New vs old mercury edition

[Matt Torino 150]

430615
This is the boat I plan to slap a merc on. It’s a 16’ boat with a max hp rating of 150hp however I’m not afraid to over that maybe up to 250 or 300hp planning to add a pad for more speed.

So so here is the new vs old
all of these new 4stroke motors are light compared the competitors in other brands but are still pretty heavy compared to some older engines. So here’s what I came up with-
New
115 pro xs @ 359lbs good power to weight ratio with boat
150 pro xs @ 459lbs 30lbs heavier than the Optimax it replaces
200 pro xs v8 @ 512-540lbs just love that new sound and not that much heavier than the 150 if configured correctly

Old
135 Optimax @ weight uncertain. They are the lower hp v6
150 Optimax @ 430lbs. Maxes my boats power rating
2.5 efi race motor @ weight uncertain. A beast of a v6 with neck snapping power

Weight is not entirely accurate but those are my top pics to retire the Evinrude
what motor will best suit this Tahiti Torino 16

[W2F a V-King]

imo...a 2.5 would work best on a 16' runabout. HP to weight, it's gonna be the lightest. A 16' won't like a lot of transom weight...less can equal more on a small boat.

[Dave Strong]

Looks like a Sidewinder or clone, do not have a pad and the bottom is rounded not even a v. Very tricky to drive over 60mph and known for rotten transoms. Were great ski boats back in the day with 115-150hp inlines.

Dave

[Matt Torino 150]

Are there any 2.5efis or any motors of that type that are smart craft capable and what kind of reliability could I expect from these motors

[David]

I used to have a 16' Baja with a 300 lb crossflow V4. No porpoising at any speed or load. We repowered it with a 390 lb Evinrude 115 HO. Mostly good but it would porpoise below 30 mph with 4 people in the boat. The Baja had a small pad but was broadly similar to your boat. In your shoes I would limit at 400 lb.

[Matt Torino 150]

I would like to add a hull pad to my boat but I don’t know anyone that does that in Southern California. I do like to stay light have considered the 115 pro xs for that reason but the 2.5 efi is a nice one too I’m hoping maybe a promax will have the smartcraft

[hsbob]

look for a 2.5xs. its smart craft, opti max, smart craft LU, and over 225 hp. scream and fly did a review sometime ago. did 105mph with people using a stv hull. i have the 200xs and they both a great on fuel. i get 7.4 mpg on a voyager.

[David]

The 2.5XS and 200XS are probably a bit heavy for a 16 foot boat, and with no pad, probably undrivable at speed anyway. The 225 Promax did not have Smartcraft, but the much rarer 225X might be Smartcraft capable.

I got 64 gps with a 24 Raker on my 16 Baja with a 115 HO, and that would be fast enough for a 16 Sidewinder with no pad. Check the pad, floor, and core for rot, and my vote would be the 115XS.

[Matt Torino 150]

The boat has a little bit of rot in places around the but overall looks intact. I’m still thinking of adding a pad and blueprinting the hull. What’s a 24 raker

[Li'l Toy]

Matt--I suspect that you are new to this. You need to learn a lot more about rot before you put a lot of money into this boat. I don't know this hull at all, but most boats of that age were made with wood sandwiched between fiberglass for the transom. People just did not know how critical it was to seal any bolt hole through the transom, water seeped in and most boats of that age have a soft transom with the wood inside mushy. Pull some bolts and see if you see clean, dry wood in the hole or something soft. Probe with a scratch awl or the like.

Also many performance boats of that era had hull bottoms made with a balsa core between two layers of fiberglass. Very light, very strong and stiff until water gets to the balsa. Guys with enough experience can test this by thumping on the bottom in many, many places with a rubber hammer or the handle of a wood handled hammer. Without that experience, a moisture meter can give you an idea if you balsa is soaked (if you hull was made with core). Bringing an older hull back to life can be very rewarding, but you don't want to spend that money without making sure that the hull is sound to begin with.

[Matt Torino 150]

Thanks for that information I will be testing the hull for rot tomorrow but if in the event it’s not sound what are my options. This is my first boat but have always had jet skis

[Dave Strong]

You need to check for rot, if it's ok then don't put a V6 on it. You just said it's you first boat. It was never intended to have a V6 or go as fast as it will with a V6. With the round pad and your experience you WILL hurt yourself or someone else. Not trying to rain on your parade just being realistic and trying to keep you and everyone around you safe.

Dave

[Matt Torino 150]

I’m alway more careful out on the water as I have been on the jet skis I’m no stranger to speed on water either 60+mph on water no joke. If things check out well I intend to use this more as a day cruiser/ ski tuber and do the occasional glass water run. The boat will probably see more speeds of 25-45 mph the v6 idea was more of a sound thing for me than anything else

[W2F a V-King]

"If" the hull is sound and solid, there is no reason you can't hunt up a good V6 Mercury, 2.0 or 2.4, 2.5. You don't need a "race" motor for a first boat.
The older 2.0-2.4 motors are in the 350ish Lb. weight wise and be more than enough fun and very reliable.

Then later if you keep the boat and need/want more you can always do a power head swap for more ponies. That's one of the neat things about the "older" Mercury V6 motors, their kind of like the small block Chevy. Lots of parts available, easy to work on when necessary, and as reliable as any large outboard 2 stroke can be.

IMO... start with a carburetor motor. Less things to learn and less expensive to repair than and EFI motor.

An older V6 2.0 Liter 150 would work well for you.... my .02

If you don't know how to verify a hulls integrity, it might be worth taking it to someone that does marine repairs for a good "Look see" regardless of what you hang on it fr power.

[Matt Torino 150]

Well one thing that does need to be done is the transom because that is definitely shot. Has a brace and all them screws in it an a big crack. That won’t be cheap I also want to ad a planing pad and blueprint the hull. Now you guys made me want to buy a nice checkmate pulsare 2100.