Then buy a ProXS

Just order the 250R or 300R. I suspect the noise won't disappoint compared to my old 300XS motors. If noise is all you want, just get a set of Merc Racing 2,4 Bridgeports. Probably the best sounding consumer outboards ever made.

Nope. Looks like Mercury finally reaps the benefits of getting rid of Fred Kiekhaefer. I very much doubt Volvo Penta will let Mercury poke around at Seven.

ABOlsen69X Why is Fred being gone making these changes? Thought he has been out of Mercury Marine for a while now?

Tim V He was a man very much stuck in the old ways of doing things and whom had a very hard time listening to others - especially when it came to constructive criticism. My experiences are mainly through Merc Racing, but still.. He was against moving away from the old BBC design, where now the QV4 has become more prevalent. He was the greatest opposition at Merc Racing and Mercury Marine when it came to using the LS platform, which is what everyone else uses now e.g, Volvo Penta and Ilmor. He was completely against updating the XR drives, and completely oblivious to all its weaknesses. They may be rated for 600 hp, but they blow left and right on boats with 525s. He's also the guy who OK'd the use of weaker gears in the whole Bravo line of drives. He was against making stronger lowers for the outboards. Now there's the updated Torque and Sportmaster, there's the 4.8HD instead of the old Fleetmaster, and of course the 5.44. He was not interested in moving away from the Optimax again completely ignoring the shortcomings of the Opti, so development on things like these new V8 engines were near impossible before he left. He was against equal and healthy competition. Unfortunately, he along with Mercury, pretty much owned APBA. This had the very negative effect, that when someone brought out a better product, he would find some way of outlawing it. Case in point? The Weisman drives and the Sage #8 drives. They were beating the #6 boats, so Freddie thought a change was in order. They were banned, not because they were unsafe etc. They were banned because Mercury Racing and Fred thought they LOOKED wrong. When Dennis Cavanaugh and later Brett Anderson tried to introduce new prop designs, they were often met by a wall of resistance from Fred. This was not due to finances, but due to the fact that was in the lineup was good enough, in Freds opinion. That's in part why Brett moved on to start out on his own. I met the man occasionally, and well, not exactly my cup of tea to put it mildly.

Even Australia got rid of the Mariner branding years ago.

It depends on the application.

Test boats were using between 82 and 93 lph depending on the rig at WOT.

so the wa service manager rang me today and said that they were doing tests on my engine and so far found carbon buildup on cylinders 4 and 6 thinking that the valves might not be seating causing a zero compression on these cylinders or it could be from a head gasket failure so the carbon could be that the injectors on 4 and 6 might be faulty in which case they will change them and if it’s a head casket they will change the engine should know in a day or so

i got a call from the wa statewide service manager and he said they are not sure why the engine has failed could be a combination of head gasket and valves not closing so mercury is replacing the power head engine will be interested in finding what the cause was

I'd want a replacement motor. 1 year old and 70 hours seems like a dud to me.

@@bobcatman3844 how did it all turn out?

@@ryanskare6670 they replaced the engine and never herd why the engine dropped 2 cylinders

You can say what you like, but the Opti is getting VERY old, and I found reliability to be less that satisfying. While I hung on to the two stroke thing until about 6 months ago, as I used the 300XS, it's clear that times have passed for those. I just put in an order for a set of 300R outboards, and I'd be surprised if they don't outperform my 300XS units in every way - they are even at the same weight with Speedmaster lowers. These will be a huge kick in the nuts for the Evinrude G2 motors as well. I guess getting rid of Fred Kiekhaefer finally brought Mercury into the 21st. century.

got my new 2015 250 opti for 12k. turned wrenches for decades, love the opti, always will.

ABOlsen69X Not a chance in hell that these will outperform the G2... by the way the ugliest outboard ever made. Has the New Mercury 5 years no maintenance? I-trim.....? Integrated DPS? Self winterization? No guys, this is not an upgrade. Too bad they abandoned the 2-strokes..... which is a better power option.

​@@tyribakken17it's not a better option dummy

Really? So what you're saying is, that Mercury copied the company that still hangs on the two stroke? M'kay... These will most likely be the biggest kick in the nuts for the Evinrude Etec mills. Unless BRP gets with the program now, it's going to be a long climb uphill.

ABOlsen69X I was speaking to cowl design. Why would they change when they make more torque, burn less fuel, and beat all 4 strokes hands down in emissions? We will see what this motor puts down but the new Hammer 425 ho V8 barely makes 400 ft/lbs...a G2 250 HO puts down 600. I may change my tune when I see real numbers on this motor but I doubt it.

Joseph Kitchens Not sure I'm with you on that visual thing. But to each his own. 600 lb? At what RPM and where did you see that? Looking back at the countless dyno sessions I've been part of, I've NEVER seen any gas burning engine provide that much torque in relation to hp. That's big turbo diesel territorium. Do the math, the numbers simply do not add up. That would mean max torque @2275 RPM if the hp curve was flat from that point. Whom ever told you that number, is putting one on you man, sorry to say. That's simply not possible. 20+ years of engine building and drag racing tells me that. Edit: Got things mixed up with the 400 lb. Just realized you were talking about the Yammy "anchor". The weight alone is enough to scare anyone away from that. It's as heavy as a Seven Marine 627. In any case, I have a set of 300R motors on order that is replacing a set of 300XS. I doubt they will be less in any regard. These are big displacement units with vvt on both intake and the exhaust side. I'm more than sure that they will outperform my old 2 strokes.

ABOlsen69X you have to take into account a 2 stroke makes power every stroke not every other stroke like a 4 stroke. It's why 250 2 stroke bikes race in the 450 class in motocross. BRP has a skidoo that puts out 164 HP out of a two cylinder 2 stroke engine. My response was more to your insinuation that 2 strokes are antiquated....far from it if you look at the numbers. The new G2 was designed around DI technology from the ground up..not an old carb motor with fuel injection added. I guess I miss the boat on how 4 strokes are better than the best thing going....this engine may change that but the SHO or Opti didn't. The fear mongers that claim the EPA will end two strokes need to realize that 4 stroke on your boat will get a catalytic converter before the new 2 strokes even have to worry about making the number. Time will tell but I'll keep my Rude. It doesn't hurt Merc owning all those transoms either huh?

it will be interesting to see, I think you need to make a before and after video.

well, it can, and it is. If you manufactured the two stroke in the same way that they did this four stroke, it would be lighter. But, the old Optimax wasn't, so the weights are equal.

But it is...

The G2 s are heavy for 2strokes cause they are very solidly build...