Sweet! Any idea on how much testing Mercury did before they brought this "bad boy" to market?

Oh yea, you purchased from some really good folks.

Wow, that's a beauty!

Get out there and give us some numbers.

yeah that is curious, you would think it could turn a 23 @ 6.5kRPM or higher unless it is a real low gear ratio

How many rpms are these motors turning?

The motor looks rad, the boat need to be redesigned a bit so they fit together better. Seems like a ranger hasn�t changed in quite some time.

Beautiful boat! I can't wait to actually HEAR that V8! Keep us updated Ken! Don't keep us waiting!

You can get a taste of the sound here

http://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbt..._M#Post12760783

Nice boat Ken. Is that 521?

I would not expect the new 250 to be more than a couple mph faster than the old 250 ProXS. Remember, it is still a 250 hp motor. It should be able to turn a larger prop though with more displacement & torque. That it itself would make it a little faster.

I am very interested in this new V8 platform because with a 4.6L V8 the sky is the limit on how much power it can make. This motor could easily make 325 hp naturally aspirated and live forever. Slap a supercharger on it like the previous generation Verado and 500 hp is easily attainable.

Good times!!

Would different octane fuel change hp?

No sir. As a matter of fact you would be wasting money to use higher octane fuel in a low compression motor like this one. This is a very detuned V8 motor to "only make 250" hp out of 4.6 L. Even the new 300R requires 87 octane because it too is very lightly stressed as a V8.

The only time you will need to use higher octane fuel is when they start raising the compression, either by shaving the heads, or using domed pistons, OR adding a supercharger would you need higher octane fuel.

For example, a normal Merc 250ProXS has about 120-125 psi of compression. You can get away with 87 fuel.

A Merc Racing 300XS has about 140 psi of compression so you need 91 octane fuel.

My old Merc 325 Drag SS motor had 200psi compression and required the use of 112 octane race fuel as a minimum.

Using higher octane fuel will not increase HP to any engine UNLESS the engine has a provision to retard the timing if it senses low octane fuel like my wife's Beemer. Even then, it makes whatever the max HP is and if the engine's computer senses low octane it will retard the timing to keep the engine from detonating.

6200 max rpm, that�s prob the reason for the 23, to spool up the motor all the way. Gear ratios are 1.75, same as before. I read that most might need to drop 1�-2� in pitch to reach the max rpms.