There is no argument that these outboards are changing things. With Mercury being the only one involved, I imagine failures and lifespan remain pretty quiet. Let's face it, more newly built boats are not discussed on forums than are. Are these really the future? Does a 3x or 4x outboard boat really outlive a 525EFI or 700SCI boat? What is going to keep someone else from offering 400's in an exchange or reman offering when these start getting past the warranty years?

Some observations from poker runs is that these are being run as hard or harder than inboards. Are the center consoles running 90% to keep up with the pack or is the pack slowing down?

In for an interesting discussion.

I have 500 plus hours on my 300's with nothing but routine maintenance. Also have 3-4 years of warranty left on them

You do know that the CC's are cruising in the 60/70 mph range and not "maxed" or stressed out. That is a fine speed in that group as most runs will class/group the boats by speed.

I do. I understand that most of them will only run 70-75 so I just assumed that they were running pretty hard most of the time. They are so quiet, I imagine you don't feel so bad about it compared to an inboard that would turn 5600 but were just going to "cruise" at 5k all day.

I know a quad 300 boat that has been running poker runs since new, avg 70 mph on the runs, they also wring it flat out at 75-76 for awhile also. Not a single issue with any parts in the lowers or the engines. A couple of sensors have gone bad but very easy to diagnose and change. I believe they're close to 400hrs now. The performance is amazing and at idle they are as smooth as a sewing machine. It's a different type of boating for sure compared to the I/Os that we love and loathe come repair time. What's interesting are the new performance boats that are being equipped with 300, 350s, and 400s. 100 MPH with the maintenance/convenience of an outboard.

I don't have enough time on my 300's to know what the long term picture will be like. I do love reading through the tech section on OSO, thinking.....I won't be having that problem anymore.

should be some out there by now running the 350's for sure and may be some 400r's with decent ours. mine aren't broke in yet...or broke either

IDK Time will tell, Its mechanical, things will break.
Is it really more economical to run 4 400's for how many hrs? (I'm not sure what recommended rebuild/Replace time is on them 500 hrs?)
or if a pair of 860's with a couple year warranty and I think a 500 ish hr rebuild schedule.
Myself... 860 I/O all day long but that depends on water types.
I can see the saltwater vs freshwater discussion coming into play here,

If I was in saltwater I'd say Outboards for sure but being in fresh water most the time. I am not sold on 4 motors is easier and cheaper to maintain than 2.

Funny you should ask.

I was just in the BVI sailing and ran into a guy with a couple of Verado 350's on his CC. He is a commercial operator that seemed to drive pretty spiritedly. I asked him about his engines and they had 1800 hours on them. I specifically asked and these are the original powerheads. 100% salt water of course.

That's pretty impressive.

Dan