Stick 'em up or I'll shoot......who knows what this is and its HP?

[Mark75H]

Whats this?

[H2Onut]

A volkwagon 1800 cc motor transformed or 4 go kart motors welded together ??????

[Mark75H]

Where are those other 2 pipes goin'?



Let me know when you figure it out


(I know)

[crazy horse]

Do I see two props under that hull?

[Mark75H]

Pretty sure that shadow you see on the left side is a turn fin. Look at the fin on the tunnel hull and compare.

[crazy horse]

Yep, I think your right. Thats not some type of radial engine design, Is it?

Possibly 4 125cc motors put together????? I know I woudnt mess with it on the lake!!!!!

[machinist]

well there is two difffernt motors in those pics. First one looks
like snowmobile or dirt bike jugs on a custom grafted crankcase,
I would say about 250cc per cyl . So ya got 1000ccs ,expansion
chamber exhaust probably runnin 10,000 rpm 300 to 350 hp.
once its on plane look out!

[Mark75H]

OK, I have to tell some about them before it goes too far off track from reality. Both of these are made exclusively for boat racing, they are not converted from something else.

According to Eric Pugh, the first motor is made by Carlo Verona in Italy. Currently the VRP is "rumoured" to be the strongest 500cc motor availiable. So Pat is right, each cylinder is 125cc's. Estimates put it somewhere around 150HP. Those fat tips are silencers that quiten the motor down to a level about like a new model water craft, its quiet! The boat belongs to Tiziano Trombeta who is a multi world champion. The boat design is a modern version of the 4 point Russian hydrocat that was/is unbeatable in 350/500/700 racing. The design goes back to about 1984. All those extra things are related to the engine trim and moving the pipes. On a one mile course, I would guess that boat is faster that an SST 120.

Last summer the Rossi (GRM) 500cc 4 cylinder was test raced against the Verona and although it DNF'ed a lot early on with crankshaft failures, late in the season it proved to be a strong rival to the Verona (VRP). Rossi also makes a 3 cylinder 350cc racer for the next class down. 2 cylinders are opposed like half of the VRP and the 3rd cylinder is set up as a single cylinder motor on top of the pair. That's right....2 on one side and one on the other. YES it shakes.

Another engine maker in Germany makes another 4 cylinder 500cc boat racing motor...the name is Arens.

[Mark75H]

Machinist is correct, the second picture is a different motor.

I don't yet know the maker of the second motor. It is also a 500cc racer raced in Europe. This engine has an unusual configuration. Rather than both pairs of cylinders stacked on top of each other 2 facing left and 2 facing right, the top pair face left and right and the bottom pair face front and back. With 4 125cc jugs this may be a bike motor converted to boat racing or 4 VRP, GRM or MacMinirelli (from Estonia) boat racing jugs. The "Mac" as it is known in the States is the donimate new motor in 125cc racing. The Mac has become so popular that 125cc alky racing runabout has made a comeback in the US.


Back to the picture.....look closely at the expansion chamber with the red lettering on it and you will see it hides the rear facing cylinder. You can see the water telltale line coming from the back cylinder going over to where they are all taped together. Also note that the closest expansion chamber doesn't stick quite as far back because it starts farther forward at the forward facing cylinder's exhaust port (not visable in the pic).

[Mark75H]

To see more of these motors go to the Formula 500 website (<-click there) and click on the links on the right, below where it says Engine Manufacturers.

Konny motors are the unofficial heirs of the german König racers that dominated 500cc alcohol racing from the 70's until early 90's.

[Mark75H]

This is what happens when you have too much torque and too much rake........

a photo from the F500 website

[machinist]

Man I was way off on the ccs. that looked bigger than a 500cc
motor. I was kinnda basing my GUESS by comparing it to a snowmobile motor. I have a 600 twin that is 105 hp at 8300
rpm , runs 87 octane pump gas, so thats what I based my
wild guess on Shows how much I know