Ilmor 710
 

By a show of hands................

How many people do we have out there running either the 625 or the 710?

Looking at a boat with 710 power and just curious to find out what opinions are out there...

Looking for any information, good or bad, based on your personal experience.

Thanx

Own a boat w/ Twin 625's & in the process of trading up for a boat w/ 710's

Feel free to call me.

704-455-0659 W
704-376-3761 H

Nascat................

Thanx for taking some time out to chat.
Very informitive, good info.

Thanx

I WAS JUST 5-MINS ago on the phone with a buddie and we were talking about just that. If I were to build a new boat I would be going Ilmore just for the fact you can get 600 to 700 hp without a blower and they are so clean looking. Now if they could just get that new drive going I think they could give Merc something to worry about.

Cosmic,

You nailed it, same HP, lighter pkg & equal or better fuel economy w/o a blower. The area Ilmor really shines is Customer Service.

PS- ask & you shall receive, an Ilmor drive is in the works, look for it late this year.

From the sounds of things, there may be a drive in the works, we'll see. From the people I've talked to, I guess you can't go wrong from a customer service standpoint. They stand behind their product, almost to a fault.

625
 

Dtto on the help Nascat.
Thanks for your help and time.
I called Ilmor and the were very helpful.
When they get a drive it will really be neat.
John

If they pull the drive off..... It could really change the opionion of some die hard Merc guys.

I know of a few Merc guys that would seriously think about changing.

GB Performance Marine's demo Revenger RIB 30 has the 625 in front of an IMCO Xtreme Advantage gimbal and drive and the package really works well. It's a very clean install and from what I've heard Illmor has bent over backwards with their customer service.

http://www.expressenginesusa.com/image/31937900.jpg

That is just a clean, sano look. From a visual point of view, I don't think there's much better "factory" looking power.

625
 

Do the 625's require premium fuel??

Thats what I think also, and no damm blowers to deal with:D

9.6 to 1...............

Ilmor says premo....

I think 89 at the very least just based on the comp. ratio.

Anyone else?

Just curious as to why you think there is something wrong with having blowers? The Merc 700's run very low boost and have excellent dockside manors.

I think what people are saying is;

If they can get the big power without having to add the extra parts, i.e. SC, Blowers, etc. that they would rather have that.

One less part to worry about, one less potential problem yet you still get the big HP.

I agree with Omerta. I have absolutely nothing against Ilmore and I think they have an awesome product, but the advancement with efi blower motors has come a long way and if you talk to some companies (Teague, Pfaff, Sterling, etc) I think you'd be surprised with how much HP you can get for the same price as an Ilmore with the same warranty. You can't go wrong with Ilmores and I have heard nothing but praise about them, but no need to be afraid of blowers.

With out a doubt one could certainly make a case for those motor manufactures you've mentioned and several others too.

The only reason I ask the Ilmor question is simply based on the fact that I'm looking at a boat with the 710 in it. I cetainly don't want to down play any of the motors mentioned, they all build phenominal products but if put side by side, would one rather go 700 blown/sc HP or a normally asp. motor?

And the debate will never end.....

Thanx guys (and gals)

I think I might of skipped over the part that said the boat already has a 710 in it. In that case go for it and I doubt you'll be disappointed. As an example of customer service, Ilmore had a bad batch of valve springs in about 80 motors and the ones that failed and ended up breaking the motors, Ilmore took those engines back and gave out new ones. Definitely a good choice.

80 motors? I think I heard 20 and they ended up changing 10 motors in both directions once they figured which motors had the bad batch of springs..... But yes, perfect example. I've also heard from more then one person a story about Ilmor sticking people on a plane if one lacks a local service/repair facility. Absolutely an A+ from a service point of view.

Not so good with us.
We had an agreement for Ilmor to join us at a boatshow and share a booth with us. We were giving them space for free. Plans made, forms sent etc... everything all great and then they pull a 'no show'. Not even a call to say "can't make it" or anything, just disapeared.
Kind of leaves a taste.

That's not good.......... Were you ever able to get in touch with them to find out what happened?

They recommend 91 oct which doesn't exist. I've done 50/50 between 89 & 92 to help w/ the gas prices & haven't ever experienced any pinging. Sometimes I do every other tank between the two but I never fill up nor run it all the way out so realistically it's always mixed between the 2.

This might not work where it's super hot & or too high above sea level.

Ya but you no dought have that good ole race fuel around to add and make it what you want :evilb: By the way not to bad last week end, Jr got F'ed but not to bad over all

I don't think there is something wrong but just something else to have to maintain that gets wear & tear on it. Same HP w/o a blower w/ the ability to turn more RPM in a lighter package just seems to be a no brainer. At the end of the day your power to weight ratio is better almost as if you had made more HP.

The thing I've always wondered about Merc 525's & especially the 600's & 700's is why isn't there more aftermarket parts that will allow you to boost the HP. I don't believe I've even seen a pulley kit.

PS- Ilmor 550 & 625's are assembly line built but 710's are hand built.

Cosmic,

As a matter of fact I often mix Sunoco race gas w/ 89. In 2006 we were still on the leaded fuel like 110 octane. No boost in power just smelled cool. Last year switched to unleaded & dropped to like 106-7.

I called Ilmor 1st to make sure it was ok & they said yes but not to expect any gain. Burned super clean & way less soot out of the pies & on the transom!


They know we are a force to be reckoned with basically picking up where we left off!

Cool, I would think that it is worth it just to keep the crap off the transom and if it isn't building up out there its gotta be better inside the motors.

Who does the Ilmor service work ?

I talked to Ilmor the other day and they said they're bringing more and more shops on-line all the time....

In the interim, if you live in an area without a shop, they'll either fly your tech to them to educate him/her or they'll stick on of their guys on a plane and send him/her to you.

They certainly don't have the "coverage" merc does, but at least their willing to make it right.

Any qualified (clean, neat & reputable) marina or marine repair shop can become a certified Ilmor service center by attending Ilmor's training course as long they aren't located too close to an existing service center.

When something is wrong or malfunctioning, if you cannot reach a certified shop, we'll come fix it. The valve spring issue was a batch problem which we fixed in a few days......nationwide. If anyone is interested in becoming certified with us, call Ian Hawkins.

Ps. Ian gives you some ILMOR swag too when you attend!!! haha

And there you have it............ One can only assume you or someone you know works with/for/on Ilmors?
I've only heard good things from this side of Ilmor.

Just out of curiousity........... How many motors was it?

If I can't get the swag..... I'll take a sweatshirt, xxl, hooded, no zip in black.. ;)

Im an Ilmor tech. I believe it was 24, not sure man I was logging some miles on the west coast though. I had my basic tool kit and a **** load of springs in my bag. It was quite heavy.

The story I got from Bob (w/Ilmor) is that it was just a full motor swap for everyone that had a bad batch... Not that it really matters. In the long run the customer got taken care of.

As an Ilmor tech, is there anything you'd change about the 625 or 710?

Nope. Its a proven package with alot of great advantages. Fuel mileage, weight, unique sound, LOOKS, etc.... Some bad (as in good) fellas were involved in the dev. of them.

The fuel mileage comment raises one more question..........

It seems like the fuel economy is never stated when hot boat or power boat does a story on an Ilmor powered boat. I assumed Ilmor was keeping that info from being published because it wasn't good. Would you say it's in line or even better with a 700 merc?

What was the situation on the vapor lock situation on the 625motors. Jeff

I can't see how a supercharged motor would get better fuel economy than a naturally aspirated motor of the same horsepower level. The blower motor burns power turning the blower, if you're talking about a 700 hp motor you're probably talking at least 50 hp to turn that blower.