OK, who is going to try it out first on a seacraft hull? (mercury 400hp outboard)
 

The new 400 hp 4 stroke mercury test engines going on the x cats to be tested!!! I hear it will be only around 500 lbs too. Might have to wait 2 years to be able to buy one but they are coming. Imagine a 23' seacraft cc with one, it would do some impressive numbers. With many going to big singles this would have to be popular once the price comes down to a reasonable level. I want one on the 27' race boat...

http://raceboatinternational.com/index.php?id=867

Attachment 5784

I will now taking monitory donations for the repower

7 marine is far beyond 400 hp in its outboards but I'm not sure how close to 500 lbs they are. My only concern for the Mercury is that the versions sold during the first 2 years of production will require 6 years of warranty and a new power head every 8 months. That is if it follows the path of of the opti and the verado.

557 hp triples on the 7 marine test boat....... Can you say " sleeper Tsunami"

Very true, Mercury tends to let the public do their r&d. Should be more affordable than the 7 but not cheep by my standards.

That's a really short shaft. Will they make a longer model?

7 says they can get 800 reliably. Lots of headroom in that motah. time will tell.

It is a 15" shaft for the x cats that it will be tested and raced on. I'm sure once the public's version comes out there will be 25" and 30" available. Hopefully they will work out most of the problems while they test them on the x cats but I wouldn't buy a first year production model myself. Guessing that it will start out as a "race motor" at first threw mercury's racing division, similar to the v-rod 350 sci.

To see one in person is quite a thrill for folks like me and you. If you're near a boat show where they are at it is worth checking them out. They took a well tested and reliable power plant that already existed and focused all their development on the adaptive mechanism to get the hp to the water.

It was a genius move that got them into the big outboard market with a fraction of the R&D expense. I can only imagine the possibilities of mounting a high tech, light weight diesel on the same drive configuration.

I would love to see a "7" in person and ride on a boat with one or three. I herd they have a unique sound to them. I like the block they use as well, very proven power plant. There is already tons of aftermarket parts for it due to the Caddies and Camaro using it. They just need to start making performance parts geared for the marine industry to work with that block too.

I think that a 557 on a seacraft hull would be even more interesting than the Mercury 400.

Sooooo when will we see one on a seacraft??? GFS- I know you were wanting a big single instead of twins on your 26'. What fun would that be!