Trade-A-Boat - July 2018

I

t took six years to get to the

simple outcome before us, a 64

degree V8 of 4.6 litre capacity

with double overhead camshafts

and 24 valves. During the

development, department heads in

Australia played a major role in the core

requirements which mirror what we

have seen in other successful launches,

like the 2.1L 75-115hp outboard and

the impressive 135-150hp 3.0L engine.

Effectively the V6, with two more

cylinders, carries over the cam-chain

and low-maintenance solid lifters of

the V6, meaning low service costs. At

4.6 litres, it has a bigger swept capacity

than the Yamaha V6, rated to 300hp

and is marginally lighter yet its narrow

angle keeps it compact and ideal for

close twins and triples.

The use of a fly-by-wire throttle body

and closed loop fuel control should

help efficiency through constant

adjustment, based on load, revs and

throttle position. The same sensors

also allow the engines to have adaptive

speed control where the engine raises

revs to maintain speed in turns, the

fantastic technology only seen in ski

and wake boats, before.

THE RANGE

One thing I really like about the V8,

is the way Merc has planned out

the variants for you. The existing

FourStroke is the entry model with

a racey ProXS above it, a Verado

that has extra goodies in it, and two

commercially oriented options in the

SeaPro CMS and SeaPro AMS.

The FourStroke comes standard

to suit hydraulic steering and cable

controlled throttle, the excellent Digital

Throttle & Shift (DTS), is an option.

The 300hp V8 Verado comes with a

bigger alternator (115amp, up from 85),

a switchable exhaust that raises the

volume through a bypass valve above

the water line, Integrated Electro-

Hydraulic Power-Steering and DTS, as

standard. The ProXS takes the exhaust

bypass as standard (which loses it

some weight), but leaves the steering

hydraulic and throttles cable.

The two SeaPro’s are targeted

at commercial operators with the

SeaPro AMS coming with the fantastic

Advanced Midsection (AMS), bigger

alternator and DTS as standard. The

Conventional Midsection (CMS) SeaPro

24 tradeaboat.com.au