Merc XR2 thoughts opinions?

[Fr. Frank]

I ran an '91 2.0 liter XR2 behind my Seafari for 5 years. The caveat is that my XR2 was remanufactured, ported and balanced and produced over 190 hp on the hydro-dyno. I got rid of the original small bullet gearcase, and ran one off a 225 Merc with a 1.65 gear ratio, nose cone and low-water pickup. No jack plate, just mounted with the cavitation plate about 2 1/2 inches above the keel, with a hydro-shield on the skeg. Max rpm was 6150 turning a PowerTech custom designed and made 15.25"x16.5" 3-blade prop.

My best fuel economy with that motor was a trip up the bayside in the Intracoastal Waterway from Garrison Bight in Key West to Vaca Cut in east Marathon, about 58 miles overall, where I ran about 4200 rpms (34-35 mph) the whole way and got about 3.7 mpg.

The value of the motor is dependent on whether it's a salt or fresh water motor, how clean it is, whether it has maintenance records, etcetera. Ball park here would be $1200-1500 for a really clean one. There's an '89 XR for sale right next door to me for $800, but it needs refreshing as it was a commercial fisherman's motor and compression is only 110-120 lbs on all six