posted 05-21-2005 09:02 AM ET (US)        

The GM Northstar 4.371-liter V-8 is a 440-HP engine that winds to 6,400-RPM. It also produces 430-lb-ft of torque. The engine is said to be able to deliver 90-percent of that torque across the RPM range of 2200-6000. The same engine without the supercharger is rated at 120-HP less output.

Comparison: NORTHSTAR vs VERADO-275

Horsepower/Liter:

VERADO = 105.8 HP/Liter
NORTHSTAR = 100.7 HP/Liter

The GM NORTHSTAR engine also include variable valve timing, a feature not found in the VERADO. In addition, both the intake and exhaust valve timing is continuously varied. On most outboard motors with variable valve timing, typically only one valve (usually the intake valve) has its timing adjusted, and then the timing just jumps between two different settings as a result of a second set of cam lobes. The Honda V-TEC engine is one that uses this simpler approach.

The Northstar engine is based on the 4.6-liter block, but the displacement was reduced "to offset the fuel economy impact of the supercharger and its associated lower compression ratio," according to Cadillac engineers. This may be a clue to the choice of the small displacement block in the VERADO engine.

By bringing a supercharged engine to a production automobile, I think public awareness of supercharging as an acceptable technique for enhancing engine performance will be increased. This may help increase acceptance of the VERADO supercharged outboard motor.

For more information on the Cadillac 4.4L SC engine, see this excellent article:

posted 05-21-2005 10:24 AM ET (US)            

Ford has had supercharged pickups for a while now with their Lightning 1/2 ton, and they have had a supercharged Mustang Cobra for a few years. Dodge is still in the dark ages only having a turbo Neon.

The true pioneer was GM in 1984 when they produced the turbocharged Buick Grand National and also introduced Bosch sequential fuel injection at the same time. With 1980 technology it was quite a feat. Of course I owned one of these fine vehicles for a time.

posted 05-21-2005 08:56 PM ET (US)            

I made no assertion about the Cadillac being the first, and I am aware of these other engine, at least the GM ones. But thanks for the recitation of the history. I think in very limited numbers you could have, in the past, bought some of these supercharged vehicles, but my impression is that this Cadillac model will be in higher production volume than these others.

Re the Ford truck with supercharger: they are really an add-on package sold in conjunction with a racing fabricator. The Cadillac models will be built right in the GM plant on the assembly line.

posted 05-22-2005 10:44 PM ET (US)            

Supercharged Corrado's have a distinctive growl to them as the supercharger gulps air. I have a 1990 VW Corrado_G60 parked in my driveway... 87.7Hp/L with 15 year old technology! 180,000 miles on the odometer, never had the head off, never had the supercharger rebuilt, still puts out 8.4psi factory boost!

Based on the fact that the normally aspirated 1.8L 16 valve VW engine from 1988 produced 123Hp while it's 8 valve brother produced 102Hp, I would venture to guess that had the Corrado been equipped with a 16 valve engine, it would have produced the same 23Hp increase (if not more) which would put it at 179Hp from a 1.8L engine, which is in line with the 100Hp/L measurements above. (Note, 1988 16-valve VW engines did not use variable valve timing...)

posted 05-23-2005 08:31 AM ET (US)            

http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/006715.html

posted 05-26-2005 07:38 AM ET (US)            

At my local boat show I tried to find out how boost/compression ratio the Verado are running, but the sales wasn't sure, he tough 8psi for the 275hp (it isn't advetised in Mercury Catalog)

FYI "No other production truck could keep up with it (Ford Lightning) until Dodge introduced their "Viper" truck this past year."

posted 06-02-2005 08:52 AM ET (US)            

P.S. As a side note, I always find it interesting how people who like boats are also usually car and motorcycle buffs as well.....maybe it's genetic! If a car buff is a "motor head", does that make a boater a "wet head"???

posted 06-02-2005 11:26 AM ET (US)            

Would it make sense for Evinrude to supercharge the E-Tec?

posted 06-10-2010 10:34 AM ET (US)         

quote:

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The engine is said to be able to deliver 90-percent of that torque across the RPM range of 2200-6000.

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WOW!

Make sure the budget includes a new set of tires every couple thousand miles.

quote:

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The supercharged only applies boost around 5% of the time.

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Dude, it's up to you to encourage the supercharger to "apply the boost". ;-)

quote:

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Now there's a Whaler related topic! What knuckle-head started this thread?

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Bro, you got to read the whole post. You can do that, can't you?

;-)

posted 06-10-2010 01:39 PM ET (US)            

The most likely reason for the outstanding reliability and freedom from defect in the supercharger in a Mercury VERADO outboard motor is from excellent design, excellent manufacturing, and excellent control in the engine operation. It should be mentioned that at the time of the design and development the head of Mercury and then the head of Brunswick was George Buckley, who held a Ph. D in Engineering, and the design head was German auto engineer Claus Bruestle from Porsche. Neither of those skilled engineers is any longer involved with Mercury and Brunswick, but, based on the five year track record of the VERADO, I think it is fair to say they did a wonderful job with its design.

Of course, very high quality components are expensive, and I still wonder how the price of the VERADO can be so low. Apparently the competition of the outboard motor marketplace has demanded lower prices. Margins on outboard motors at Mercury have generally declined, while at the same time the quality has generally increased. I suspect that the VERADO is selling at a substantial discount from the price point originally planned--a victim of underselling by Japanese imports and strong domestic competition.

The use of turbochargers in automobiles is now very common. The general public is probably more aware of and more comfortable with the concept of supercharging or turbocharging in 2010 than in 2005.

As for other manufacturers adopting supercharging, I don't see any chance of that happening. All of the other four-cycle engine manufacturers have recently introduced new and more refined four-cycle outboard motors, where the performance has improved, the emission levels have improved, the weight has improved, and the fuel economy has improved, and not a single one has gone with a supercharger or turbocharger approach. I think Yamaha, Honda, and Suzuki all have four-cycle engines that produce terrific power output, excellent fuel economy, and have reduced the size and weight compared to earlier generation engines. To push into the 300-HP and higher category, every other manufacturer turned to more displacement rather than a forced induction system. Perhaps they wished to avoid the very expensive component cost of a highly refined supercharger that would tolerate saltwater use.

posted 06-11-2010 12:29 PM ET (US)         

quote:

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The most likely reason for the outstanding reliability and freedom from defect in the supercharger in a Mercury VERADO outboard motor is from excellent design, excellent manufacturing, and excellent control in the engine operation.

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posted 06-13-2010 04:51 PM ET (US)            

quote:

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[QUOTE]The most likely reason for the outstanding reliability and freedom from defect in the supercharger in a Mercury VERADO outboard motor is from excellent design, excellent manufacturing, and excellent control in the engine operation.

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Of course, and of equal or even greater import is VERY careful tuning of the ECU programming. Forced induction applications require much more complex engine management algorithms and much more involved subroutines and strategy, ALL of which much be carefully considered.

An advantage that marine engine ECU calibration engineers have over their automotive counterparts is that they have the assumption of an "infinite reservoir" of uniformly cool "engine coolant". Automotive calibration engineers have to have all kinds of complex contingencies and routines that reference widely variable ECT (engine coolant temperature).

Great topic, guys.