considering a 2004 292 with scorpions. nice boat, low hours, hyd steering, drive showers, etc. i hear that these 292's have some issues getting on plane?

this boat only has the small tabs, no k's, but i believe that the k's are not even an option - has anyone installed k planes and how much? did it help with the planing & handling?

what is the deal with the 91 only octane - can i get away using 89 octane and will the motor compensate thru timing, etc. or will i am asking for trouble (i.e. burn down)? 91 on the lake is hard to come by.

how fast and how is the gas consumption versus the 6.2's?

thanks in advance!

I had an 02 292 with 350 mags, had no problem planing, now the 271 was a different story.

Ihave a 292 with 6.2's and have NO problem plaining...I do not even use the tabs...I keep them at 2 on the indicators.

I agree with Bill's statement. Not an issue IMO.

I don't believe the Scorpians have the ability to compensate for 89. These engines had older ECMs that I don't think had that capability. The newer engines adjust,but I don't think these do.

The Scorpion engines do have knock sensors but I am not sure how much the MEFI-3 computer can compensate for lower octane fuel (if at all). Anyway Dustin said in message number 40 from the following thread: http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/s...=186235&page=2 that if timing is adjusted a few degress you should be safe with the Scorpions to run on 89 octane.

At WOT a Scorpion engine uses app. 29 US gallons per hour according to my Northstar fuel flow setup (note that I have never calibrated the setup).

thanks for the input everyone. i talked to mercury racing yesterday regarding fuel octane and they said the motor is not capable of adjusting for 89 octane and therefore only 91 should be run. i also asked about octane boost additives and they said they could not recommend any additive to use as they have not tested any in their applications.

Mercury will not comment officially on octane boosters because they don't want to be blamed if something goes wrong. Can't blame them for taking that position. There are some good octane boosters out there. Do a search here(Formula forum) for 600's with 89 octane.A customer of ours has Scorpions and he carries Torco with him for when he can't find 91 or 93. Never had a problem.