I'm interested to know why the Ilmor Engines are so much cleaner looking than Mercury Racing?

Certainly not a stab at Merc but why do they have all that plumbing, hoses, and lines/harness everywhere and the Ilmor stuff looks like it wouldn't even run with it all missing??

It's obvious that there are two totally different trains of thought. The Ilmor stuff is just beautiful clean.

Engineering. Ilmor has been building tidy compact packages needed for open racing for a long time.

Now that the Non racing 502 is essentially a Mercury Racing 525 less the CMI headers watch what the sell it for. You will see how much fluff is in Mercury Racing's pricing. The 502 catalyst exhaust most probably cost as much or more than Mercury Racing pays for the CMI's.
Steve

I always thought Ilmor stuff apples to apples was a lot more than Merc. Is it possible to use the 650 or the 725 without having to use their tranny?

SD- The (superb) merc powerplants use blowers to get their power and torque and the associated plumbing for intercoolers & belt for the blowers change the profile of the engine and add plumbing you see.

The ilmor is a fuel injected v-10 using a single serpentine belt to drive the accessories, it is a very clean sanitary setup.

The ilmor stuff is quite expensive, but I wouldn't say its "a lot more".

Not sure about the 725 or 650, but my 710 bolted right up to an XR.
Can you get a Merc 700 without an NXT?

Uncle Dave

its called "penske perfect" attention to the smalest details drives the man and the product

Thanks!

I'm well aware that the larger Mercs have blowers and associated overhead but I was meaning to make the comparison with say a 525 or even a 496 (although not big hp). Both of these engines are a mess when compared to the Ilmor 650 range..

Regarding your question on whether or not one could get the Merc 700 without the NXT - - I have been told no numerous times but I don't believe it as of this writing.

My bet is that if I walk in somewhere with cash and insist on buying it they probably would at the very least consider making a sale rather than turning me away but who knows. I've seen stranger things out of Merc before...

I think I remember something about them never selling any of the six stuff to dealers who were not certified by Merc to install it.... That was a few years ago though. Have you noticed some of their stuff has come down a little in price?

Im not quite sure but id like to know if most of the electrical and plumbing you speak of is used on more than just 1 model. Making extra "mess" to see when not in use? Our line of engines use all the same sensors in the very same locations. We have 1 loom for Gen 3 and 1 loom for Gen 4.

ID-