Mercury Ends the VERADO Supercharged Engine Era

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jimh
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Mercury Ends the VERADO Supercharged Engine Era

Postby jimh » Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:54 am

With the recent announcement of several V-10 engines in the 350-HP to 400-HP range, Mercury will be ending production of the VERADO FOURSTROKE 2.6-liter in-line six-cylinder engine that it revealed on February 12, 2004.

The in-line six-cylinder supercharged VERADO FOURSTROKE engine was announced at the Miami International Boat Show in February of 2004. It was an amazing leap from conventional outboard engines of that time. As it happened, I was in attendance at the Miami Boat Show in 2004 and was among the many other boaters there who marveled at the engine and its remarkably quiet operation at lower engine speeds. The supercharger was initially thought to be a rather suspect idea for use in a saltwater environment, but over the engine's production life that component never seemed to be a problem. In addition to supercharging, the engine also used only electronic shift and throttle controls (called SmartCraft DTS by Mercury), and it implemented an electric power boost pump for its integral power steering system. These were all radical changes.

By 2007, Mercury had upped the VERADO supercharged 2.6-liter in-line six-cylinder engine to 300-HP. Later came even more powerful versions, like the 350-HP and 400-HP models.

Over the past decade or so, Mercury has been eating away at the VERADO supercharged engines' market. Every new four-stroke-power-cycle engine from Mercury has canabal-ized sales of the VERADO.

The first version of the VERADO to go was the smaller, four-cylinder engine. In 2011 Mercury introduced a new 150-HP naturally-aspirated 3.0-liter displacement in-line four-cylinder engine, describing it as "lightweight, compact, and versatile." The engine was smaller, lighter, cheaper, and simpler than the VERADO 150. It used standard mechanical engine remote controls. It was a great fit for re-powering older boats, and very nice on new boats, too. See

Mercury 150 FourStroke EFI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duxWXmudd24

In February 2018, Mercury introduced a 3.4-liter V6 four-stroke-power-cycle engines at 175, 200, and 225-HP levels. Thus further cut into sales of VERADO supercharged engines in those horsepower ranges. More at

Mercury Introduces a V6 FOURSTROKE in 175, 200, and 225-HP
https://continuouswave.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3126

New Non-supercharged VERADO Models

Not wanting to abandon the VERADO name badge, Mercury then began introducing non-supercharged four-stroke-power-cycle engines using the VERADO branding. A V8 4.6-liter engine in 250-HP to 300-HP took on the VERADO name. Later a V12 7.6-liter engine was also branded as VERADO, providing an amazing 500 to 600-HP.

With the recent introduction of the V10 5.7-liter VERADO engine at 350 and 400-HP, there was no longer a place for the old in-line 2.6-liter six-cylinder supercharged engine. The original VERADO has now been made obsolete.

So long six-cylinder in-line supercharged VERADO. You were a remarkable innovation in outboard engines in 2004, but the supercharged outboard engine era in recreational marine engines has ended in 2022.

The original VERADO in-line six-cylinder had a nice run, from 2004 to 2021, or 17 years. That's about the same model life span as the Evinrude E-TEC, introduced in 2003 and ended in 2020.

Jefecinco
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Re: Mercury Ends the VERADO Supercharged Engine Era

Postby Jefecinco » Sat Nov 19, 2022 9:24 am

Thanks for the Mercury update. [Moderator's note: comments about the new electrical system on the new Mercury V10 engine are moved to SMALL BOAT ELECTRICAL for discussion.]
Butch

jimh
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Re: Mercury Ends the VERADO Supercharged Engine Era

Postby jimh » Sat Nov 19, 2022 10:15 am

Regarding the continuation of the VERADO name badge on the non-supercharged engines, in the case of the initial V8 models of non-supercharged VERADO engines, those new engines continued to used the engine mounting system that Mercury referred to as the Advanced Mid-Section or AMS mount. They also continued most of the advanced features of the VERADO, including the remote electronic shift and throttle controls (or DTS in Mercury branding) and the power-boosted electric-hydraulic steering. These new VERADO engine also continued the very quiet engine noise signature at idel speeds. The continuation of these features justifies the continued use of the VERADO name badge, even if the supercharging was eliminated. The VERADO name badge now means advanced features, not just use of a supercharger.