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Planning To Order a New Bennington Before Thanksgiving - What Size Motor?

R

rownbey8

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Hello,

New to the forum. Any help / input would be greatly appreciated.

I am planning to place a order for a new Bennington before Thanksgiving and plan to take delivery Feb/March 2020

The boat I plan to order is a QX25 Swing Back with the Arch Top

My questions are regarding motor options and I have narrowed it down to two options. Please share the Pro's and Con's of each. I have listed some issues / questions for each

Option #1 - Yamaha F350C, 5.3L
- I have read and heard Yamaha is discontinuing this model, has anyone heard this or know of any replacement other than the new 425hp. Not wanting to have a outdated/discontinued motor in a year or two down the road.
- Its (F350C) not listed in Yamaha's brochure I picked up from the dealer. I have my local dealer checking into this.
- Fly Wheel Issues?
- Torque? Top End Speed? Will mainly be cruising and watersports

Option #2 - Mercury 300 Verado V8, 4.6L
- Will I be happy with a 300 on the QX25, does the new Mercury have the torque for this size boat
- Does it have the torque to pull skier's / wake broading?
- I don't want a Mercury 350 Verado Supercharged engine. I wish Mercury had a new 350 Verado V8
- Anyone heard of Mercury releasing a 350 Verado V8 within the next 6 months
- I like the Mercury V8 is a newer technology and shouldnt be dated in 3-5 years

Thanks for all of your input

RJ
 
RJ welcome to the forum. When you do take possession please post photos.

I do not have familiarity with either of the two motors you mentioned above but there will be others on this forum who do. You will find that most individuals on this forum are very partial to certain brands of motors. I purchased a Q25 CWA last year with a Suzuki 250. Top speed on a calm day with two adults is about 50 mph. We have no problems pulling tubers, wake boarders, or skiers. After one season were are very happy with the engine. My prior Bennington had a Yamaha 150 and I was also very happy with it. Before selecting a motor for this boat I did a great deal of research including talking to my dealer, other dealers, mechanics, other boaters, and reading several online forums. Bottom line is all the major outboard brands are generally well built and reliable. You will probably be happy with either of the motors you mentioned.
 
Check the warranties on all. I personally like the 6 years on the Yamaha. But then my dealer specializes in Yamaha.
 
I'm curious, why the Verado 300 instead of the other 300's Mercury offers? I see it has Joystick Piloting, but it's also lot heavier than the other 300's.
I have the new 200 hp Mercury and love it, best outboard I ever owned and I've owned a lot.
 
From what I have read the Mercury Verado 300 V8 is the more premium setup of the 300's that Mercury currently offers. The quietest engine and less vibration with the AMS.
 
sjhorner9475 said:
RJ welcome to the forum. When you do take possession please post photos.

I do not have familiarity with either of the two motors you mentioned above but there will be others on this forum who do. You will find that most individuals on this forum are very partial to certain brands of motors. I purchased a Q25 CWA last year with a Suzuki 250. Top speed on a calm day with two adults is about 50 mph. We have no problems pulling tubers, wake boarders, or skiers. After one season were are very happy with the engine. My prior Bennington had a Yamaha 150 and I was also very happy with it. Before selecting a motor for this boat I did a great deal of research including talking to my dealer, other dealers, mechanics, other boaters, and reading several online forums. Bottom line is all the major outboard brands are generally well built and reliable. You will probably be happy with either of the motors you mentioned.
Click to expand...


Wow.. 50mph with a 250hp sounds nice on a Q25.
 
I have a 200 HP Mercury Verado Pro - Supercharger. LOVE IT! I wish I had first hand experience to share on the 300 Mercury Verado’s, but I do not. I can only say I would jump at the opportunity to put one on the back of my boat. However, like mentioned above, I don’t think you go wrong with either motor option that you mentioned. My guess is you will be looking at very similar performance between the two of them. Is one easier to get serviced near your place? If so, perhaps that becomes a factor since both options are really solid.

Out of curiosity, and this is just to gather insight, why are you not interested in the 350 Mercury Verado Pro with the Supercharger as compared to the normal 300 Merc. Verado? Just curious as I am not familiar with those particular Merc’s.
 
I personally like the naturally aspirated engines and that looks like the direction Mercury is taking with their new Verado V8's (and all of their new 4-stroke engines). At the end of the day its hard to beat displacement.

My opinion the 350 supercharged engine is creating horse power un-naturally due to only being a 2.6L engine. I am guess in the next year or two Mercury will release the Verado V8 350 naturally aspirated engine and Supercharged engines will be a thing of the past, but thats just my 2 cents
 
Probably comes down to preference. Mercury seems to be the standard for I/o and Yamaha for outboards. I have had both. I had a 300 supercharged mercury on my last boat and it never gave a single problem but neither did the 200 Yamaha before that. I switched over to the big block 502 I/O for my QX and would not trade it for anything.
 
I have Yamaha 300 and a big believer in by as much HP as you can afford.
 
The Yam 425 is heavy, but it is a torque monster! The QX is also heavy, so that little extra weight of the 425 would be minute.
If the weight concerns you, go with the Merc 400R.
Hands down, I would have one of those two on a QX. Anything smaller will make boat less attractive at trade in time.
 
Saw a contender last night with quad 425's on the back. Crazy!!!!
 
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