Wipe the drool , holy crap on the new VERADO!

[Briguy]

I was lucky enough to own a Boston Whaler and be invited to their "Whaler Rendevous" here in Sarasota during Memorial Day weekend. It was a factory sponsored event with alot of fun stuff for the kids as well as adults.

I was given the choice to test drive just about any BW but chose the new 24 Outrage. It is the first boat with twin 150 Verados. All I can say is holy cow. These motors are insane. Way more than I expected. I don't even know where to start. Well lets try starting. The keys are not mounted on the dash, they are mounted inside the CC. You reach in, turn each key and that's it. It stays active all day. There are two "start buttons" like on a Ferrari where you just push it and veroom. And no you don't hold the button in while the motor cranks and cranks and cranks. Just touch it and the brains of the system take over. Boy they are quiteter at idle than my Suzi's if thats possible.

Then you take hold of the fly by wire shifter and its effortless, just like a 3 million dollar Paul Mann sportfish. No more creep, no more jamming it into reverse. Really a dream. The best part is autosynch. Anything over 3000 rpm's you can push a button and the motors will synch up. Bump the throttle to 4200 they will both synch up, drop it to 3200 it will synch up. You don't even need to be close at all. And the wheel..... Wake up! No its the effortless "power" steering. Not like an I/O, not like hydraulic but somewhere in between that is like nothing ever. If you crank the wheel hardover it stays. If you point it streight you can drive all day and maintain a heading.

Now for the smartcraft guages. They are more sophisticated than the systen on a Lexus 400. It shows gph each motor current, gallons burned,gallons left in tank, miles driven, miles till empty, mpg, and a million other things. It even interfaces with the VHF and GPS.

One other thing, we brought the boat down to 10.9knots and she stayed on plain. That's with minimum tab and tuck in. Imagine being caught in 6-8's and plowing at 10.9 kts without touching the throttle.

C'mon Suzuki. I want to trade up to twin 175's in a year or 2. Don't make me go to the dark side.....