New Aritcle - thoughts on a Mercury Racing 3.4-liter R-series engine

[David]

A 200 HP 400 lb motor is a lot of fun on an 18' V bottom. My brother's 18' Charger DL would go mid 70's and was a great recreational water ski boat.

Back in the day I could go to the Toronto boat show and have a choice of 5 Ontario made 18' V bottoms: Canadian Edition (aka Hydrostream), Charger, Panther (aka Checkmate), Sidewinder, J Craft.

[Greg G]

I don't see that being under 500lbs...I also don't see old boaters wanting that low of HP. My 2c.

240hp is low? Put it on a digital scale and see but I'm comfortable with below 500bs. Merc has lied up and down about true weights for decades. A 225 R would be cheap to build as discussed. No disrespect intended but it may not be for the old folk who can properly wrench on 2 stroke stuff with a smile and burn high test.

[Greg G]

I think in the next couple of years, Mercury will discontinue the 250R 4.6L V8. It will be replaced by a 250R 3.4L V6. It's the natural progression of the R series. A few years ago, the R series almost all supercharged motors. Now, the only supercharged R series motor is the new 500R. The FourStroke series 3.4 V6 already pushes out up to 225HP. And it is already 45lbs less than the 250R V8. A couple tweaks to pump it up to 250Hp. A lightweight cowl and a sport master gearcase. That would be the next generation 250R. With no tweaks, just a cowl and sport master and you have new 200R and 225R motors. they would have a whole V6 R series with no real investment necessary.

Agree. Open the Merc brochure now and you see a big gap between the 250R and 60R.

The V6 3.4L would be perfect to sit in the middle as a 225 or 250 R model that could run either TM or SM

[Greg G]

Would also be interesting to see the torque curve of the 3.4L burning 87 versus the 2.5L 225X/200XS burning 91 octane.

[David]

The 200XS is great on fuel at mid range, but at full throttle it burns fuel.

[Greg G]

When I found that dyno print it validated how lousy the Gen I 200XS was compared to your Gen II ROS which is an animal.

It would be interesting to see real data on the 3.4 V6 platform MPG, versus 225X EFI, 200XS Opti 2.5's. I have no idea but my gut says if the bean counters ran TCO using 3.4 MPG and added the costs of burning 87 instead of 91 octane it would be an eye opener.

[Greg G]

I'm not sure how you can add in the heavier Sporty to the equation and also lose 50 lbs off of a current V6 package..

If you put the lower unit from the current 3.4L V6 on the scale and then put the Sporty from the 4.6L V8 on the scale, how much would each of them weigh?

[Petey]

If you put the lower unit from the current 3.4L V6 on the scale and then put the Sporty from the 4.6L V8 on the scale, how much would each of them weigh?

I believe the Sporty is about 15 lbs heavier.. so your 450 lb motor is really 520+ in reality with "currently available parts". Or do you think two cylinders is worth 110 lbs compared to the 300R?

Maybe Joe weighed his V6 with a Sporty and could 'weigh in'...

[Greg G]

I believe the Sporty is about 15 lbs heavier.. so your 450 lb motor is really 520+ in reality with "currently available parts". Or do you think two cylinders is worth 110 lbs compared to the 300R?

Maybe Joe weighed his V6 with a Sporty and could 'weigh in'...

So there you have it. You can buy a 300 R ready to go at 561 lbs scale weight or a 225 R dream at 530 lbs. Greg T wrote an article that makes no sense. I stand corrected on weights, a 225 R does not work if it weighs that much. Good input.

[skialot2]

So there you have it. You can buy a 300 R ready to go at 561 lbs scale weight or a 225 R dream at 530 lbs. Greg T wrote an article that makes no sense. I stand corrected on weights, a 225 R does not work if it weighs that much. Good input.

How does the article make no sense? I think you are over estimating what the scale weight of a V6 R series would be. Sometimes it not about the weight of the motor. It's the size. My boat would have no problem floating with a 561 lb. 300R motor hanging off the back. 300 horsepower would be suicidal. Not to mention the cost difference.

[Greg G]

So what would the digital scale weight of a 3.4L 225 R with a Sporty from the 4.6L V8 be? Is 530lbs all in to much on the fish hook?

[Chaz]

Who cares what 4 strokes they have , could have , might have ...
$30,000.00 -- $60,000.00 for an outboard motor .. LMAO.
Not for the average family man ..
As long as the severely addicted narcissists .. can afford to scream look at me , look at me. Then they will continue to tell you what you can and can't have .. and what you have to pay to get it ..

Greg G. honestly bro, if that's what you want .. go buy a 3.4 V-6 and a sporty lower. It'll only be like 40K When you take it back for service .. slide the stock lower in place .. dump the sporty's used oil in it .. go run thru the weeds or sand enough to scrape the paint off the skeg (to look like the rest of em) .. and take it in for service .. don't forget to buy the extended wty ...

[skialot2]

So what would the digital scale weight of a 3.4L 225 R with a Sporty from the 4.6L V8 be? Is 530lbs all in to much on the fish hook?

Let's take an educated guess. Mercury says the Fourstroke 3.4 V6 weighs 475lbs. A competition 3.4 V6 APX weighs 395lbs. 80lbs less. Most of the savings has got to be the lower unit. But let's say the R series could save 25 lbs. with the lightweight cowl from the APX. Add 15 lbs for the sporty. You would get a scale weight of 465 lbs.

Mercury says the 300R weighs 512 lbs. Using the scale weight of 561 lbs., that's 49 lbs. different. So, add 49 pounds to the calculated listed weight and a 3.4V6 R series would weigh 514lbs all in.

475
- 25
+15
+49
____
514

That is really not that bad if you think about it. My 2000 2.5 200 has a listed weight of 414 lbs. Ad the same 49 lbs and you get 463 lbs. Only a 51 lb difference between an old 2 stroke carb and an R series.

[skialot2]

Who cares what 4 strokes they have , could have , might have ...
$30,000.00 -- $60,000.00 for an outboard motor .. LMAO.
Not for the average family man ..
As long as the severely addicted narcissists .. can afford to scream look at me , look at me. Then they will continue to tell you what you can and can't have .. and what you have to pay to get it ..

Greg G. honestly bro, if that's what you want .. go buy a 3.4 V-6 and a sporty lower. It'll only be like 40K When you take it back for service .. slide the stock lower in place .. dump the sporty's used oil in it .. go run thru the weeds or sand enough to scrape the paint off the skeg (to look like the rest of em) .. and take it in for service .. don't forget to buy the extended wty ...

You really are an angry person. It must really suck going through life thinking everybody is out to get you and control you. Things are going to change weather you like it or not. Nobody is coming to take your 2 strokes away from you. Just because you don't like or can't afford something doesn't mean other people can't talk about it or what could be. You don't even know what you are talking about. A 2024 250R has a list price of 29K. Back in 1991, a 2.5 260 had a list price of over 16K. That is only a 90% increase over 34 years. Meanwhile, over the same time span, cars are up over 300%. Houses are up over 500% Just about everything in the world is up more, percentage wise, than outboard motors. And maybe Greg G has a decent job and can afford to go buy himself an outboard motor that costs as much as a regular car. I know I can't afford to, and don't want too. I like my 2 stroke carb motors. but I still like to talk about the new stuff.

[mrpenguin]

Even if you got it down to 495lbs, it would still be $24k and they would only sell a handful of them. I am grateful for the ProXS and R series we have. I would love to see a V6 R series engine but we are discussing the wrong thing.

It is not how to build it because that is very simple. The real discussion is demand. Make a case that they will sell 4,000 per year and you have footing to stand on for the engine case to be built. Assembly and putting together the engine is the easy part.