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.....

[pair of jacks]

Sounds terrific. Since my 2000 200 Opti has a blown powerhead presently, I was inquiring about the Verado. Seems the jury is out regarding reliability due to the fact its so new, but I was told early reports about gas consumption were not good when compared to the competition 4 strokes.

[Trayder]

Sounds like a sweet set up. I would be concerned about the longevity in the salt water enviornment on all the elictrical systems. It does sound like Merc has a winner on that Verado

[nestorpr]

Hey guys, I don't own an outboard but Powerboat Reports did a test on March 2005 on most 250hp engines and the Verado did very well against the rest until WOT where it gulped fuel like there's no tomorrow. Since most people seldom use WOT I'd say the fuel efficiency ain't bad, in fact, they rated it the best of the lot, Yamaha came in second. Since PR doesn't accept advertising I tend to trust their findings as non-biased.

Here's a copy of the test pages, hope they're legible.




Hope this helps out.

[SCSeacraft]

These #'s are almost identical to what I am getting on my 23 but I still am playing with props,can't seem to get the high rpm's I would like to see.I will wholeheartedly agree that at WOT you wonder what you paid for but it is very efficent up till that point.All in all I am very pleased with my choice and the extra weight still allows the boat to self bail at the dock you just can't walk to the corners without them backflowing.
Donnie

[warthog5]

Botapeje I subscribe to PBR. I was very disapointed with that report. For months ahead of that report all they could talk about is the upcomming shoot-out between Verado and the Suzuki.. Then when they did it the Suzuki was a no show. [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]

[Trayder]

I subscribe to PBR also, they actually interviewed me for the 23 Seacraft review a few years ago.

Although they accept no advertising and are unbiased. I feel much of their articles are far to subjective and I often disagree with their reports and their testing methods.

I too was let down on the lack of Suzuki representation in in the Verado report

[nestorpr]

Yep, the Suzuki report just came out last month and it also looked good. I think that Boating magazine and Boating Life also gave kudos to the Verado. I myself like it but it's too damn expensive, I would opt for the Yamaha which is almost as good but for a lot less money!

[warthog5]

Botapeje The big diffrence in the 4stroke Suzuki & Yamaha is the lower gear ratio that the Suzuki has. It swing's a bigger prop and get's a better bite on the water. This result's in better holeshot.

The other thing is Suzuki runs a timming chain in a oil bath. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Yamaha use's a timming belt.

Suzuki 250= 220.5 cuin
Yamaha 250= 204.6 cuin

[nestorpr]

Like I said, I'm no expert, I just posted the info for you guys' perusal, and I'm grateful I don't have to choose an outboard from so many good choices, the only engine I'm considering is the new Volvo D3-165 diesel outdrive for my Seafari, it may take a little bit longer to get there but I'll get there and back a few times while everyone else is stopped filling their gas tanks! Just kidding you guys, thank God we have choices to make and live in this great country which, even with its many defects, is still the best choice in the world and thank God for our men and women in uniform who protect it for us, may they all return home soon in good health. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]