Mercury Verado 350 or 400?
 

I have a Nortech 34 that I am trying to decide which power options? Triple engine setup. Attended the Miami show so I spoke with Nortech and Mercury. Any benefit of going with 400s? Speed increases? Longevity? Warranty on 350s is 5 years on 400s 2 yrs w option to purchase 2 additional years. Any input appreciated.

first year for the 400's, 1st year for anything is guinea pig territory..... So if you go with the 400's get 1 or 2 extra to swap out so you dont end up with down time.

Around a 6 k up charge for the 400 over 350. The 400 need 92 octane to get 400 hp otherwise they detune which probably gives them 350 hp. So if you plan on marine gas 90 why spend the extra money and lesser warrinity.

Stay with the 350 unless they give you a great deal to test the 400

with trip 350's that thing will be a rocket mid 80's I would guess, with trip 400's maybe mid 90's, if you can get 4yr warranty on the 400's I say go for it, who knows maybe it will break 100.

350s

I have a 2013 34 with 300s and love it. It will run mid 70s. 350s you will be more then happy. Take the longer warranty and be done. Good choice on your new boat, have fun.

Great advice by bill63. Honestly, its a CC and quad 400s going 98 mph is cool, but its still a CC.

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if you opt for the 350's, see if the new Sport Masters are available as an option.

If your boat can attain 85MPH, then the SportMasters is a must as the 5.4 lowers will blowout at 85MPH.

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Almost all the premium on LOTO is 93, and both 87 and 93 are non ethanol. They still carry non ethanol premium at some of the road gas stations there. Very gas friendly area for boaters. I'd stick with the 350s, plenty of power for the 34CC. But I'd still add that bow thruster.:ernaehrung004:

Thats great we are not that lucky with fuel in Michigan and Fort Myers can't find a gas station with premium. Oh the bow thruster don't get me in trouble again.:angry-smiley-038:

Thanks for the replies. Nortech orders the 350s with the Sportmaster lowers. Looks like the 350s are the more logical choice. Still should run 80 with plenty of torque. I would imagine it is fitted with the Bravo 1 fs prop.

I spoke to both Mercury & Nor-Tech this weekend. No One was willing to or able to provide accurate or exact pricing on these engines. I was given dealer cost as low as $2800 ea (let's face it every dealer doesn't pay the same, Merc has like 5 price columns) to retail of $4200 to a realistic avg cost of $3500ea. I was told to figure $11-12k to go from 300's to 350's and another $11-12k to got from 350's to 400's. Bill63 is correct on the lower octane resulting in less HP.

I specifically asked if the 300's & 350's come w/ the same lower. The 350's come w/ the HD lower the only choice which is an option on 300's but I asked Terry & he said all Nor-Tech's receive the optional HD lower. Not sure what lower is on the 400.

I'm not sure what arrangements you've made but I believe your build is ahead of mine & I believe my engines are there or on the way. Might not be so easy to negotiate at this point but we'll assume you have those bases covered.

350's will NOT ship until late March but who will get them first is an unknown, my guess is Cig since they are basically Merc Exclusive. My salesman said Nor-Tech wouldnt be very interested in delaying production and or final payment over me changing my mind.

You may wish to verify that the shaft length is the same as on the current 300 or 350, if not you might be chasing your tail as to what the optimum setup is including prop pitch. I was also told even if the same length the engines may actually perform better lowered or raised but again tough to say without any test time. Will Nor-Tech provide that or just bolt them on at what they believe is a good all around height? I asked around and most of the boats on display have never seen water, just debuting the 2 new Merc offerings.

Last but not least & my main concern is how much faster do you really want to go in a 34 CC, b/c they run a honest 74-75mph w/ 300's as it is & my guess is that the hardtop is going to start creating lift issues as you approach higher speeds. There's a reason they built & tested the 39 w/ quad 400's as a topless boat.

Long story short to each their own but to me it's not worth the extra $$, wait, setup unknowns & reliability unknowns. My plan has always been to go w/ the 300's but consider the Whipple ECU upgrades @ $2100 for all 3 engines. Yes it will void the warranty but I also have $10k in the bank. The other option is to buy ECU's to have Whipple upgraded and keep stock.

I don't see anyone getting the $20k+ back on resale & how the boat will perform is a total unknown so what if after spending $20k it's capable of 90mph, will it be stable at 90mph & even if so how many times will you boat in that range? These are all the questions I asked myself setting up my Skater & I'm rationalizing w/ again as I finalize my Nor-Tech.

Best of luck regardless of what you decide. I'm certainly not the authority on this decision, just sharing what I learned as a result of asking many of the same questions.

Sorry I didn't get to put a name w/ a face at the show.

I was told that the new 350 hp have a larger-taller geer set so that the motor placement and prop selection will be the same as the 300hp. I believe in a couple years the resale on and 350 boat will much better then a 300 boat. I am considering selling my 300 boat now and replacing with 350-400 for that reason. If you can swap motors at this time with Nortech I would because all that will be coming out of Nortech in the future will be 350-400's. Everyone loves stock motors so swaping out ecm's I think is a bad idea in my view. Btw Nascat my 39 cc runs 68 mph all day not sure the 34 is that much faster I don't want you to be disapointed. Bill

Bill- All that may be true. You are in a different scenario than Rebel & I who have boats in production & are forced to make a 4th & goal decision NOW. Considering a new build presents all sorts of options including taking all the great things you love about your current 390 & maybe some of the things you wish you had or have seen others do since.

Sportboats took me out in a triple 300 34 & it ran 74 w/ 4 on board & 1/2 a tank. I care way less about MAX top speed b/c I don't see myself boating in that range much, what I do like about a higher top end is the increase in cruise speed that accompanies it. That's where I see the majority of my time spent. Ever look at boats for sale w/ Mercury SmartCraft, a 200 hr boat w/ Merc 525's - 700's normally has less than 10hrs at WOT or even 90% of WOT. Most want to be able to say their boat will run "X" but in the end they don't run their boat at "X" much if at all.

Two sets of ECU's allows you to go either way. How many on the boards here have a diesel truck w/ some sort of tune on it whether it be for performance, towing or fuel mileage yet no one really fears resale value b/c it's non stock. In general stock power in cars & boats are set rich & middle of the road to be able to manage all climates. Personally I don't consider optimizing fuel & spark much of a modification from stock. Changing to a reusable K&N air filter in your vehicle is no longer stock & we justify it by applying the reasoning that allowing the engine to breath better makes sense & is a justifiable improvement.

Long story short I don't think there is any right or wrong, it just comes down to budget & personal preference. I feel like my boat as it stands right now will be a desirable package for the next guy based on how I spec'd it out especially w/ the additional bow area seating. If I absolutely must have 350's or 400's I'll sell it & build another which amounts to a huge part of the fun factor.

I have ZERO interest in an 80+ mph 34' CC. You have a 39' CC that may remain quite stable at 80mph based on the additional weight since the hardtops are the same size. The 344GT has the small top & quads & has proven to be a very stable boat but I don't believe there are more than 5 in existence. Notice the windscreen doesn't go all the way up to the hardtop like it does on the 340 or 390. Definitely isn't trapping as much air.

Ultimately it's going to take someone building a 340 w/ 350's or 400's before any of us will know whether it was worth it.

You have all good points and that 34 blue cc gt is super fast I have ran with it a few times. Good luck with the rest of your build it will turn out great. See you on a FMO fun run soon and we will talk boats over a few cold ones.

Wht w/ Blue stripe 344GT is available for IMMEDIATE sale thru SportBoats for anyone looking for a faster all out performance CC w/ very nice seating / bolsters.

I definitely look forward to meeting the many of you who I've traded ideas & info with over the last few months.

Lucky guys! NT 34 CC is my current dream boat.

Had a blast with my AT build, enjoy yours! Sounds like you are. :)