posted 01-21-2007 08:54 PM ET (US)            

I introduced the term Veradito to the world on February 5, 2006:

"Regarding the model name for the new sub-Verado category four-stroke engines, I have an idea:

"I have always thought that "verado" had a Spanish ring to it. If the new four-stroke motors are going to be smaller versions of the Verado motors, how about using the Spanish morphology for expressions of diminutives:

"VERADO + ITO = VERADITO

"We can call these new little four-strokes the Veraditos!"

I was a bit surprised when I read that term in a boating magazine that came out a few months later. I think they might have picked it up from me. I know the editor reads the website. (The reason I know is that when CONTINUOUSWAVE carried a posting from someone who claimed the magazine skewed its editorial content to match the advertising revenue, the editor of the magazine posted a rather sharp rebuke and demonstrated how the magazine critic was totally off the wall with his accusations.)

Why call them Veraditos? Because Mercury has no name for them that makes any sense.

Mercury calls the motors "FourStroke" motors, but that is an awful trade name or model name. It is barely distinguishable from the generic "four-stroke" hyphenated adjective.

posted 01-21-2007 09:41 PM ET (US)            

This is a 90 or 115 Mercury FourStroke on a 17' or so aluminum fishing boat of no distinction. After several years of large outboard exposure, primarily Optimax and the joint venture 4-Strokes, I was not taken aback by its size. It looked normal on this boat, and perhaps that's due to an increased tolerance or callousness, because they are all so large in comparison to the old school motors.

The Milwaukee Boat Show was dominated by Optimax motors, with few of the Veraditos in sight, and none in better condition for photography than this.

posted 02-13-2007 11:14 PM ET (US)            

When I walked over to look, I was shocked to discover that the huge motor was not a Verado, it was a Veradito! Just a 90-HP motor on this RIB. I was stunned how big this motor was. These are GIANT-size motors. A 90-HP Veradito appears to be about the same size as an 200-HP two-stroke. I mean these are really big motors.

I looked around to see if I could find a 75-HP Veradito. I could not find one. I think there is a good reason for that: a 75-HP Veradito is going to sink any boat which has a maximum rating of only 75-HP. If you put a 75-HP Veradito and a 70-HP Yamaha two-stroke on the transom together, the old Yamaha two-stroke would look like an auxiliary motor, a kicker, compared to the substantial bulk of the Veradito.

Traffic on the show floor was very slow, and a nice Mercury dealer helped me take the cowling of a 90-HP Veradito to see what's in there.There is a lot of stuff, and it is nicely put together, but it sure adds up to one big motor.

The fit of the cowling, its latches, and the gaskets are very significantly improved over earlier Mercury motors. My prior experience with Mercury cowlings is that they are just about impossible to remove due to the sticky vinyl gasket material. The older latches fit poorly and required excessive force to operate. I was impressed with the new cowlings. They are lighter. The cowling latches work much better. The gaskets are rubber, not vinyl, and they do not stick like glue. The cowling was easily removed or replaced. A huge improvement over the previous ones.

The motor appear to be very well engineered and designed in some areas, while other portions appeared more helter-skelter. The integrated fuel-air module (IAFM which I wrote about earlier) gave the motor a very finished and well designed look. The coil-on-plug ignition system was also very attractive, compact, and showed careful design. The fuel vapor separator looked a bit strange. It is bolted on at an odd angle, and hoses come and go from all angles. The starboard side electrical panel is not as neatly done as on the big Verado motors. The oil filter looks like it is destined to spill some oil at every filter change.

The particular motor I was able to get a look at was set up as a loose motor, not on a transom, but it was very hard to see the the starboard side, so I didn't get a chance to go over that half of the motor as closely as I would have liked.

There were plenty of old Mercury 90-HP and 115-HP four-stroke motors on boat transoms, and, thanks to the enormous size of the new Veradito, these four-strokes now looked positively compact in comparison.

I do not understand what happened with Mercury. It is like there are two different groups of engineers that design their motors. One group turns out these nice compact four-stroke motors that seem normal in size. These motors run up to about 50 or 60-HP. When you see one of these four-strokes, you think, yeah, it's a little bigger than a two-stroke, but it is in the same general size range.

Then you get to the Veradito 75 to 115-HP range. These motors must have been designed by a race of giants. These motors are out of all proportion to their horsepower rating, especially the 75-HP Veradito--if there even is such a thing.

As I walked around a display area filled with Mercury motors, I came across a boat with an old 90-HP two-stroke carburetor motor. Finally, I thought, an outboard motor in the proper scale. A 90-HP motor in a 90-HP cowling.

I don't know that the selling price of a 90-HP Veradito motors is, even roughly, but I will guess that it must be around $8,000. I remember quite a while ago you could get a 90-HP Mercury for about $5,000. Even with $3,000 more in a retail deal for this new motor, I have to wonder if Mercury is making any money on these things. They are so much more complicated than the old two-strokes, and they are so much larger--they just have to be much more expensive to manufacture. The old motors look positively primitive in comparison.

posted 02-14-2007 10:37 AM ET (US)            

Is this just a 90 FourStroke or a Veradito? I thought this motor was way too big.

posted 02-14-2007 01:23 PM ET (US)            

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v665/warrent/Montauk%20Kicker/ ?action=view¤t=DSC_4399.jpg

posted 02-14-2007 02:03 PM ET (US)            

I just got my boat back last weekend and I was out on the water for only 2 hours to break in the outboard.

I'll take a closer look at the static trim tomorrow if I go fishing. When I fired up my kicker I noticed that my scuppers in my rear splash well were under the water line by about 2 inches. But my fat body was sitting on the starboard step.

My old Mercury spun at 6000 rpm to hit 39 mph. While breaking in the Veradito last Sunday, I spun at 6000 rpm to hit 40 mph. My prop is an 18 pitch stainless steel Vengeance. The performance of a stripped 170 Montauk on the Boston Whaler website indicated 46.6 mph with a 20 pitch Laser II at 6100 rpm.

The new motor is definitely taller, I'm not sure about the width.

In theory there is only 13 pounds difference, the old motor weighed 386 pound and the Veradito weighs 399 pounds. The new motor "seems heavier.

posted 02-14-2007 08:36 PM ET (US)            

Everyone except Bob Kemmler Jr knew the 46.6mph claim on the Whaler website was crap, thanks for the confirmation. Keep us updated on the performance of the new motor, once it breaks in you might get another mph or so. Also let us know how it does on fuel compared to the old carb'd motor.

I agree with jimh, it seems like it would be a lot easier to just add EFI to the old four stroke. A total redesign was not needed. I think Mercury just had a hard on to get away from the Mercaha motor and ANY ties with Yamaha so they can claim that their four strokes are faster than everyone else's.

posted 02-14-2007 09:47 PM ET (US)            

The Veradito is mounted at the second hole from the top. There are five holes so it could be raised 3 more holes. I believe this is where the 2007 Veraditos are mounted on the new 170 Montauks.

posted 02-15-2007 11:05 PM ET (US)            

This morning the water was flat calm and the current running downstream to San Francisco was about 2 mph. After my motor warmed up I decide to make a WOT run. It was flat clam and I had the motor trimmed perfectly. I put the hammer down from 4,500-RPM and as I hit 6,000-RPM and beyond, my over-rev warning sounded and scared me. I ran downstream a few more times and my best time was 43.79 mph. I think I have 200 to 300-RPM beyond the 6,000-RPM limit.

On my trip back upstream my best time was 39.2 mph. The average of the best times running up and down stream is 41.5 mph.

Perhaps I should try a Laser II 19 or 20 inch prop?

Trip data.
1) round trip 191.96 miles
2) Average 22.49 mph does not include time spent under 5 mph.
3) 8 hours 33 minutes
4) 34.36 gallons of fuel used.
5) 5.59 mpg

I was running at 4500-5500 rpm on the was back upstream because I was running out of daylight. Sunset was 5:45 pm and I got back to the ramp at 6:45 pm in total darkness. There was no moonlight.

5.59 gallons is pretty decent considering I ran pretty hard on the way back.

Warren

posted 02-16-2007 08:33 AM ET (US)            

--8.5 hours underway
--34 gallons of fuel used

posted 02-16-2007 06:39 PM ET (US)            

Is this new outboard shifting better than the "old" one?

Is there a difference in fuel comsumption comparing youre
new engine and the 2004 Merc 4 stroke?

Is it smoother and more quite than the 2004 engine?

Best regards,

posted 02-16-2007 08:06 PM ET (US)            

1) New shifter is tight. Also no "klunk" when shifting into gear.

2) The Veradito is better in fuel consumption. I'm guessing 1 mpg better, hopefully more when fully broken in. Look at this old thread regarding my mpg with the old outboard.

[url]http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum8/HTML/002469.html

3) The Veradito is a little smoother. Noise is about the same. Remember "headers" on hot rods? The sound of the exhaust hitting the header? You get that "sound" with the Veradito.

posted 02-16-2007 08:23 PM ET (US)            

Bob I was referring to earlier threads in which you inferred the Veradito was such a strong 90hp engine based on ONE scantily detailed report on the Whaler website while the E-Tec was such a weak 90 in your opinion.

Even if Warren gets 44-45 mph out of this rig the fact remains the new motor is only 1 mph faster than the old one rigged the same. I suspect an E-Tec 90 would be about the same also. I don't want to drag up the same tired argument and ruin this thread, I am only pointing out how all the motors are pretty much the same nowadays.

posted 02-16-2007 08:55 PM ET (US)            

I'll probably get a Laser II 19 or 20 inch prop.

I notice that now when I do a hole shot, it seems like my current prop is not biting. It also seems when I back-off on the throttle on a hole shot it helps the prop grab.

Thanks for the advice,

posted 02-17-2007 03:54 AM ET (US)            

The 80

The 100

The 115

I saw them at the boatshow in Ghent for the first time.

For those in Europe who are intending on buying a new Whaler: Whaler now offers the boats blank! With no engine. The package deals are still there but the price lists here in Belgium show a price for the blank version. This is new.

However, the least expensive power option is still choosing a Mercury engine for the boat. The package deal with a Merc will save you, for exmaple on a 170 Montauk, about 3.500-Euro.

The 170 Montauk must be rated for 100-HP over here now because it is offered as the standard choice on the Montauk. I didn't get the chance to take a picture of the rating plate inside the 170 Montauk because there weren't any at the show. I'll do that in a couple of weeks in Amsterdam.

posted 02-17-2007 09:42 AM ET (US)            

Due to the size of the Veradito, I am having second thoughts about the name I gave them. There is nothing about these motors that is diminutive, so taking a diminutive form of the VERADO name may not be the best way to describe them. At one time I was thinking of calling them "Verado-Lite" motors, but that can't work, either. But, for now, I guess we'll have stick with Veradito, but with the size factor understood.

posted 02-17-2007 04:13 PM ET (US)            

Go for the Laser II 13,25 x 20" with small vent plugs.
I think the new Veradito 90 is a bit stronger than my
2003 Merc. 4-stroke.
I use the middle set of holes. (third)
I put new connections on the tachometer, and hit
(cold weather) 5900+ rpm. (1 pers. 1/2 tank)