I'd be interested in feedback on the difference between a pair of 496Ho Mags, Vs. a pair of 525 Mercury racing engines in a Formula 353. Let us see what the experts say. The 525 'Blue Motors' are pretty expensive. Is it worth it. I know you get Heavy duty XR drives, external steering, 5 blade props, Mercury K-Planes, etc..........BUT, is it worth the money. You could through a set of CMI headers on the 496s and get around 475h.p.

if you got the coin .....go blue ....

Talk to Magicfloat (formula dealer) about the 353 with 496's. It can be ordered with steering, XR's, etc. and still runs low 70's. CMI's would probably get it to 75-76. Not sure what they run with 525's but I assume it just over 80.

you don't need XR's. The 496 HO comes packaged with an X drive...plenty of beef.

You do want Latham steering however.

I have a 353 sport w/496mag Ho,s, I ordered it with Latham steering, it comes stock w/ K planes,28p 4 blade props, bravo1X drives......worst top speed:67mph-hot,humid,flat salt water , full fuel,6 people.....best top speed:77mph-44degrees,1-2 ft chop,2 persons,1/2fuel....on GPS.....525's- add about 80K, new, I was TOLD about 5mph more....

wow! 80k for 5 mph!!!!!

that is expensive per mph!!!!

In case you want to spend big money
go with the 600 `s
The are priced closer to the 525 `s
than the 525`s are priced to the 496 HO `s

You will gain about 20 MPH from your 496 HO `s
This is worth the money- if you can affort it
525 give not enough speed for the money

If you're open-minded and willing to consider used, have a look at Post #12 on the DPX-A thread. Those are close-cooled engines built by Innovation.

Was in the same boat as you i test drove a brand new 2007 353 with the 496's we got about 71 on the ocean out of it. The i went to new york where i found a left over 2005 353 with 525's there we got 84.5 on the gps could have got a maybe 1-2 mph more but ran out of room. I opted for the 2005. on the lake it runs about 80-81 on gps