Mercury 1350 & M8 Development

[jeffbare]

From todays Soundings Trade Only.

Testing continues on Mercury Racing engine
Posted on July 09, 2010
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Refinement continues on the Quad Cam 4-valve engine platform at Mercury Racing, the company said.

Mercury has been doing dynamometer and in-boat endurance testing since the engine was introduced at the 2010 Miami International Boat Show. The development team also has been refining calibration of the engine and Digital Zero Effort controls - both in Mercury Racing's test boats and in the 46 Cigarette.

Development remains on schedule and production of the 1,350-hp QC4v will begin this month, as announced in February.

Shipments of the 1,350-hp engines, M8 drives and Digital Zero Effort controls will begin in August. The first pair will go into the AMG Cigarette, replacing the production validation test hardware now installed.

The company said production of the engine and M8 drive is sold out into March 2011.

Mercury Racing is a division of Mercury Marine, which is based in Fond du Lac, Wis.

[FunHome]

I wonder what the "Mercury Racing Test Boats" are???

[Donskihp]

Any guesses on the price? I f I recall the last time I heard a price on the 1075 w/drive was 165K. I'm guesseing around 200K

[Perlmudder]

I believe the pack is 202k

[top ven]

Thats not bad !!

[OneBadInjun]

I wonder what the "Mercury Racing Test Boats" are???

Test mules are installed in a new AMG Cigarette. They will be removed & replaced with fresh modified production versions shortly, for the owner.

[FasterFaster]

Text of the full release:

Mercury Racing 1350 Production Will Begin This Month
FOND DU LAC, Wis., July 08, 2010 – *Refinement continues on the Quad Cam Four Valve (QC4v) engine platform at Mercury Racing. Since its introduction at the 2010 Miami Boat Show, Racing has been hard at work with dynamometer and in-boat endurance testing, accumulating hundreds of brutal hours.

Also, the development team has been refining calibration of the engine and Digital Zero Effort controls – both in Racing’s test boats and in the AMG inspired 46 Cigarette. Development remains on schedule; 1350 production will begin in July, as announced in February.

Shift refinement is complete: There is neither throttle surge, nor RPM drop, when shifting into or out of gear, says Fred Kiekhaefer, Mercury Racing’s president. “The prop either turns – or it doesn’t. No drama. Shifting is so good, it’s spooky.” The dock-side manners of these 9L V-8’s are truly exceptional.

The digital throttles have also been re-mapped and fine-tuned. With feedback from Cigarette’s chief tester, Bud Lorow, Racing technicians made the throttle levers more responsive for rough water throttling and to feel “more familiar” while coming on plane. The Digital Zero Effort’s synchronization feature is also a novel experience; get close and the engines automatically match RPM – whether the two levers are managing twins, triples or quads.

“An advantage of testing with Cigarette is that we learn together,” says Kiekhaefer. “In this case, we learned that we can make 1350 horsepower without the packaging complexity of direct air induction. At inception, we thought we needed direct air, but put enough air in the engine room and the power is there.” All QC4v production will be 1350 horsepower models, using ambient air induction. (1300 and 1350 direct air induction configurations will not be introduced.) This simplifies boat design, installation and maintenance -- and enables styling flexibility.

Total Engine Application Management (T.E.A.M.) is Mercury Racing’s accreditation process that ensures the highest standards for boat installation quality and consumer satisfaction. Commitment to the T.E.A.M. process is required for a boat builder to purchase 1350 packages. Cigarette is the first builder to become T.E.A.M. accredited for 1350s.

Shipments of 1350 engines, M8 drives and Digital Zero Effort controls will begin in August. The first pair will go into the AMG Cigarette, replacing the production validation test hardware currently installed. 1350 and M8 production is sold out into March 2011.