I'm having the same dilema picking engines. I started out wanting the Ilmors, picture below. I talked to a ton of folks about it at Miami, and every manufacturer, including mine, recommended sticking with Merc. Not only for service, but especially for resale.

So now it is between the 525s or 600s. I ran in the 382 Formula with 600s in Miami. They didn't really get much better performance than the 525s on top end. But the mid range is noticably better. And they sound better if you like the blower whine. But Merc's pricing tells me they sure are proud of them. I talked to the Merc engineer that headed up the 600 project. He feels they are far superior engines to the 525s, but we could have guessed that. Interestingly enough they do seem to idle better than the 525s, possibly helped by the lower compression. They are quieter than the 525s also. I wonder if one gets better gas performance than the other?

The Ilmor's looked great. My concern was I saw tons of 600s compared to only a couple Ilmor 625s, and those were in the Ilmor and Hustler booth.

Lots of folks will say get the 600s, but when you are paying out an extra 25-30K for 2 of them, you wonder why at times

Is Conrad brokering the Ilmor #6 boat ???

Is it a Quattro , or a GTX ???

I spoke with Scott Conrad today. He seemed like a very good guy, and was very helpful in discussing engine options ect... .

I believe he had a customer special order that boat. It is a 39 Quatro with 625hp Ilmors, and #6 drives. Owner wanted no drive problems, and plans to run the boat in the Catalina ski race. Boat has run over 98mph so far, and they think they will see over 100mph.

Thought I would bring this thread to the top again. Now that summer is half over, any of you folks that have experiences with the 600s want to comment on how you like them so far? Or the 625s?

I got a ride in a 39 the other weekend, the ride was great and very fast for 525 hp boat.
But i like big power.
Later if you are looking for more hp the new merc 600 is the easiest
to get hp. A pully change and efi tunning and you should be able to make 700hp easy and less $$$ then 850hp merc.

did you take delivery yet??

I took delivery in June. Pictures of the boat are on the "39 vs 42" Outerlimits thread. I ended up going with the 625 hp Ilmors.

Congrats ken! your boat looks great!

Thx Joe. Looking to possibly go to 42' 6 drive boat.

What's your opinion on the 625 Ilmors? Would you do them again over the Merc 600's? Any problems from them?


Robert