They were/are closer to 800s. Probably should've been marketed as such. There's actually a yellow fountain in the classifieds with these "800s" in it.

Cool motors for sure. But expensive from the get go and then you're not getting parts anywhere other than mother merc. So when you can put a whipple on a 525 or work a 600 or 700 a bit...

what does an 860 cost?

I think they were/are right around 100k

They're no longer available from what I've heard. No loss imo, as they didn't have the performance to justify the cost. I'm hoping Mercury releases a new engine in the next few years that bridges the large gap between the current 700sci and the 1100 QC4V. I'd love to see something like a GM based 540/557/588 big block with one of the new high efficiency large Whipple/EFI setups. The aftermarket engine builders seem to be building these combinations that are reliably putting out real HP numbers in the 1,000-1,050 range on 91 octane pump gas. The way that Mercury underrates their motors, they could offer this setup as a 950 to keep it from competing with the 1100 and give us guys that don't want the maintenance and cost associated with the QC4V motors something to repower with from our 700sci's. I think they'd also be a big hit with the OEMs, especially with insurance companies tightening up on big power builds.

I highly doubt they come out with anything new that isn’t based on their design/parts. If they were to bridge the gap which I doubt they will, my money’s on it’ll be qc4v based, little more power than the “860s”, so then higher priced, shorter maintenance intervals, and shorter warranty.

1100 s go 300 i would have to think na would go longer

I agree. I’ve always thought the 860 could have a really long service interval. What wears out?

Don't know, but I am quite sure I saw 300 hours in a table somewhere.

It does generate recurring revenue for Mercury. From an investor perspective, that is a good thing.

I bet the margins on the QCV4 engines, parts and service are very good. There should be plenty of room for lower priced engines if Mercury so desires. However, competing with off-brand engine builders is not where Mercury wants to go.

I doubt Mercury is doing any more development on I/O performance based motors. Lots of engineering and development cost for a VERY tiny market.

With the outboards they can be used on whatever and you want more power bolt another on. Just my opinion.