Mercury News

Mercury Marine introduces new V-6 FourStroke outboard lineup and an expansion to its SeaPro family

Miami, Fla. – Mercury Marine is pleased to introduce its new V-6 FourStroke outboard family and the expansion of its SeaPro commercial line at the 2018 Miami International Boat Show. The new engine family, which builds on the success of Mercury’s 75-150hp FourStroke outboards, features 175hp, 200hp and 225hp FourStroke outboards and a V-6 200hp SeaPro commercial outboard. 

The new Mercury FourStroke and SeaPro outboards are built on Mercury’s new 3.4-liter V-6 platform, which is designed to be powerful, light, compact and fuel-efficient.  The new V-6 engines are precision engineered from skeg to cowl.  

“This new platform will position Mercury to advance product leadership in the 175-225hp outboard category, and deliver across the board on consumer needs,” said John Pfeifer, Mercury Marine president. “These new outboards address applications across recreational and commercial applications, strengthen our core product lineup by building off the success of our recent programs and delivering on the requirements of our global customers.” 

The 3.4L V-6 employs a large-displacement, naturally aspirated powerhead and proven mid-section and drive-system designs. Additionally, the 3.4L V-6 outboards are exceptionally versatile, offering the option of hydraulic or power steering, black or white cowls, a significantly lower boat well intrusion than current product, in addition they offer digital controls, analogue or digital instruments as well as a variety of accent panel colors.  This versatility makes the new V-6 an ideal engine for repower applications. 

“These outboards set a new benchmark in the marine industry,” said Pfeifer. “They are the quietest, lightest, smoothest, quickest and most fuel-efficient engines we have produced in this range.” 

For a large displacement FourStroke engine the new V-6 is exceptionally light weight at only 216 kg – the lightest weight in its class. Lean and mean, the 3.4L V-6 FourStroke boasts Mercury’s best acceleration and 20 percent more torque than the closest four-cylinder competitor at cruise. Fuel efficiency is also unmatched – the new 3.4L V-6 FourStroke is calibrated to maximize fuel economy at cruise, yielding an advantage of up to a 15 percent compared to the closest four-cylinder competitor.  

Other innovations that further differentiate the 3.4L V-6 are: 

•  A top cowl service door that provides easy oil check and fill (if needed) without removing the cowl, making routine maintenance easier than ever before;
• Idle charge battery-management capability that protects against consumers draining batteries while operating multiple electronic devices, and best-in-class net charging output of 20 Amp at 650 RPM;
•  Adaptive Speed Control that maintains RPM regardless of load or condition changes, improving the driving experience;

"This is a great addition to the portfolio, ” said Martin Bass , EMEA Mercury Marine president. "These engines are light and quiet - to have a V-6 that’s lighter than a four-cylinder is just incredible.” 

V-6 lineup of Mercury FourStrokes (175-225hp)

Mercury’s 3.4L, 200hp FourStroke employs a large displacement in the 200hp class. At 216 kg the engine is the lightest in its class, and is 16 kg lighter than current product in this range. With its performance-inspired dual overhead cam (quad cam) and four-valve design, the engine will reach higher speeds, faster. In addition, this outboard is the only one of its kind that maintains rpm regardless of load or condition changes and provides a “sportier” feel to the drivers. 

Superior Fuel Economy 

In addition, the new engines provide fuel savings to the consumer. At cruise and at WOT, the new four-stroke outboards take advantage of Mercury’s proprietary “Advanced Range Optimization” (ARO) calibration to generate greater fuel efficiency than the engine it is replacing and the closest four-cylinder competitor.   

Additional Color Options  

In addition to Mercury’s legendary black engines, this new lineup offers white engines for the 200hp and 225hp outboards. For the first time, Mercury will also offer four accent panel colors plus ready-for-paint panels, which allow for personalization.   

Noise, Vibration and Harshness 

The new 3.4L V-6 boasts excellent NVH quality, and represents an advancement from current products. Key NVH-enhancing features include:

• The V-6 design is naturally balanced.
• Multi-chamber air-intake quiets induction noise.
• Fuel injector covers reduce high-frequency noise.
• Specific cowl features prevent noise from reaching the operator.

200hp V-6 SeaPro

The Mercury SeaPro 200hp 3.4L V-6 four-stroke outboard employs a large displacement, at a very low weight. Like all Mercury SeaPro outboard engines, the 3.4L V-6 four-stroke is built for durability and reliability and is calibrated for commercial usage.

Like the 3.4L V-6 175-225hp FourStroke outboards, the new 200hp V-6 SeaPro outboard features "Advanced Range Optimization/ARO" calibration, which was developed by Mercury engineers to optimize cruise fuel economy. The ECU will adjust fueling automatically when conditions are right. It does this so seamlessly that the operator won’t feel or hear it. ARO allows for optimal fuel efficiency, giving consumers the confidence to stay out on the water longer.

Members of the media can access images of the new engines at: https://mercurymarine.widencollective.com/

Testimonials

“The new product is absolutely awesome,” said Dave Wallace, Scout Boats senior vice president & COO. “It’s more than what I expected. It’s very quiet and the acceleration is unbelievable.”

“The quick-access door on the top of the cowl gives the customer the access they need,” said Rob Kaidy, SeaVee Boats vice president of engineering. “There’s nothing else like that on the market today. When you open that door, in order to disengage the cowl, you hit a button and that turns into a handle; that’s brilliant – a simple idea executed well, a tremendous asset to the customer.”