Mercury 600 outboard

Looks like the Americans are starting to catch up with the Asians in the outboard engine stacks - hp department.
2400hp quad arrangement at the end of this.
Next developed edition might be worth waiting for.
Mercury 600hp outboard
https://youtu.be/SMosALhept4

Yeah, they are interesting in that only the leg turns for steering, not the powerhead. I hate to think what they will cost here, and how much fuel they'll use.

Mercury has been doing well for quite a few years. Yamaha only took the lead in the horsepower arms race for a few weeks when they released their 425hp unit, just to be passed again by Mercury with the 450R.

The 600 is a really interesting product. Mercury has done like Suzuki with their flagship 350 with duel props. Ment to be quite a bit more efficient, and for suzuki meant they could get away with a smaller lower gearbox diameter, for less drag. Not having the entire engine rotate will allow boat builders more flexibility with swim step layouts etc.

This engine is also available detuned as a 500hp for commercial applications requiring longer service intervals. It is widely expected that a "racing" branded version with forced induction will be released in a year or two, making 750 odd HP.

I don't know if we will see too many of these in this part of the world. Paying road tax on petrol, but not diesel for recreational use creates a strong incentive to go for diesel inboards, and accept lower top speeds on larger boats.

In the USA however the trend is for boats of ever increasing size to be outboard powered, often with 3,4 or 5 to get sufficient power. Big advantages in maintenance, space savings, and efficiency by putting a lesser number of outboards on. Each leg in the water adds a lot of drag. These will sell well in the USA.

Sadly BRP exited the outboard game earlier this year, and the likes of Suzuki & Honda don't seem interested in the horsepower arms race.

US$77k in the USA. Rule of thumb seems to be to double the USD cost to get the NZD cost for marine and motoring stuff, once GST, freight, the CGA, and the price premium for being a small market are added.

Re fuel consumption is is spouse to be really good if you compare to a greater number of less powerful engines. That said, I don't think you will see too many of them here with our petrol prices.

Not sure what you meant by the americans catching up to the asians in the hp game? There has been the likes of 777 around for a while now.
Lots of interesting features / thinking displayed in this outboard. I wonder whether it will be reliable? Its a huge amount of power to put through a little gearbox, coupled to a 2 speed transmission.
None of the big asian engines and gearboxes stay together if you seriously work them, so the number on their cowling are pretty useless anyway as you can only run them reliably for half rated power.
I really don’t like the idea of petrol on a boat either. This won’t end up on the little 7 m tinny! You’ll probably need to have at least a ton of fuel sloshing around in a tank in the bilge of your boat, just for a single engine. More for multiple engine combos, so its a good recipe for disaster.

Catching up the the Asians refers to the 8 x 300hp = 2400hp in Bali compared the Americans 4 x 600hp = 2400hp

Bali 2400hp and time for a snooze.
https://youtu.be/yqnuU4ts3B8 Brits have done a 300hp diesel outboard. https://youtu.be/9BIg-Twhkl8
German vs UK, diesel vs petrol flammability was proven in the WW2 motor torpedo boats.

Perhaps you are thinking about the discontinued 627hp from seven marine. In short a bunch of engineers from Mercury left and started a new company to essentially marinise, and shoehorn a superharged LSA 6.2L automotive industry engine into an outboard. Volvo brougth out seven marine, and has since discontinued their outboards. It was a cool product, but a niche brand rather than a mainstream one.

I would hope that it is reliable. It is widely speculated that the intention is to add forced induction and release a substantially more powerful "Racing" branded version.

Should note that there the derated 500hp version which is intended for high running hours commercial use. The 600hp is a normal recreational or light commercial engine.

Going to a dual propeller means the loads carried by the gear driving each is roughly cut in half.

Re the auto, this isn't really a feature the industry expected. I would guess that it would have just been ommited if it wasn't proving reliable in testing.

Our course, untill people start hammering them in the real world, we don't really know.

Re petrol, there isn't any particular issue with having 1000kg+ of fuel on board. Of course it is a hazard, but management of it is the same as your 200L tank on a 6.5m fishing tinny. The main market of these engines seems to be US built 35" plus day boats which are currently frequently fitted with 3 - 5 outboards. A lesser number of Merc 600's should be more effichent, reducing fuel storage requirements.

Of course petrol in Florida is US$2.50/ Gal (4.2L), so petrol power makes more sense on larger boats than in NZ.

Sadly diesel outboards have yet to go mainstream, so going diesel means using up space with some kind of inboard setup.