MERCURY’S NEW

TRAJECTORY

I

If you were a boater growing up in the ’50s and

’60s, you had your eye on two techno races: the

Space Race to the moon between America and

Russia, and the outboard horsepower battle

between Mercury and Evinrude.

We settled the race to the moon, but the race

for outboard horsepower supremacy has simply

never stopped to this day, and other brands such

as Yamaha, Honda and Suzuki have entered

the contest.

It was the latest round of “if you build it, they

will come” that recently brought me, along with

a select group of America’s boating press, to

Mercury’s legendary, top-secret test facility on

Lake X in central Florida.

There, we learned Mercury had defi ed most

rumors of pumping out a new 600-horsepower

outboard to take a shot at the Seven Marine 627.

Instead, it introduced a completely new line of

four-stroke V-6 3.4-liter outboards that might

redefi ne boater expectations when it comes to

marine power.

But the biggest surprise was just how big a

blastof these new engines would be. Cranking

out 175, 200 and 225 horsepower, Merc’s new

FourStroke V-6 motors are designed to change

the contest from maximizing raw horsepower

to creating more elegantly designed, naturally

aspirated, superior-handling outboards.

MERCURY MARINE MAPS A NEW

TRAJECTORY IN THE RACE FOR

OUTBOARD SUPREMACY.

BY RANDY VANCE

74 | BOATINGMAG.COM | APRIL 2018