Mercury takes to the air to get V6 engines in the water

Mercury is believed to be air-freighting some of its all-new V6 outboard engines to Australian customers to ensure the new engines get to customers as quickly as possible.

Demand for the highly anticipated Mercury V6 175hp, 200hp and 225hp FourStrokes, introduced earlier this year, continues to grow at unprecedented rates, and are selling faster than the engine maker’s Australian and New Zealand arm can bring them in by boat. This high level of demand is believed to have forced the decision to fly in engines direct from the US.

“The response from the boating public to the new range of V8 and V6 outboard engines and what they offer has been nothing short of sensational,” Mercury ANZP general manager Will Sangster told Boatsales.com.au.

“Regional demand in Australia and New Zealand for Mercury’s new four-stroke high-horsepower outboard engines is up well into double digits and production is up significantly to meet that demand,” he said.

“Regionally, we have been preparing over the last few years with our dealers for the consumer market swing to four-stroke technology, and this boating season there will be more boaters on the water with Mercury four-stroke outboard product than ever before.”

The naturally aspirated V6 motors replace a range of supercharged four-cylinder engines, but produce more power for a lower fuel burn.

The new outboards are built on Mercury's new 3.4L V6 platform that is designed to be powerful, light, compact and fuel-efficient. It employs a large displacement powerhead and, says Mercury, a proven mid-section and drive-system design.

“Our manufacturing operations are running well, but we have to continue a high pace of production out of the factory to meet the growing demand for our product, including the addition of a third shift in the US,” Sangster said.

“In fact, overall investment in capacity across our higher horsepower product lines in Fond du Lac is hundreds of millions of dollars over the past five to six years. Because of higher-than-expected demand, we are adding more talent, more machines and boosting capacity to meet this demand.”

He said Mercury would “continue to work to meet and exceed the expectations of our customers, exhausting all methods to shorten transport lead times from the US. Their patience will be rewarded, as they will absolutely love this product on the water”.

Mercury says that at 215kg, the new FourStroke 200hp engine is the lightest in its class by more than 4.5kg.

The 3.4L V6 FourStroke platform also boasts Mercury's best acceleration and, according to the marine engine maker, with 20 per cent more torque than the closest four-cylinder competitor at cruise.

With a performance-inspired dual-overhead quad-cam and four-valve design, the engine is designed to reach higher speeds faster.

This outboard also is apparently the only one of its kind that maintains RPM regardless of load or condition changes, resulting in a "sportier" feel for drivers through turns.