Friend is considering upping the HP, but I am trying to keep him away from a blower; considering options from Raylar to up his 496HO.

I already told him he will need prop, hydraulic steering, exhaust, and upgraded drive.

Hey Sydwayz;
Your friend is lucky to have someone like yourself to help him along!
We've got a quite a few customers who have put our 103 kit on 496's in Baja 25's. I can say with cetainty he can have 525HP without exhaust and ECM upgrades on his stock 496HO with our 103 kit, but as for performance increases I can say that 25 Outlaws are not speed demons with lots of power due to Baja bottom design, weight and other normal production boat factors. Our expierence and our Baja 25 customers results seem to be about 12-15HP for every mile an hour increase in top end with proper prop and setup work, so this generaly translates to about 7-8 mph for the 100 hp increase. add a good exhaust like Dana or CMI and the addtional 40hp should translate to about 2-3 mph increase for a +10mph increase in speed overall, all things being correct with (HOOKS) removed! Did I say HOOKS!, yes Baja's 25's are famous for them so have him check the bottom.
Good call on hydraulic steering or steering assist, any performance boat going over 70mph with stock bravo steering is a potential safety issue and any real power upgrade in a boat will require carefull prop selection. We've got BBlades and ThrottleUP right here on OSO to help him with that specialty.
As for drives, his boating whether on big ocean water or lake use and his driving habits will more determine if he needs a drive upgrade. we have probably over a hundred 525HP 496's running fine on stock Bravo 1, Bravo 1X and Bravo XZ drives without issues. Good luck to your friend and may he achieve his goal. If I can help, have him call!

Best Regards,

Ray @ Raylar

Such as??



I will say that it is going to take more than 525hp for a 25 to see 85MPH. I would guess closer to 650hp.

"Wildcard" should know.

I had a 1998 25 Outlaw with a factory Merc HP500 (470h.p.)and the best was 72gps. Bravo 1 24P Mercury racing lab finished prop. Yes, you need a ton of power to break 80 in the 25 Outlaw. Which by the way, I would not feel safe doing anyways. I would think you would have some chine walking at that speed.

Some bigger tabs(planes) on that boat for running those speeds is a good idea.. Jamie / Lakeside


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750 plus horsepower to get to 85. It won't happen without a blower or big cubic inch motor.

I had 550 in my 24 outlaw and was doing 76. It will take at least another 150 more hp to do 85 based on that.

If he is real smart he will take all the money it will cost to do the upgrades and apply that as a down payment on a larger boat that will run 85 MPH out of the box.

He will NEVER see the money back out of the 25 and he still has a 25 foot boat that in some water conditions will not be safe at 85 MPH.

The 525 HP from the Raylar kit will not get you to 85 MPH and personally I think that you are not spending money wisely trying to upgrade a 496 based on problems friends have encountered with that engine and the weaker internals.

I have seen whippled 502 Mags barely hit 80 MPH in the 25 Outlaw.

Just my opinion.

After this summer......I say leave the motor stock. If you want to cruise at 55, keep pushing the throttles down until your running 55. The extra gas will never cost what the motor upgrades will and stock motors can run 4,000-4,500 all day long.

As always...I totally agree with Doc. Gottaask...why would anyone want to do 85 in a 25 foot Outlaw. Those suckers chime walk at 70 couldn't imagine 85.

I already told him everything that everyone mentioned. I just needed some more ammo. With only the stock 496HO, he does not know what loose is yet.

He'll be in a 33 Active Thunder with 525EFIs that runs 92 out of the box before you know it. All I have to do is design a paint scheme that pleases his wife. I know she likes red, white & blue.

Somebody buy the 25' Outlaw I have in the classifieds, (its my neighbor's boat, the one in question).