http://www.sunspot.net/sports/outdoo...ports-outdoors



Nearly at dock: silent side of power
Candus Thomson -- On the Outdoors
August 10, 2003

NEW ORLEANS - Pssst. Over here. In the weeds. Don't wave. Just try to
look casual.

If you've ever checked out a car or boat magazine, you've probably seen
stories about mysterious prototypes that zoom around in public with all
their markings covered up. In hot pursuit are the other guys, trying to
nail a photo or steal a detail about the competition's latest and
greatest advance.

I've always wondered what it was like to be the pursued. Now I know.

It started as a simple invitation at the Bassmaster Classic. "Wanna see
the future of motors?" asked the sandy-haired man in the Mercury Marine
shirt standing in the New Orleans hotel lobby. "Be here at 8 a.m.
tomorrow. We'll show you Project X."

Eight aye-em can come pretty early in the Big Easy. But "Project X"
brought out my inner Mata Hari.

The next morning, Mata Hari II, secret agent, is sitting in an unmarked
vehicle, which is extraordinary at the Classic, where almost everything
that moves screams the name of a boat builder, a brew maker or a
broadcaster.

Thirty minutes later, the door opens at a state park named Bayou
Segnette, Cajun for "inside the mouth of a dog," which pretty much sums
up the temperature and humidity level.

At the launch ramp are two unremarkable boats: a 31-foot center-console
craft and a 21-foot bass boat. On the stern of each are motors, solid
black except for the Mercury nameplate.

There's a round of introductions and the usual weather chit-chat.

I jump in the bigger boat for a test spin and we slowly move away from
the dock. Startling discovery No. 1: We're not drifting; we're under power.

After passing the no-wake zone, Steve Miller, the product manager for
"Project X," throttles up. I do a Bourbon Street stagger. Within 40
yards, we're bow up, skimming the water.

"This is the way four-stroke was meant to be," Miller says. "This is
game-changing technology. It makes you feel like you're back in an old
two-stroke."

I hear every word, and he's not shouting. The tachometer reads 4,000
RPMs. An 18-wheeler passing on a bridge overhead is noisier than the
twin Mercs behind me.

When Mercury executives say hush-hush project, they really mean it.

Miller throttles back, then opens it up again. There's no surge. He
makes a hard turn with the throttles open. No loss of RPMs.

Startling discovery No. 2: This baby runs on regular, not premium, gas.

The motors are attached to an all-digital control system that eliminates
the need to adjust cables. Just connect the motor to the controls with a
computer data cable, and you're done.

Back at the dock, I change to the bass boat, with Jack Litjens,
Mercury's hydrodynamics lab supervisor, at the controls.

Beyond the no-wake zone, he pushes it up to 50 mph. We continue talking
at normal levels.

"It runs like a sewing machine but it has F-16 power," Litjens says.

I ask him how Project X compares with the development of other motors at
their Wisconsin headquarters.

"I've been at Mercury 35 years," he says. "The V-6 was exciting. The
OptiMax was pretty exciting. This is awesome."

Just then, a redneck in a gaudy bass boat running a 225-horsepower
Yamaha begins inching up, clearly spoiling for a showdown.

"I'm not going to race him," says my driver. "I don't have to."

The guy inches obnoxiously closer.

"But you know what?" says Litjens, turning to me with a tight smile. "I
think I will."

In three blinks, we're running at 77 mph. In the immortal words of that
speed demon, Margaret Mitchell, we're gone with the wind. The South may
rise again, but not today, not against this Yankee-powered boat.

How do they do it? Mercury executives are about as silent as their
motors. Company representatives won't even talk about horsepower, but
I'd guess 225 to 250 on the prototype models.

The company has put $100 million into the product, including building a
new factory. Production is about a year away.

What will the motor-steering combo cost? Another round of tight lips,
except for Miller, who laughs and says, "A lot."

Industry analysts say the top-of-the-line model will probably be in the
neighborhood of $18,000.

Start saving now.


--
* * *
email sent to will *never* get to me.

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...




http://www.sunspot.net/sports/outdoo...ports-outdoors

~~ snippage ~~

Industry analysts say the top-of-the-line model will probably be in the
neighborhood of $18,000.

Start saving now.

I'll take two. ;)

I have heard that the new E-tec Johnson/Evinrude engines are
supposed to be similar in terms of quiet - lots of sound work
went into the air intakes, bonnet baffles and exhaust.

That fly-by-wire system would make me a little nervous though.

I'll still take two.

Later,

Tom

"Clams Canino" wrote in message
news:skg_a.89950$cF.26694@rwcrnsc53...

There is a rumor that those new four strokers might be inline 6's. Heh

Kewl.

On Wed, 13 Aug 2003 01:17:12 GMT, "Clams Canino"
wrote:

There is a rumor that those new four strokers might be inline 6's. Heh

-W


)



Courtesy of Lee Yeaton,
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