with this one.

The original one hundred-hp Mercury outboard changed into called the Tower of electricity because it changed into so tall. They must revive that nickname for this one, due to the fact on the grounds that that V-12 block is hooked up immediately up and down, with the open aspect of the V pointed rearward. typically, outboard-powered boats steer by way of pivoting the whole engine and drive as unmarried unit. however with 12 cylinders filling up the cowl, Mercury had to parent out a special technique—every inch counts when you're seeking to cram as many outboards as humanly viable at the again of your middle console. So rather than pivoting the powerhead and decrease unit, the V-12 Verado sincerely swivels the decrease a part of its outdrive. it'll be disconcerting to look the sort of go away the dock, the boat swinging around whilst the engines point immediately beforehand. 

in case you're wondering preservation can be a nightmare with 12 cylinders to fetter, Mercury expected that ache factor and tried to make the V-12 smooth to cope with. there may be a hood at the pinnacle of the cowling that allows proprietors (or their minions) to deal with the 200-hour oil change without getting rid of the cowling or taking the boat out of the water. The cowling does come off for the foremost carrier, however that one's most effective each five years or one thousand hours. Mercury is likewise presenting a commercial model known as the SeaPro it really is designed to rack up huge hours and take plenty of abuse. That one is detuned to 500 horsepower, however a pair of those would get your trawler shifting pretty good. 

even as a six hundred-horse V-12 sounds just like the epitome of good day-look-at-me outrageousness and ostentation, Mercury makes the case that these beasts honestly constitute pragmatic boating. One benefit: gasoline economy. How is a 7.6-liter V-12 true for gasoline financial system? due to the fact to get 1200 horsepower, you'll use either two of those or, say, 3 425-hp V-8s. wherein case, you still have 24 cylinders, but the introduced drag of every other power in the water. Mercury says twin V-12s deliver 20 percentage higher gasoline economy than triple (Yamaha) V-8s.

less drag is good for pace, too. Mercury bolted three of the V-12s to a 31,500-pound Boston Whaler 420 Outrage and saw it hit sixty three.7 mph. through assessment, a quad-engined 420 Outrage with Verado 400s topped out at 54.1 mph. sure, the triple V-12s supply 2 hundred more horsepower than the quad 400s, but that form of velocity difference is a much larger delta than you'll assume from 200 horsepower—especially considering that the 400-powered boat weighed about 1700 pounds less.

The V-12's transmission probable helped the cause. sure: the massive Verado compounds its electricity benefit with the aid of incorporating a two-speed computerized transmission within the lower unit. First gear is 20 percentage decrease than 2nd equipment, to help the boat arise on aircraft. we would assume that permits Mercury to run props which can be pitched for excessive velocity, for the reason that launch gear can compensate in low-speed conditions that call for masses of torque.

The simply exciting part of this, for aquatic speed freaks, is this isn't always a Mercury Racing engine. it's a widespread Verado. The manner this generally works is that Mercury introduces a clearly aspirated model of a given outboard, and then a couple years later Mercury Racing famous a supercharged version. that's what befell with the V-8s—first came the three hundred-hp Verado, accompanied via the supercharged 450-hp Mercury Racing 450R. So if this stuff are 600 horsepower with out a blower, what form of electricity may they make with some boost? somewhere on Lake X, Mercury's mystery check lake in Florida, we might guess there are a few 800Rs jogging laps. but allow's positioned the over/underneath on 750 horsepower.

was, you would need as a minimum a couple engines to hit that type of power. perhaps no longer for plenty longer. outboard motor covers