@@rickg1984 you heard wrong… Apex in either V8 or the V6 version will rule. Unless they go with the new low stresses V10 for this type of racing. Which would lower cost. The motor would last season or more. I do not want to hear argument about weight. Not enough to make a difference with today’s ability for hull designs. Plus, fuel economy heard will reduce need for as much fuel (weight) for same length race.
I can still hear the amazing sound of the Mercury Black Max 200hp my dad had on his Checkmate when I was a kid. Although he passed away last year, I was lucky enough to get his hand-me-down and hope to bring it back up to the condition it was in when I was a kid. So many good memories in that boat, and I hope to make more with my kids. Love Mercury engines!
Awesome man! They do sound like nothing else, just an incredible sounding engine. Please check out the Merc V6 history video I made, you'll dig it: ua-cam.com/video/TbEilffmFi8/v-deo.html
As a Owner of Mercs for 61 years, this is a spot on video of the Best Engines ever built and will continue to be. APX looks like a Monster. Still running a Fresh AF 2.5 200
Thanks for the GOAT video including the V6. As a actual owner of 1.) Racing 2.4 EFI with speedmaster 2.) Racing 2.5 EFI (300hp) speedmaster 3.) Racing V8 300R, I appreciate your views. I suggest you should expand the number.. As actual owner who has all the above on installed over time on the same boat platform, the 300R is the GOAT. The V8/V10/V12 modular platform is the GOAT. The last of ICE motors before EV takes over. Out of the V6s, the Racing 2.5 EFI, to me, is the V6 GOAT. The tower or power…. As a kid, we had on Glastron Carlson running a mild modified 150hp straight six. From nostalgia standpoint, for me, the 150 platform was the tower of power GOAT. One of our neighbors had the racing tower with external resonators out the side on a GW Invader tunnel. As a kid, love that combo. The DOHC stern drives, AND automotive restomod available, kills any German or whoever automotive platform power. Your are dead on highlighting this amazing Mercury miracle motor platform. Mercury WAS the real designer and builder of the mid 90s Chevy DOHC. Which was a ringer motor in case Bill France (racist hater against Ford) would have decided to let the Ford modular OHC/DOHC V8 program into his NASCAR (he did not.. scum). Mercury made motor went into the C4 ZR-1 Corvette. To this day, this ZR-1 Mercury platform run hard…. unless some num-nuts attempts to modify, it is close to indestructible. In case anyone is curious.. Still have the custom Doug Smith made Kevlar Baja (with Gil bracket bolted onto what people would call a stern drive look transom). It truly is a sleeper. Open bow, sun deck in back, low sided, special V bottom. This platform currently has the 300R. Prior, it started with the racing 2.4 EFI, and racing 2.5 EFI. Moved to the 300R few years ago. The hull is truly one of a kind. I never had ANY repair, defect, or “left behind dead in water” with any of the Mercury motors. Routine maintenance.
Hey John I really appreciate your comment, sorry for responding to it so much later! Yeah, maybe I should do another video. All the engines you mentioned are super badass, you should check out my Merc V6 history video if you haven't seen it: ua-cam.com/video/TbEilffmFi8/v-deo.html The reason I couldn't include them was that I was trying to only include one engine per decade, and regardless of how sweet the 2.4/2.5 is, the Deuces High is cooler, and regardless of how cool the 300R is, the APX is cooler. Lol. You sound rad, what part of the country do you live in?
@@ADDvanced thank you! No issue related to response time. You have a non YT life. :) I will watch your link again. Some time ago, already gave it a thumbs up. :)
Growing up We had a white and red Glastron GT with an Evinrude. My favorite boat in the entire world of all Times. James Bond jumped our boat lol. I loved reading your post. Landed on my heart. Great memories I’ll keep until I pass.
@@b.d.ericksonii203 Thank you for your kind words! Loved hearing your Glastron history.. when I was growing up, we first had a Glastron. Maybe called “176”? It was closed bow, 17’, windscreen that opened in the middle. Had tower of power 135HP. Dad moved to Glastron Carlson 18’. Forget its designation. Had tower of power 150hp. Which at the time was most powerful outboard. I could swap stories all day on our mutual “Glastron days”. Led me to stay with the outboard family of boating. Doug Smith’s Baja was great. He also kept fond heart for outboards in a times when so many were moving to big block Mercruiser sterndrives. Met an amazing hooligan Mod-VP racer, who happened to be the Baja dealer. He and Doug custom crafted my boat, as he did for others in the special modified family. “SVO”-Shelby (Special Vehicle Operation) like partnership. I also will remember your description here about your Glastron days until I assume room temp.
About 12 years ago I had a chance to speak with Fred Kiekhaefer at Lake Havasu in AZ and he was super cool. You could tell he had a good handle on the business and making sure customers were taken care of while pushing R&D of all their engine packages.
Some more well done content! I enjoyed the last video on the V6 history that you did so was happy to see this one. I can certainly appreciate the hours upon hours you put into researching, writing, voice over recording, footage locating, and editing all of this together. Nice work!
We got an engine from mercury racing team back in the day off a tunnel hull when they swapped to a lighter/newer engine. It’s a build using the 150 block and a 250 lower unit. We dropped it on our 16ft charger with a few mods like, custom gas tank, hot foot throttle, hydraulic lift and tilt and a reinforced transom. The thing is bonkers to drive, burns gas like crazy and burns gears like a dragster. Not cheap to run but what a boat. I’m currently forcing my dad to not get rid of the engine. He has been wanting to swap it for years because he is getting older and it’s a lot of work. I been doing most of it for a few years now. I hope he succeeds and gives the boat to me. I will take care of it forever.
Should have heard our 30,40 and 44 cubic 4 cylinder Mercs on Alki. And modded. Those megaphone exhausts were ear piercing. Loved it. On hydros and runnabouts
You should at least have given a mention to the 400R, it's the pinnacle of all Mercury's inline six engines. The crowning achievement. It's one heck of an engine and sings beautifully at +6000 rpm. I've run several of them and for something which has +150hp/litre (a lot!!) it's amazingly reliable.
Sure. But in populated area where not everyone is into it, it’s impossible to get approval for boat racing because of the noise. So maybe E1 will be the start of a whole new group of people being interested in boat racing, and then they’ll be interested in the gas powered ones since they’re so much faster? Could be rad!
Ohhhhh the optimax ..I got one of these on a shellfishing boat. Do I love? Meh, when it’s running good I love it. But it’s got it’s gremlins, like anything. Coming up on 1000hrs and I’m told they’ll go about 1300-1600 before some catastrophes. But fingers crossed, she’s ready for another season. Only thing I wish I could get for it. Would be a higher amp alternator. I feel, they are a voltage hungry motor. And could really use another 10amps of output. Awesome video, pretty neat seeing Optis on jet boats:-)
My Great Uncle Eugene campaigned a small hydro powered by Mercury in the 50's. Eugene brought my dad along on the circuit for years as driver... Gopher. He ran in the NY, NJ, CT area. Uncle Eugene was friends with Charlie Strang both products of the same Brooklyn neighborhood, so he was given special motors. I adore that boat sitting on the horses in his backyard in the late 60-70's just feet from the canal in his backyard. It screamed put me in run me....! Always wanted to restore it.
Stoked to see this and learn the ProMax got direct-injection in '96. Don't know much about the Mercs other than they made competitive racing outboards. Coming from Seattle, my dad started taking the family to the Seafair races in the 70's and got to also see some of the crazy slough racing before it got banned.
@@ADDvanced I used to live within walking distance of the museum over 20 years ago and it was super cool then. Haven't been back there in about 20 years though.
@@ADDvanced One more thought, if you ever make plans to come out to the museum, you may want to time it when Seattle Outboard Association has races on Angle Lake, which is basically right across I-5 hwy and Green River from the museum. I think SOA lists the race schedule on their Facebook page too.
@CRASH ALEXANDER Based on the video, I meant OptiMax. As stated earlier, I don't know much about Merc outboards. Although cool, I'll never own a 6 cyl. 2-stroke due to the lack of fuel economy and the expense of quality 2-stroke oil. Therefore, don't see any logical reason for the fact check.
In Florida, and similar places, if you don't have a 2.4 Bridgeport offshore, 2.5 280 Offshore, or 2.5 300 Drag, you're getting left in the spray. All equal, a 300 Drag leaves a 300Xs 3.4L in the weeds simply because of the RPM the small bore is turning on top end. And lets be honest. I can own 3 2.5 300 Drags for the cost of 1 overpriced, heavy, underpowered 360 Apex. A few mods can put a 300 Drag in the 450+ range, still naturally aspirated.
Those are all great engines man, but the Dueces High is cooler than any of them and I picked one per decade. For actual production engines, I would have picked a 2.4 Bridgeport but Deuces High is still more interesting/cooler.
These are the comments that give me some that give me a glimmer of hope in UA-cam content and younger generations. A small glimmer. Lol. (I'm a mechanical engineer, 36 years old). Great job @ADDVanced putting together this video and type of content. -Brock
Great video bro. That's a lot of carbon on those 'E-boat' hulls! Nice. That QC4V all assembled like that with 1,600hp... That mill looks damn nice on display. Hell they all look cool/ quality and definitely some wild innovation there with those counter rotational props. Very cool and interesting. So that newer one is better and more modern than something like a Verado 400R?? Just curious, as I know very little about these newer engines especially. Was a cool video, I enjoyed it 😀 👍
Super cool video. The Optimax name was not used in the start, but instead DFI for Direct Fuel Injection and "Orbital technology"... OMC launched their Ficht system about that time and Optimax was chosen as a better name to be better than Ficht which also was a direct fuel injection system. The QC4v. was launched in 2011 with both 1100 and 1350 hp. engines with No6 and M8 drives respectivly. You should work for Mercury!
I remember Orbital! My dad had a lot of stock in them at one time, they were pioneers of direct injection; I think other companies just engineered their way around the patents. Sounds like a cool place to work!
My outboard is a 2008 Mercury 225 Sports Xs sports master on my 20ft Bullet bass boat also I HATE ELECTRIC QUIET OUTBOARDS, I love the loud menacing sounding outboards!
Like it...just been to our UK SBS boat show and stood next to the new Mercury V10. Not really sure why you need more than one but hey, what do I know with my tiny 5.0 V8. Looking forward to the next video.
I didn't forget about them, but those are racing engines from Mercury Marine. This video, as I tried to explain in the beginning, was specifically about MERCURY RACING products, and that company started in 1973, which excludes anything made prior to that. Maybe I will make another video on the top 5 Mercury Engines of all time in the future?
The Mercury Mark 20H with conversion kit. The baddest sounding racing engine of all time. The green and gold Mercury Mark 20H unconverted , the most beautiful outboard ever.
I have a 50 made in 63 with a magneto still has 120 lbs per cylinder on a 58 alumi craft V Hull . We call it MAMA cause Daddy bought it new for her and we all learned to ski behind her. I got the boat my grandkids call her RIVER RAT.
Proud to say that my family is from Fond du Lac (where Mercury is headquartered) and many of my family members have worked for them. All the boats I’ve ever had were equipped with mercs, and I will never even look at an Evinrude or Yamaha.
I’ve been a Mercury owner since I was 14 years old with my 12’ Yellowjacket and Mark 25 Merc! I have a 3.9 and a 9.8 for my grandsons mini most hydro with a Merc 200 , 22 hp in the wings! Oh yeah my ‘74 CV-16 also has a 1150 Merc too! Yeah I’m kind of partial to Mercury outboards ! 🇺🇸💙🇺🇸💙👍🙋♂️🖖🏻
This channel will become boat content only, with the occasional video about something else. All the car/van/sled/garage stuff will go over to the new channel. Cheers!
My first tour of Mercury Racing in 2001 I walked into the waiting room and jumped out of my skin-there was a Duece Hi….and my finger prints are all over it
I raced a T2X, OPC 88, Molinari hull in '76 and '77. The SSM gearcase skeg would hum like a wet finger on a wine glass above 85 or so and resonate through the boat. You knew at that point that you were smokin'! What I learned on those inline 6's back then, serve me well today and prepared me become a "guru" (SME) on the Honda inline 6 CBX motorcycle. I wish I had never sold that rig. I'd have it set up today on a stand, just to hear it howl. I saw 110 on the Keller speedometer at the Columbus river race. Those were the days! Ranked 5th, nationally against sponsored teams.
I really appreciate that you’re creating this content! I have to say though - Mercury S3000/300 Drag is hands down the best power plant out there. Still out there winning. Opti’s and APX have nothing on it.
ADDVANCE did you ever get your overheating issue addressed. I sent you a UA-cam link to Small-town bassin. His MERC was double firing, causing his overheating issues.
Looking for double fire on each cylinder is not as complicated as shown. Just need one good visible mark. Needs to be tested because it would cause heat and loss of power.
@Paul Gnandt Robs MERC was overheating, he couldn't figure out why it was overheating. Small-town bassin from UA-cam had the same problem, turned out to be his motor was double firing. He did a series on it.
Not replaced. You simply cannot race boats in lot of areas because of noise. This series means racing in areas you can’t currently race at! More racing, w super weird hull designs!
Cool video I bought a used 250xs right before Covid - love the lightened cowl vs standard one on my prior 225 opti. Don’t race so can’t comment how much more I got going with the racing motor but should add value nonetheless. Not a fan of the higher octane which is impossible to find in rec gas so I end up using octane additive just to be compliant. Opti tech was pretty cutting edge but still lots of high pressure things to go wrong imo. I know many love the old 250 and 300 non-opti just to simplify the tech but they drink like sailors. Pick your poison… Ironically read that Evinrude did finally master the 2 stroke emissions after some serious failures. Apparently less polluting than even the 4 stroke mercs and optis - shows that some bad business moves can sink the ship so to speak even with potentially better tech….
P.s. Love the plan for e racing / frustrating when people slam it but it’s ignorance and never having been pinned to a Tesla/EV seat…crazy torque and less parts to deal with
Yeah, I think they bet on the wrong horse. Regardless of how clean it was, people associated 2 strokes w stinky/smelly/poorly running engines. Sad to see them go, I liked how they were taking cowling a completely different method with swappable side panels.
The 250 Xs isn't a racing engine. It is a detuned version with oil injection. The race versions of the 2.5s ran premix and much higher RPM. Search 2.5 280 Offshore and 2.5 300 Drag.
@@GT-mn3bx ok - was the 250xs not hand built at mercury like the 300xs? Maybe my facts are wrong. It might not be classified as pure racing but it was hand built on that line vs the 250 pro xs factory fishing engine line
@@1972mdc They were a consumer friendly "Prosumer" detuned version. Less port timing, lower rev limiter, oil injection, non offshore midsection. They don't even have the same growl of the 2.4, 2.5 offshores or the 300 drag which is unmistakable. Also, they didn't have the massive water dumps right off the heads. Few other things also.
@ADDvanced Sold 13 years ago. I believe the boat is in Louisiana. The engine is in Missouri, and the owner tracked me down somehow. The engine has an alien cowling now and probably a new lower unit.
@ADDvanced also had it up 85.6 mph, turning a 26" small ear chopper. Basically, the power head was stock. Lighten flywheel and stock jets. One piece adapter from a 260, single ram clamp bracket, ridge back offshore exhaust housing 20"
You left out the 50s and 60s. Hurricane motors, they were made for racing, but were for smaller Hydroplanes and Runabouts. Stockers ran on gas oil mixture, they even had engines that were Made bu Quincy Welding works in Ill. They used the stock cranks and had the quicky lower unit as we called them.. It was a quicksilver lower unit. In Stock classes you had A, Mark10H, B, which were Mark 20H, C, which was Mark 30H and D, which were Mark 40Hs. In the alcohol motors, they classified them as Outbouards, as they were not stock which included A, B, C, D and F which were Mark75Hs. All was good until the Konigs came along with tuned exhaust.
Yes, because Mercury RACING started in 1973. Anything prior to that was not a Mercury Racing product, it was a Mercury Marine product. Which had racing products, but the companies are seperate/different companies. I have a lot of videos on the hurricane/lightning, please check out the 8' Hydroplane project I have going on. It has a quicksilver hydro mid and lower unit.
Well I was hoping the Black Max was in the list 😂 I just bought a boat with a 150 hp Mercury black max. It's a 19' CC. I have no idea how fast it will be. I'm a new boater and I haven't even got it in the water yet. The last owner said it will hit 45 to 50 mph with two people on it. I don't plan on going that fast but it will be good to know I can get back to the dock in a hurry if a storm rolls in. Down here in Florida a storm can roll in quick on the lake and the rain is so intense it can swamp you.
Well, it sort of is. The black max was never really a mercury racing engine though, and the derivative of it, the merc v6, was what powered the deuces high. I did a video specifically about the history of the merc v6, please check it out, you will dig it, even has vintage black max advertising in it!
Sitting on my shelf somewhere in the back I have a 1983 2.4 chrome cylinder 300hp oval port. Yep a 300 hp 2.4 does exist. I also have another around 1983 chrome cylinder race motor. I also own one of the motor out of Jon Wrights Tinker Toy. 156mph world record holder. Started life as a 2.5 150hp block. That’s 3 Mercs. All used on my 1985 STV Sprint bottom stepped sponson race boat. One of Summerfords personal under 400lb hull boats. Then I go and buy one of Summerfords less than 200 made 1988 Stratos 200VT Rockets with an evinrude XP color matched motor trailer and hull 200 body hiding a very modified Johnson 200GT Loopers highly modified engine with quite a bit of cool stuff on it. Unfortunately I hadn’t touched or rode any of it for 5 yrs now.
I say this so often one may think I work for them but it's true that even NASA Engineers don't have shit on Merc. The Quad Cam 1650 is outrageous and as I predicted plenty of hot rod car guys are catching on. That's cool but two strokes are still my thing. At a time in the 80s when OMC port castings looked like a child chiseled them with an axe Mercury was developing port art work. Yes OMC was before Merc with the Holy Grail of port design, the Looper but at that time I think it was desperation that necessitated it. The 2.5 Off Shore started it all for me but I've recently found the best deal going. The 50s and 60s Merc had the popular 40 and 44 cube 4 cylinders. You can basically get these things free or cheap and half the time you could have them running in an hour. Considering many are a 4 cylinder 2 stroke rated at 30 to 50 HP they run and idle smooth as silk and have huge performance potential with very little cost. That's if you don't mind playing with a smaller and lighter hull. Either way this video and comment could go on forever. Merc. And the Lake X stories of back in the day are so cool it makes me glad to even know the small bit I do about all of it. I'm really excited about the whisper quiet V 10 and V 12s also. I suspect the V12 will soon be putting out 750 HP once they force feed it some fuel and air. Merc. Just seems to come up with a new shocker or game changer every few months when most struggle to do it once in a career.
you have completely missed the history of the QC4V. First it was the 1350. Then it was the 1100. Then it was the 1650 race version, which became the 1750 race version. Then the 860 and Class 1 N/A version. At this time we also got the two dual cal engines, of which the 1350/1550 was first, then the 1100/1350. And they are produced to this day, not from 2003 to 2013. They debuted in 2011. The V8 outboards debuted in 2018, not 2010.
I remember reading about Mercury racing engines. They have proprietary stuff in there, so you can’t go in there yourself. You have to send it back to Mercury to get it fixed.
Regarding Evinrude failing. It wasn't because people didn't want two strokes, it was due to Evinrude's poor quality control and design issues that caused too many failures. Bad reputation is why people didn't want them.
back in the 70's and 80's omc made engine was the only way to go, Mercury, Chrysler Archimedes Penta or Cresent was just crap, maybe Mercury was god on racingboats, but for the common man just another problem, but in the later years Mercury has made good engines and all the other above is gone.
@@ottoolsen9676 You are referencing the wrong era. I have no complaints about OMC or Mercury from the 1970's and 1980's. I owned both. Evinrude failed much later. They failed with poor quality in the fuel injected era. One example is the Evinrude Ficht. Some lasted but many didn't, which killed their reputation. Our family and friend's experiences with high HP Mercurys from the 70's on has been excellent. Running high speed tunnel boats at redline. Great fun and reliability. Still running a 1980's Mercury V6 200hp on a tunnel. Still hits speeds in the mid 90's. The sound of the above-water exhaust and surface-piercing prop is awesome. My uncle had a first year Merc 200 V6 (1977 I think) that we all abused by running flat out regularly on the Colorado River and Lake Havasu. It never failed. We've had Mercury's through the end of the two stroke era. The later 300+ hp engines are awesome.
Well my first time with Mercury Outboards was in 1987, I bought a 24 foot Skater with a pair of 2.4 Efi Offshore Outboards, each outboard put out 285 hp and I could run WOT at 130 mph, only bad part it had no Nuteral so when you started the engines you were already moving forward and both Outboards were on Hydraulic Jack plates so I could regulate how fast I wanted to go. Now that last boat you showed looks a lot like another European boat called the Bladerunner????.
This is a tough video to make so some honorable mentions are at hand: Mercury 260/280/Drag 2.5efi Mercury 2.4 Bridgeport Mercury 150 and 225 ProMax 25efi (and x) (not the 200 ProMax) Mercury XR2 Mercury 300 ProMax (and x) I don't think they raced the Optimax in F1 only F2...
Kiekhaefer Mercury was founded by Carl Kiekhaefer in 1939. He and Ford Motor Co. came to an agreement that he could use the term “Mercury” (Ford was producing its Mercury automobile at the time) IF he put “Kiekhaefer” before Mercury. At some point decades later Kiekhaefer Mercury became Mercury Marine.
Well, I know absolutely nothing about power boats, so this has been very interesting for me. I’ll be honest 200 BHP doesn’t sound much for a racing boat However I’m probably basing that on a car. Having said that, this is on water, which I would imagine is quite a bit different to a road or race track
I like your list of course but the original V6 mercury performance 60 degree holds a place above most of other on the list. It was and in many ways still is the most dominant racing engine in history of boat racing. I own one of the original T3 racing engines that was sold to racers before the motors were available to the general public. even in your top ten list the new and highly advanced 360 V8 still has to compete against a two stroke V6 race motor that shares many parts with engines that are 40 years senior and is still competitive in more than a few racing classes today.
Thank you for including the Tower of Power, or specifically Twister II X. Now thanks to you I know how it is a bit different than the standard Tower of Power. Such as the firing order. Didn't know that. The rest of this you won't like. Sorry for saying this, naming the QCV4 as one of the top five is, ....... You're talking about an engine that requires a specific outdrive, the only one that can handle the power. It is an impressive unit but really think about this. Engine and transmission = $200,000. That's not including the boat. AND a boat it goes in will be BIG out of necessity, and expensive. Needless to say, you're covering something that the vast majority of boat lovers will not have. Mercury can manufacture products for more wealthy people. That's fine. You can also cover said products. That's fine. But why cover it period when when the other four engines you talked about are much more commonly owned and accessible? And they're all outboards. The Verado 400R for instance. Definitely deserves more praise before you go all out to the most expensive piece of equipment Mercury Marine has ever produced. Or you could also do something unusual. Include the QCV4, but in an unusual top 6 video instead of the usual top 5. I'm only saying all this because I'm a hardcore Mercury outboard fan and Mercury committed war crimes and treason when they discontinued producing the beloved inline 6 two stroke Tower of POWER. 😾
@@ADDvancedIt's cooler, ONLY because of all those horsepowers talking to you. All 1,650 of them. You've been warned. Don't let horsepower consume you. Let horsepower consume you.
That’s a mercury product not a mercury racing product. Also it’s not very fast. It’s more of a sterndrive replacement for large boats than a racing engine.
Sort of agree. Yet it doesn't dominate tunnel racing, because it was so rare and not supported. So... it was super cool but ultimately didn't matter much to the world of performance boating.
yeah, it is cool that they exist, and they were very ahead of their time for power, a lot more rare than the mercury's, but technically they do have the speed record, I'd take a mercury over them any day tho, way more reliable and a lot more parts out there, but yeah technically the Evinrude v8 does own the speed record, I do feel if there were more of them out there that they might could beat mercury's, but unlikely , and of course there aren't many out there to change the mode of performance boating
The designers at Merc killed it with the APX 🤌
um..no.
@@riverdragonmarineservice441 Um, yes
From what ive hurd is its a great motor but still to heavy and it maybe a flop. they looking at getting rid of it already and going to a v6 option.
@@rickg1984 you heard wrong… Apex in either V8 or the V6 version will rule. Unless they go with the new low stresses V10 for this type of racing. Which would lower cost. The motor would last season or more.
I do not want to hear argument about weight. Not enough to make a difference with today’s ability for hull designs. Plus, fuel economy heard will reduce need for as much fuel (weight) for same length race.
Arridatece il black max....🤣🤣
I can still hear the amazing sound of the Mercury Black Max 200hp my dad had on his Checkmate when I was a kid. Although he passed away last year, I was lucky enough to get his hand-me-down and hope to bring it back up to the condition it was in when I was a kid. So many good memories in that boat, and I hope to make more with my kids. Love Mercury engines!
Awesome man! They do sound like nothing else, just an incredible sounding engine. Please check out the Merc V6 history video I made, you'll dig it:
ua-cam.com/video/TbEilffmFi8/v-deo.html
As a Owner of Mercs for 61 years, this is a spot on video of the Best Engines ever built and will continue to be. APX looks like a Monster. Still running a Fresh AF 2.5 200
Thanks for the comment man! Excited to see the APX vs 2 stroke battle this season!
@@ADDvanced Me Too!
Thanks for the GOAT video including the V6. As a actual owner of 1.) Racing 2.4 EFI with speedmaster 2.) Racing 2.5 EFI (300hp) speedmaster 3.) Racing V8 300R, I appreciate your views. I suggest you should expand the number.. As actual owner who has all the above on installed over time on the same boat platform, the 300R is the GOAT. The V8/V10/V12 modular platform is the GOAT. The last of ICE motors before EV takes over. Out of the V6s, the Racing 2.5 EFI, to me, is the V6 GOAT.
The tower or power…. As a kid, we had on Glastron Carlson running a mild modified 150hp straight six. From nostalgia standpoint, for me, the 150 platform was the tower of power GOAT. One of our neighbors had the racing tower with external resonators out the side on a GW Invader tunnel. As a kid, love that combo.
The DOHC stern drives, AND automotive restomod available, kills any German or whoever automotive platform power. Your are dead on highlighting this amazing Mercury miracle motor platform.
Mercury WAS the real designer and builder of the mid 90s Chevy DOHC. Which was a ringer motor in case Bill France (racist hater against Ford) would have decided to let the Ford modular OHC/DOHC V8 program into his NASCAR (he did not.. scum). Mercury made motor went into the C4 ZR-1 Corvette. To this day, this ZR-1 Mercury platform run hard…. unless some num-nuts attempts to modify, it is close to indestructible.
In case anyone is curious.. Still have the custom Doug Smith made Kevlar Baja (with Gil bracket bolted onto what people would call a stern drive look transom). It truly is a sleeper. Open bow, sun deck in back, low sided, special V bottom. This platform currently has the 300R. Prior, it started with the racing 2.4 EFI, and racing 2.5 EFI. Moved to the 300R few years ago. The hull is truly one of a kind. I never had ANY repair, defect, or “left behind dead in water” with any of the Mercury motors. Routine maintenance.
Hey John I really appreciate your comment, sorry for responding to it so much later! Yeah, maybe I should do another video. All the engines you mentioned are super badass, you should check out my Merc V6 history video if you haven't seen it:
ua-cam.com/video/TbEilffmFi8/v-deo.html
The reason I couldn't include them was that I was trying to only include one engine per decade, and regardless of how sweet the 2.4/2.5 is, the Deuces High is cooler, and regardless of how cool the 300R is, the APX is cooler. Lol.
You sound rad, what part of the country do you live in?
@@ADDvanced thank you! No issue related to response time. You have a non YT life. :) I will watch your link again. Some time ago, already gave it a thumbs up. :)
Growing up We had a white and red Glastron GT with an Evinrude. My favorite boat in the entire world of all
Times. James Bond jumped our boat lol. I loved reading your post. Landed on my heart. Great memories I’ll keep until I pass.
@@b.d.ericksonii203 Thank you for your kind words! Loved hearing your Glastron history.. when I was growing up, we first had a Glastron. Maybe called “176”? It was closed bow, 17’, windscreen that opened in the middle. Had tower of power 135HP. Dad moved to Glastron Carlson 18’. Forget its designation. Had tower of power 150hp. Which at the time was most powerful outboard. I could swap stories all day on our mutual “Glastron days”. Led me to stay with the outboard family of boating. Doug Smith’s Baja was great. He also kept fond heart for outboards in a times when so many were moving to big block Mercruiser sterndrives. Met an amazing hooligan Mod-VP racer, who happened to be the Baja dealer. He and Doug custom crafted my boat, as he did for others in the special modified family. “SVO”-Shelby (Special Vehicle Operation) like partnership. I also will remember your description here about your Glastron days until I assume room temp.
My father was a Mercury engineer. Saved the 502. Coinventer Bravo. I worked on Jim Mertin race boats and Mercubs
Spent a couple of winters and beaver dam going to Mercury school most of the instructors drive from Fond du Lac every day. Crazy bro.
Very interesting video... That Deuce High was an amazing innovation
About 12 years ago I had a chance to speak with Fred Kiekhaefer at Lake Havasu in AZ and he was super cool. You could tell he had a good handle on the business and making sure customers were taken care of while pushing R&D of all their engine packages.
You should try and be one of his customers under Mercury Racing. He's an asshole.
Some more well done content! I enjoyed the last video on the V6 history that you did so was happy to see this one.
I can certainly appreciate the hours upon hours you put into researching, writing, voice over recording, footage locating, and editing all of this together. Nice work!
Awesome! I appreciate the support! Cheers man!
@@ADDvanced I'm guessing you schooled up on your documentary format or something. Pro job on the video.
@@pgnandt Thanks buddy! Seems like people dig the history/research stuff but I can only do so many of them. Time to build more garbage! :D
Except he totally left out every single engine that every hot boater has, had, or wanted.
@@GT-mn3bx Like what? I was trying to only include the coolest one per decade.....
Great video..
Thanks for taking the time to make the video and share it.
Glad you enjoyed it!
We got an engine from mercury racing team back in the day off a tunnel hull when they swapped to a lighter/newer engine. It’s a build using the 150 block and a 250 lower unit. We dropped it on our 16ft charger with a few mods like, custom gas tank, hot foot throttle, hydraulic lift and tilt and a reinforced transom. The thing is bonkers to drive, burns gas like crazy and burns gears like a dragster. Not cheap to run but what a boat. I’m currently forcing my dad to not get rid of the engine. He has been wanting to swap it for years because he is getting older and it’s a lot of work. I been doing most of it for a few years now. I hope he succeeds and gives the boat to me. I will take care of it forever.
Sounds epic, post some videos!
Correction, engines make music, only Karen’s consider it noise.
>annoying jet skier has entered the chat
@@ADDvanced Valid point. We must embrace the chop. Just say No to over regulation.
That's q he at my 9ls lady said ,,, Karen
Should have heard our 30,40 and 44 cubic 4 cylinder Mercs on Alki. And modded. Those megaphone exhausts were ear piercing.
Loved it. On hydros and runnabouts
@@lynn4205 The "patriots" that own lake front and fly red flags and say how much they love freedom would hate it. Let's do it.
Wow. Nice job on the video. Looking forward to seeing the Avenger back in the water.
Thanks! Same, this winter is a total bust. Time for spring already...
You should at least have given a mention to the 400R, it's the pinnacle of all Mercury's inline six engines. The crowning achievement. It's one heck of an engine and sings beautifully at +6000 rpm. I've run several of them and for something which has +150hp/litre (a lot!!) it's amazingly reliable.
They are definitely bad ass motors, but APX is cooler :D
Been running boats along Louisiana coast since 68,lots of mercurys,an merccruiser,great story.
I miss Mercury's two stroke outboards! That's why I still own a pair of these polluters!
They’re fun!
Great content, thanks for posting!! I gotta say though, part of the fun of WATCHING boat races is the noise from the IC engines.
Sure. But in populated area where not everyone is into it, it’s impossible to get approval for boat racing because of the noise. So maybe E1 will be the start of a whole new group of people being interested in boat racing, and then they’ll be interested in the gas powered ones since they’re so much faster? Could be rad!
Ohhhhh the optimax ..I got one of these on a shellfishing boat. Do I love? Meh, when it’s running good I love it. But it’s got it’s gremlins, like anything. Coming up on 1000hrs and I’m told they’ll go about 1300-1600 before some catastrophes. But fingers crossed, she’s ready for another season. Only thing I wish I could get for it. Would be a higher amp alternator. I feel, they are a voltage hungry motor. And could really use another 10amps of output. Awesome video, pretty neat seeing Optis on jet boats:-)
My Great Uncle Eugene campaigned a small hydro powered by Mercury in the 50's. Eugene brought my dad along on the circuit for years as driver... Gopher. He ran in the NY, NJ, CT area.
Uncle Eugene was friends with Charlie Strang both products of the same Brooklyn neighborhood, so he was given special motors.
I adore that boat sitting on the horses in his backyard in the late 60-70's just feet from the canal in his backyard.
It screamed put me in run me....!
Always wanted to restore it.
Stoked to see this and learn the ProMax got direct-injection in '96. Don't know much about the Mercs other than they made competitive racing outboards. Coming from Seattle, my dad started taking the family to the Seafair races in the 70's and got to also see some of the crazy slough racing before it got banned.
Oh man, I want to go out there so bad and hitup that hydroplane museum. I'm so jealous all that stuff is over there..... kind of angry about it tbh.
@@ADDvanced I used to live within walking distance of the museum over 20 years ago and it was super cool then. Haven't been back there in about 20 years though.
@@ADDvanced One more thought, if you ever make plans to come out to the museum, you may want to time it when Seattle Outboard Association has races on Angle Lake, which is basically right across I-5 hwy and Green River from the museum. I think SOA lists the race schedule on their Facebook page too.
@CRASH ALEXANDER Based on the video, I meant OptiMax. As stated earlier, I don't know much about Merc outboards. Although cool, I'll never own a 6 cyl. 2-stroke due to the lack of fuel economy and the expense of quality 2-stroke oil. Therefore, don't see any logical reason for the fact check.
The Merc Bridgeport was the best. At idle, it sounded like it was coming apart. At high speed, the sound was soooooo sweet.
Excellent video. There are not enough videos on the many different Merc and Mercruiser motors. Thanks
You're welcome! These are more of the oddballs, I could maybe do another video on more popular things.
Great list of motors!! My top 5 coolest would be the 25xs,44xs, deuce high, 300drag, 450r!
Solid choices, but would break the 'best per decade' split. I almost went 450R.... but the 360 is just so much more hardcore.
In Florida, and similar places, if you don't have a 2.4 Bridgeport offshore, 2.5 280 Offshore, or 2.5 300 Drag, you're getting left in the spray. All equal, a 300 Drag leaves a 300Xs 3.4L in the weeds simply because of the RPM the small bore is turning on top end. And lets be honest. I can own 3 2.5 300 Drags for the cost of 1 overpriced, heavy, underpowered 360 Apex. A few mods can put a 300 Drag in the 450+ range, still naturally aspirated.
Those are all great engines man, but the Dueces High is cooler than any of them and I picked one per decade. For actual production engines, I would have picked a 2.4 Bridgeport but Deuces High is still more interesting/cooler.
Hey don’t hate on OMC, I had a 1992 Donzi Black Widow with 454 / King Cobra and even 25yr later, the outdrive was a BEAST.
Finding someone to work on them is a pita.
Me with my Johnson 70 watching this just wishing I could have any of them😂
This is an awesome video. Please keep producing these as they are AWESOME. Not enough readily available information on marine engines.
What do you want to know more about?
@@ADDvanced Would love to see a video on the Yamaha side of the house. I own a Mercury now, but owned an OX66 which always treated me well.
@@CameronBuck-eg5uq I don't know anything about those other than the flywheels are maintenance items. They also don't seem to win many races.
this was so cool. Im a junior ME student and the dream job is to be an engineer for Mercury
Don't let your dreams be dreams. Get an internship there.
Do it!! It’s totally possible!!
These are the comments that give me some that give me a glimmer of hope in UA-cam content and younger generations. A small glimmer. Lol.
(I'm a mechanical engineer, 36 years old).
Great job @ADDVanced putting together this video and type of content.
-Brock
Check your email, Mitchell
@@ADDvanced I can not believe I missed your email, just emailed you back! Thank you!
Great video bro. That's a lot of carbon on those 'E-boat' hulls! Nice. That QC4V all assembled like that with 1,600hp... That mill looks damn nice on display. Hell they all look cool/ quality and definitely some wild innovation there with those counter rotational props. Very cool and interesting. So that newer one is better and more modern than something like a Verado 400R?? Just curious, as I know very little about these newer engines especially. Was a cool video, I enjoyed it 😀 👍
Verado 400R isn't really a competition engine; APX is competition only.
@@ADDvanced
Yeah I see the difference now a lot more. Like I said I don't know a whole lot about those.
I worked in the machine shop during the Kdrive years. Super fun.
Super cool video. The Optimax name was not used in the start, but instead DFI for Direct Fuel Injection and "Orbital technology"... OMC launched their Ficht system about that time and Optimax was chosen as a better name to be better than Ficht which also was a direct fuel injection system.
The QC4v. was launched in 2011 with both 1100 and 1350 hp. engines with No6 and M8 drives respectivly.
You should work for Mercury!
I remember Orbital! My dad had a lot of stock in them at one time, they were pioneers of direct injection; I think other companies just engineered their way around the patents. Sounds like a cool place to work!
My outboard is a 2008 Mercury 225 Sports Xs sports master on my 20ft Bullet bass boat also I HATE ELECTRIC QUIET OUTBOARDS, I love the loud menacing sounding outboards!
Like it...just been to our UK SBS boat show and stood next to the new Mercury V10. Not really sure why you need more than one but hey, what do I know with my tiny 5.0 V8.
Looking forward to the next video.
Bigger boats need more torque.
Don’t forget the 20h the 30h and the 55h race motors from the 50s. I have a collection of them from when I was a kid. Them engines are powerhouses.
I didn't forget about them, but those are racing engines from Mercury Marine. This video, as I tried to explain in the beginning, was specifically about MERCURY RACING products, and that company started in 1973, which excludes anything made prior to that. Maybe I will make another video on the top 5 Mercury Engines of all time in the future?
@@ADDvanceddo it
Those are the best!
The Mercury Mark 20H with conversion kit. The baddest sounding racing engine of all time.
The green and gold Mercury Mark 20H unconverted , the most beautiful outboard ever.
I have a 50 made in 63 with a magneto still has 120 lbs per cylinder on a 58 alumi craft V Hull . We call it MAMA cause Daddy bought it new for her and we all learned to ski behind her. I got the boat my grandkids call her RIVER RAT.
Been a long time Merc fan, great vid
Thanks! Be sure to check out the V6 one if you haven't seen it yet.
LOVE THIS! Thank you!
You're welcome! Check out the rest of the series when you get a chance.
Proud to say that my family is from Fond du Lac (where Mercury is headquartered) and many of my family members have worked for them. All the boats I’ve ever had were equipped with mercs, and I will never even look at an Evinrude or Yamaha.
Werd. My only exception would be that OMC v8, which is ridiculously cool.
I’ve been a Mercury owner since I was 14 years old with my 12’ Yellowjacket and Mark 25 Merc! I have a 3.9 and a 9.8 for my grandsons mini most hydro with a Merc 200 , 22 hp in the wings! Oh yeah my ‘74 CV-16 also has a 1150 Merc too! Yeah I’m kind of partial to Mercury outboards ! 🇺🇸💙🇺🇸💙👍🙋♂️🖖🏻
Heck yeah! No I/O tho? Give MerCruiser some love!
Glad to see boat content again. I look often
This channel will become boat content only, with the occasional video about something else. All the car/van/sled/garage stuff will go over to the new channel. Cheers!
SUB. SCRIBED. Top work my friend! Keep this proper UA-cam shit flowin'. LONG LIVE THE TWO STROKE!
Please check out some of the other videos man, I have a lot of high perf boat stuff, 2 stroke merc stuff, and cars/sleds/etc
Wow learned alot.. didnt no they had direct injection back in 96.....how long before care started using it?
My first tour of Mercury Racing in 2001 I walked into the waiting room and jumped out of my skin-there was a Duece Hi….and my finger prints are all over it
Right? Never meet your heros, except, this was awesome. It's so awesome. APX is up there too.
I raced a T2X, OPC 88, Molinari hull in '76 and '77. The SSM gearcase skeg would hum like a wet finger on a wine glass above 85 or so and resonate through the boat. You knew at that point that you were smokin'! What I learned on those inline 6's back then, serve me well today and prepared me become a "guru" (SME) on the Honda inline 6 CBX motorcycle. I wish I had never sold that rig. I'd have it set up today on a stand, just to hear it howl. I saw 110 on the Keller speedometer at the Columbus river race. Those were the days! Ranked 5th, nationally against sponsored teams.
That's badass man! Thanks for the comment!!!!!
Cool video guys!
I really appreciate that you’re creating this content! I have to say though - Mercury S3000/300 Drag is hands down the best power plant out there. Still out there winning. Opti’s and APX have nothing on it.
ADDVANCE did you ever get your overheating issue addressed. I sent you a UA-cam link to Small-town bassin. His MERC was double firing, causing his overheating issues.
Was wondering the same thing
What was the fix?
Nope, winter happened. Sort of. Worst winter ever.
Looking for double fire on each cylinder is not as complicated as shown. Just need one good visible mark. Needs to be tested because it would cause heat and loss of power.
@Paul Gnandt Robs MERC was overheating, he couldn't figure out why it was overheating. Small-town bassin from UA-cam had the same problem, turned out to be his motor was double firing. He did a series on it.
Great video until the noise problem outboard will be replaced by the electric racing division. 😢😢
Not replaced. You simply cannot race boats in lot of areas because of noise. This series means racing in areas you can’t currently race at! More racing, w super weird hull designs!
I wish Porsche the very best in developing the synthetic e-fuel. This would save the day for those who truly appreciate combustion engines.
I love my little racer! It be so cool to slap a electric unit on it
You the bos👍👍👍👍
Awesome thanks 👍
cheers!
I like this video
That's what you appreciates about me?
great job!!!!!!
Thanks, much appreciated!
Awesome content😮
Thanks bro!
Very interesting. Hope to see you step into the world of electric outboards. Always something to learn form your endeavours!!! Thx
Well, right now, there are no high performance electric outboards suitable for racing. It would be cool tho!
Cool video
I bought a used 250xs right before Covid - love the lightened cowl vs standard one on my prior 225 opti. Don’t race so can’t comment how much more I got going with the racing motor but should add value nonetheless. Not a fan of the higher octane which is impossible to find in rec gas so I end up using octane additive just to be compliant. Opti tech was pretty cutting edge but still lots of high pressure things to go wrong imo. I know many love the old 250 and 300 non-opti just to simplify the tech but they drink like sailors. Pick your poison…
Ironically read that Evinrude did finally master the 2 stroke emissions after some serious failures. Apparently less polluting than even the 4 stroke mercs and optis - shows that some bad business moves can sink the ship so to speak even with potentially better tech….
P.s. Love the plan for e racing / frustrating when people slam it but it’s ignorance and never having been pinned to a Tesla/EV seat…crazy torque and less parts to deal with
Yeah, I think they bet on the wrong horse. Regardless of how clean it was, people associated 2 strokes w stinky/smelly/poorly running engines. Sad to see them go, I liked how they were taking cowling a completely different method with swappable side panels.
The 250 Xs isn't a racing engine. It is a detuned version with oil injection. The race versions of the 2.5s ran premix and much higher RPM.
Search 2.5 280 Offshore and 2.5 300 Drag.
@@GT-mn3bx ok - was the 250xs not hand built at mercury like the 300xs? Maybe my facts are wrong. It might not be classified as pure racing but it was hand built on that line vs the 250 pro xs factory fishing engine line
@@1972mdc They were a consumer friendly "Prosumer" detuned version. Less port timing, lower rev limiter, oil injection, non offshore midsection. They don't even have the same growl of the 2.4, 2.5 offshores or the 300 drag which is unmistakable. Also, they didn't have the massive water dumps right off the heads. Few other things also.
At the time line 6:08 is my old 2.4 200 sitting on my old Hydrostream V-King.
Awesome float! Still have it?
@ADDvanced Sold 13 years ago. I believe the boat is in Louisiana. The engine is in Missouri, and the owner tracked me down somehow. The engine has an alien cowling now and probably a new lower unit.
@ADDvanced also had it up 85.6 mph, turning a 26" small ear chopper. Basically, the power head was stock. Lighten flywheel and stock jets. One piece adapter from a 260, single ram clamp bracket, ridge back offshore exhaust housing 20"
Very Kool!
Tower of power!
Good job
Thanks man!
Holy crap man.
ye-yeahhh!
I’m looking for Mercury 25xs - any ideas?
Just saw one for sale!
facebook.com/marketplace/item/1876319029451539
I’ve road in a redone older Allison with a 2.0 I think 220 outboard and going full speed is fun
You left out the 50s and 60s. Hurricane motors, they were made for racing, but were for smaller Hydroplanes and Runabouts. Stockers ran on gas oil mixture, they even had engines that were Made bu Quincy Welding works in Ill. They used the stock cranks and had the quicky lower unit as we called them.. It was a quicksilver lower unit. In Stock classes you had A, Mark10H, B, which were Mark 20H, C, which was Mark 30H and D, which were Mark 40Hs. In the alcohol motors, they classified them as Outbouards, as they were not stock which included A, B, C, D and F which were Mark75Hs. All was good until the Konigs came along with tuned exhaust.
Yes, because Mercury RACING started in 1973. Anything prior to that was not a Mercury Racing product, it was a Mercury Marine product. Which had racing products, but the companies are seperate/different companies.
I have a lot of videos on the hurricane/lightning, please check out the 8' Hydroplane project I have going on. It has a quicksilver hydro mid and lower unit.
Best looking..? The Alien Merc😍
Oh… and the 1988 Laser 220😉
I hate the alien cowl 🤮
2 kinds of mercury engines. Blown up and soon to be blown up
Well I was hoping the Black Max was in the list 😂 I just bought a boat with a 150 hp Mercury black max. It's a 19' CC. I have no idea how fast it will be. I'm a new boater and I haven't even got it in the water yet. The last owner said it will hit 45 to 50 mph with two people on it. I don't plan on going that fast but it will be good to know I can get back to the dock in a hurry if a storm rolls in. Down here in Florida a storm can roll in quick on the lake and the rain is so intense it can swamp you.
Well, it sort of is. The black max was never really a mercury racing engine though, and the derivative of it, the merc v6, was what powered the deuces high. I did a video specifically about the history of the merc v6, please check it out, you will dig it, even has vintage black max advertising in it!
Sitting on my shelf somewhere in the back I have a 1983 2.4 chrome cylinder 300hp oval port. Yep a 300 hp 2.4 does exist. I also have another around 1983 chrome cylinder race motor. I also own one of the motor out of Jon Wrights Tinker Toy. 156mph world record holder. Started life as a 2.5 150hp block. That’s 3 Mercs. All used on my 1985 STV Sprint bottom stepped sponson race boat. One of Summerfords personal under 400lb hull boats. Then I go and buy one of Summerfords less than 200 made 1988 Stratos 200VT Rockets with an evinrude XP color matched motor trailer and hull 200 body hiding a very modified Johnson 200GT Loopers highly modified engine with quite a bit of cool stuff on it. Unfortunately I hadn’t touched or rode any of it for 5 yrs now.
Use it or sell it to someone who will. Stuff hates sitting and just turns to junk. Life is short!
@@ADDvanced I know, your right. Just can't seem to do it yet.
When are you going to finish blue boat, I started watching this channel because I was intrigued by the methods you were using
Hopefully this summer. Got distracted w the yellow one last year
Twister 2X (1973-83)
Deuce High (1983-93)
Opti-Max (1993-2003)
QC4V (2003-13)
360 APX (2013-23)
I say this so often one may think I work for them but it's true that even NASA Engineers don't have shit on Merc. The Quad Cam 1650 is outrageous and as I predicted plenty of hot rod car guys are catching on. That's cool but two strokes are still my thing. At a time in the 80s when OMC port castings looked like a child chiseled them with an axe Mercury was developing port art work. Yes OMC was before Merc with the Holy Grail of port design, the Looper but at that time I think it was desperation that necessitated it. The 2.5 Off Shore started it all for me but I've recently found the best deal going. The 50s and 60s Merc had the popular 40 and 44 cube 4 cylinders. You can basically get these things free or cheap and half the time you could have them running in an hour. Considering many are a 4 cylinder 2 stroke rated at 30 to 50 HP they run and idle smooth as silk and have huge performance potential with very little cost. That's if you don't mind playing with a smaller and lighter hull. Either way this video and comment could go on forever. Merc. And the Lake X stories of back in the day are so cool it makes me glad to even know the small bit I do about all of it. I'm really excited about the whisper quiet V 10 and V 12s also. I suspect the V12 will soon be putting out 750 HP once they force feed it some fuel and air. Merc. Just seems to come up with a new shocker or game changer every few months when most struggle to do it once in a career.
Yeah man, and just.... the boys in central WI vs .... the entire world. Lol. I love how crazy some of these products are, excited for the future!
Optimax was a great design. 25 year production run. My 2001 200 still runs like new
Yup, it's pretty solid. Hope to own one someday.
How many power heads?
you have completely missed the history of the QC4V.
First it was the 1350. Then it was the 1100. Then it was the 1650 race version, which became the 1750 race version. Then the 860 and Class 1 N/A version. At this time we also got the two dual cal engines, of which the 1350/1550 was first, then the 1100/1350.
And they are produced to this day, not from 2003 to 2013. They debuted in 2011.
The V8 outboards debuted in 2018, not 2010.
My favorite, 2.4 Bridgeport
Yup, but everything about that is in the deuces high, so it wins! :P
I remember reading about Mercury racing engines. They have proprietary stuff in there, so you can’t go in there yourself. You have to send it back to Mercury to get it fixed.
Depends on if you want a warranty. The QC engines I think that is true.
Regarding Evinrude failing. It wasn't because people didn't want two strokes, it was due to Evinrude's poor quality control and design issues that caused too many failures. Bad reputation is why people didn't want them.
back in the 70's and 80's omc made engine was the only way to go, Mercury, Chrysler Archimedes Penta or Cresent was just crap, maybe Mercury was god on racingboats, but for the common man just another problem, but in the later years Mercury has made good engines and all the other above is gone.
@@ottoolsen9676 You are referencing the wrong era. I have no complaints about OMC or Mercury from the 1970's and 1980's. I owned both.
Evinrude failed much later. They failed with poor quality in the fuel injected era. One example is the Evinrude Ficht. Some lasted but many didn't, which killed their reputation.
Our family and friend's experiences with high HP Mercurys from the 70's on has been excellent. Running high speed tunnel boats at redline. Great fun and reliability. Still running a 1980's Mercury V6 200hp on a tunnel. Still hits speeds in the mid 90's. The sound of the above-water exhaust and surface-piercing prop is awesome.
My uncle had a first year Merc 200 V6 (1977 I think) that we all abused by running flat out regularly on the Colorado River and Lake Havasu. It never failed. We've had Mercury's through the end of the two stroke era. The later 300+ hp engines are awesome.
Wait wait wait that small merc outboard can it drive? Pls i need an answer
The TRS Mercury Drives where the Best with 460 Ford engines and the 1970 two stroke 250 outboard was the best
Mercury racing started in 1973. Anything before that was just a mercury product.
Interesting
Misses the mercury blue motor 525 a staple in a lot of early offshore boats, and the god father of the QC4 the 1000 sc with dual quad barrel carbs
QC is cooler... cmon :P
@@ADDvancedyea it’s cool but it’s rare, 1000 sc and 1075sci where the backbone of all big offshore power in the 1990 to early 2000s
@@jaydenbankes8126 I don't know much about them tbh. Where should I go to learn?
The straight 6 two stroke is the best outboard ever made then comes the trs drives with 460 ford blown engines mounted on magnum marine boats
Nah, V6 is more better.
Well my first time with Mercury Outboards was in 1987, I bought a 24 foot Skater with a pair of 2.4 Efi Offshore Outboards, each outboard put out 285 hp and I could run WOT at 130 mph, only bad part it had no Nuteral so when you started the engines you were already moving forward and both Outboards were on Hydraulic Jack plates so I could regulate how fast I wanted to go. Now that last boat you showed looks a lot like another European boat called the Bladerunner????.
Oh my god that sounds amazing dude, dual V6 2 strokes is god level!
How about the Mod-VP it was quick
I'll just mention my pick...2013 Gen 2 200XS ROS on our 2013 Allison GSE, 10 yrs now SFSG.
That would be a good pick for sure..... but..... APX or QC seem crazier. ROS is cool tho!
This is a tough video to make so some honorable mentions are at hand:
Mercury 260/280/Drag 2.5efi
Mercury 2.4 Bridgeport
Mercury 150 and 225 ProMax 25efi (and x) (not the 200 ProMax)
Mercury XR2
Mercury 300 ProMax (and x)
I don't think they raced the Optimax in F1 only F2...
Those are all cool, but the deuces high is cooler :\
Kiekhaefer Mercury was founded by Carl Kiekhaefer in 1939. He and Ford Motor Co. came to an agreement that he could use the term “Mercury” (Ford was producing its Mercury automobile at the time) IF he put “Kiekhaefer” before Mercury. At some point decades later Kiekhaefer Mercury became Mercury Marine.
We had an intern apply once who thought it was the car brand that had been dead for years. He was not hired.
Well, I know absolutely nothing about power boats, so this has been very interesting for me. I’ll be honest 200 BHP doesn’t sound much for a racing boat However I’m probably basing that on a car. Having said that, this is on water, which I would imagine is quite a bit different to a road or race track
The apx is like a new version of the Twister 2
It's a monster!
😂❤😊
I like your list of course but the original V6 mercury performance 60 degree holds a place above most of other on the list. It was and in many ways still is the most dominant racing engine in history of boat racing. I own one of the original T3 racing engines that was sold to racers before the motors were available to the general public. even in your top ten list the new and highly advanced 360 V8 still has to compete against a two stroke V6 race motor that shares many parts with engines that are 40 years senior and is still competitive in more than a few racing classes today.
That’s what’s on the deuces high and it’s such an important engine I did an entire video on it.
No mention of the Evinrude F1 back in the 80's? For a while they dominated the F1 circuit.
This is a video about mercury racing products, man. In the merc v6 history video I do a section on the omc v8
@@ADDvanced Good catch. My mistake.
@@nja1758 check out that vid if you missed it, you'll dig it.
@@ADDvanced 10-4.
Thank you for including the Tower of Power, or specifically Twister II X. Now thanks to you I know how it is a bit different than the standard Tower of Power. Such as the firing order. Didn't know that. The rest of this you won't like. Sorry for saying this, naming the QCV4 as one of the top five is, .......
You're talking about an engine that requires a specific outdrive, the only one that can handle the power. It is an impressive unit but really think about this. Engine and transmission = $200,000. That's not including the boat. AND a boat it goes in will be BIG out of necessity, and expensive. Needless to say, you're covering something that the vast majority of boat lovers will not have. Mercury can manufacture products for more wealthy people. That's fine. You can also cover said products. That's fine. But why cover it period when when the other four engines you talked about are much more commonly owned and accessible? And they're all outboards. The Verado 400R for instance. Definitely deserves more praise before you go all out to the most expensive piece of equipment Mercury Marine has ever produced.
Or you could also do something unusual. Include the QCV4, but in an unusual top 6 video instead of the usual top 5. I'm only saying all this because I'm a hardcore Mercury outboard fan and Mercury committed war crimes and treason when they discontinued producing the beloved inline 6 two stroke Tower of POWER. 😾
It is the ultimate offshore engine and produces more power than super cars. It’s expensive and exclusive but way cooler than a 400R.
@@ADDvancedIt's cooler, ONLY because of all those horsepowers talking to you. All 1,650 of them. You've been warned. Don't let horsepower consume you.
Let horsepower consume you.
POV u see ur comment on the Instagram post😂
lmao nice!
The 600 hpr v12 isn't on the list?
That’s a mercury product not a mercury racing product. Also it’s not very fast. It’s more of a sterndrive replacement for large boats than a racing engine.
I actually love the old tower of power look better than today's unproportional block to drive look. That said, love the power of today's engines.
Depends on the boat. A modern cat would look phenom with twin 300Rs on the back. A classic sleek looks better with a 2.5.
The apx racing a 360 against a 2.5 or 3.0 224/250? Seems like a fair comparison 😂😂
I don't think they're running 360s, I think they're V6s...
I had a Twister II on a 14' Checkmate. It was a rocket
small boat + that engine would be a freakin missile!
Crazy to think 500hp in a ob now
600 in the v12. But yeah. Heavy.
Technically Evinrudes V8 2 stroke was the best performance outboard (still holds the outboard speed record to this day
Sort of agree. Yet it doesn't dominate tunnel racing, because it was so rare and not supported. So... it was super cool but ultimately didn't matter much to the world of performance boating.
yeah, it is cool that they exist, and they were very ahead of their time for power, a lot more rare than the mercury's, but technically they do have the speed record, I'd take a mercury over them any day tho, way more reliable and a lot more parts out there, but yeah technically the Evinrude v8 does own the speed record, I do feel if there were more of them out there that they might could beat mercury's, but unlikely , and of course there aren't many out there to change the mode of performance boating
Nothing like the Tower of Power 6
They just came out with a 500R supercharged motor!