I've never owned a set. I hear two different things about them:

1) They were/are wonderful and could handle pretty big power. Better than bravos. The whole consperacy theory that merc stopped making them because they were too strong

or

2) They sucked/suck can't get parts for them and they brake alot.

So which one is it?? Are they decent drives, really good drives, or do they suck??

Tank

I've heard mostly #1...

They Rock! # 1 theory

#1 and with the BW tranny they shift a hell of a lot better than a Bravo ever will.

mike

#! but I believe the same boat with Bravos is faster if they stay together.

#1 as long as it has the BW or aftermarket improved trans. The Merc trans is the weak link. The way to tell the diffrence is that the Borg-Warner trans bolts to the bellhousing, the Merc trans and bellhousing are cast as one peice.

#1 with Borg Warner Tranny. It is basically the point between a Bravo and an SSM. Bring back the TRS merc!

My boat has TRS and they were 15 years old before i blew one.
That was with 500+ H.P. for all those. In a heavy 38 foot boat.
It's all in how you drive it.

This is a good question and I am wondering, you see all sorts of boats for sale and quite a few have the TRS drives. Not saying this is the reason they are selling them, it's just that's what was on it that year. It's good to see this is a great product but what is the availability of parts for these drives. I often see on this site people trying to get parts or trying to convert to Bravo's. Are there aftermaket places to get these parts?

strong, but slow.