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On a related but different topic regarding Mercury's new highly-touted Verado outboard engine, I recently attended one of our saltwater boat company's dealer meetings. During my visit I had the opportunity to test drive our boats with Yamaha, Evinrude E-Tech and Mercury Verado engines on them. It was pointed out to me by one of our test driving engineers that based upon their experiences thus far in running these engines, two Yamaha 250 HP four-stroke engines on the boat I was driving used approximately 45 gallons of gas per hour for both Yamaha engines. In the case of Evinrude E-Tech, two 250 HP engines also used approximately 45 gallons per hour. However, two 250 HP four-stroke Mercury Verado engines using the same boat and under the same conditions used approximately 60 gallons of gas per hour. With gas prices today at over $3.00 per gallon, it will cost over $45.00 per hour more to run the boat with the Verado engines versus Yamaha or Evinrude E-Tech engines. In other words, the Mercury Verado engines burned approximately 30% more fuel than Yamaha and Evinrude E-Tech engines. With gas prices today reaching historical all-time highs, I believe we have enough problems selling boating to the U.S. consumer without attempting to have them buy boats with outboard engines that consume gasoline approximately 30% greater than the comparable alternatives to Mercury Verados. By the way, Mercury believes their Verado outboard engines should command a substantial premium price to their competitors, Yamaha and Evinrude E-Tech. In the case of Genmar's boat companies, I can tell you that with all the hype and hoopla that Mercury has used in touting its Verado engines, Genmar has had few requests for Verados relative to Yamaha and Evinrude E-Tech, and we are the largest, independent boat building company in the world that purchases more outboard and stern drive engines than any other existing independent boat manufacturer throughout the industry.
Genmar's boat companies build tens of thousands of recreational fiberglass boats every year. Genmar does in fact offer Mercury outboard and MerCruiser stern drive engines throughout most of our boat companies along with the majority of all the other major engine manufacturers. We always have and will continue to give our customers their choice of engine. However, over the past several years, Genmar's boat companies have continued to sell less Mercury engine products every year. I hope both the independent boat manufacturers and dealers understand why I have taken the time to communicate this e-mail to you.
so Irwin has a hard on for verados.... we knew that... and that's his right - MINE BURN 9 GPH EACH AT CRUISE....and at the 100 hour mark I had 3.3 hours above 4500 rpm....SO WHO CARES IRWIN?
It really still amazes me how many people hate verados and Merc - this rant reminds me of the democrat rants aginst anything the republicans do..lacking substance....
but to each his own...and I own one of Irwin's boats - go figure....
so Irwin has a hard on for verados.... we knew that... and that's his right - MINE BURN 9 GPH EACH AT CRUISE....and at the 100 hour mark I had 3.3 hours above 4500 rpm....SO WHO CARES IRWIN?
It really still amazes me how many people hate verados and Merc - this rant reminds me of the democrat rants aginst anything the republicans do..lacking substance....
but to each his own...and I own one of Irwin's boats - go figure....
I'm always suspicious of this sort of comparison anyway. Anyone who doesn't give you details on how the test was performed can stack the deck in favor of a particular result. The only meaningful comparison to me would be one that compares the various engines at a variety of performance points: ie various speeds in the same boat in the same conditions.
Most motor/boat combinations have a sweet spot. It is rarely the same for different motors so it is possible to conduct a test at the sweet spot for one combination which will likely not be at the sweet spot of any other combination.
My guess...... that old crafty take-over artist, Irwin Jacobs, must have just completed contract negotiations with Merc and he failed to get the volume discount he wanted to line his pocket.
"I hope both the independent boat manufacturers and dealers understand why I have taken the time to communicate this e-mail to you."
Yeah sounds like unsubstantiated, hearsay bashing by another newbie to our forum.
Oh, BTW, Welcome to The Hull Truth
"I hope both the independent boat manufacturers and dealers understand why I have taken the time to communicate this e-mail to you."
Yeah sounds like unsubstantiated, hearsay bashing by another newbie to our forum.
Oh, BTW, Welcome to The Hull Truth
agreed - the more I read it - the more I thnk it's fabricated - regardless of his feelings I doubt that a major CEO would say the things this letter said...he's smarter than that..so who is thomas and what's his game??.
And if it is Jacobs, he sounds awfully scared of the verado by writing this...
It is a fact of physics, that an engine this is forced induction will take more fuel than a naturally aspirated engine of the same HP. Stachiometric fuel burn is approx 14:1, but forced induction normally require 13ish:1 and maybe even 12:1 at WOT to maintain reliability. The extra fuel helps to cools the intake charge and ignite the extra oxygen in the air.
The same things happens in turbocharged/supercharged car engines every day.
Even a 275 Verado will only burn 28 gph per side, so that 60 is off by 4gph. 250s are more like 27-27.5. Either way, the complete Verado system far outweighs the WOT fuel burn. The only people who run WOT all the time are hard-core tournament fishermen. MOST traditional customers RARSLY see much over 4500 as Glen has pointed out. Also, as the world's largest Wellcraft dealer, we order more boats with Verados than any other engine manufacturer since Verado has proven itself reliable.
Let's give the man a little respect, assuming it's not spam. BIG ASSUMPTION! Interesting first post. I wonder what inspired this first post. Who are you? Irwin has to tell us what those conditions were, too. Personally, it seems high.
__________________
Boston Whaler, "MUMBLER", 24 Outrage, twin 175 HP Evinrude Ocean Pros
it's easy to figuire his motive...mercury ..or brunswick is his largest competition.the funny thing is he(irwin ) helped this by selling off all his metal boats to brunwick.
Even a 275 Verado will only burn 28 gph per side, so that 60 is off by 4gph. 250s are more like 27-27.5. Either way, the complete Verado system far outweighs the WOT fuel burn. The only people who run WOT all the time are hard-core tournament fishermen. MOST traditional customers RARSLY see much over 4500 as Glen has pointed out. Also, as the world's largest Wellcraft dealer, we order more boats with Verados than any other engine manufacturer since Verado has proven itself reliable.
You cannot say a 275 will burn 28gph, if it is slightly overpropped and you lug it hard, fuel burn will go up. There is waaaaaaaaaaaaaay more to this story than you can garner from this text.
In addition to my earlier comments, depending on exact engine mapping, a forced induction engine may be more effecient at mid rpm's (But this is mostly for turbo's, not crank driven blowers)
I have never seen a 30 gph fuel burn on a 275 Verado, our shop has never seen it, and neither has anyone else, except for this fellow who obviously has an agenda to dethrone the king of outboards, the VERADO, that's spelled V-E-R-A-D-O, the world's first and only COMPLETE propulsion SYSTEM. Come on Glen, help me out here! I furter back my statement with the fact that our 34 Fountain with triple 250 Verados never exceeded 28.3 gph at WOT/motor even when fully loaded for a tournament with the tabs down and the motors working hard to spin them 24p Bravo 4-bladers!
80 owners sharing their stats - never seen a WOT fuel burn above 27...still incredibly high and something merc needs to work on in some way... but we live at 4250 where gph is very sane with great mid-range acceleration available.
Irwin Jacobs does have bad feelings towards Brunswick, as evidenced during the Yamaha suit when Jacobs testified strongly for Yamaha. It stems in part from Brunswick buying up competitive boat companies, and in boat from a sweetheart deal Merc has with Tracker Marine that guarantees they get the lowest prices of any manufacturer, thus giving Tracker a potential pricing edge (which they don't always take advantage of).
That said, virtually every test in every boating magazine has found the Verado to use more gas than the e-tech and its four-stroke competitors at the higher operating ranges. And while most people don't use their boat at WOT the majority of the time, many of us do certainly see 5000 rpm's and more on a regular basis.
There may be good reasons to go for the Verado--but fuel efficiency is not one of them, at least not when compared to its competitors.
Live with it!
So a 250 burns 28.3 gph, but in over 80 tests no 275 has burned over 27gph. That just doesn't seem right.
BTW, BW own tests indicate over 28gph for each 275 Verado on a 320 outrage and 29gph on a 240 outrage. I still don't think 30gph is out of the question. Maybe not the norm, but definitely possible.
I stand corrected - looking back of some add'l emails some are getting close to 29 gph - now that we have determined that you need to own a refinery if you run WOT, can we move on? The condemnation of verados at WOT is rediculous....no one goes there..it cracks me up how many people try to get an AHA! every time you turn around..if you don't like verados don't buy them...
Letter from Irwin Jacobs 
Irwin has to tell us what those conditions were, too. Personally, it seems high. 
