Mercury Marine Goes Big With V10 Verado Outboard: Displacement, Power, and Features

When the first generation Verado launched in 2004 it was new in every way. Not only was it a four stroke, it was a supercharged 2.6L inline 6 cylinder. The original Verado was tall, heavy, powerful and revolutionary. Now the Mercury Marine lineup is completely four stroke outboards, but the original i6 Verado stayed in the lineup in the 350 and 400, along with the 400R version from Mercury Racing for an incredibly long time. It was stuck between the new V8 Verados up to 300 HP, and the latest monster V12 600 HP Verado. Of course, the next obvious move for Mercury was replacing this popular big power range; 350 to 400 HP and the speculation has been running for a while, what configuration would it be? V8 or V10, naturally aspirated or supercharged? So many questions, now we have answers.

Mercury Marine announced the new 5.7L V10 Verado and has now completely revamped their lineup with the continued design philosophy the V6 Four Stroke started in 2018, with the large displacement and the bold looking cowling. Technically the 150 Four Stroke started the large displacement philosophy, but ultimately the V6, V8, V10 and V12 all share the same design characteristics. They are very much related in architecture and you can’t mistake them for anything else. Mercury four stroke V6, V8 and V10 share displacement per cylinder; 0.575 liters / cylinder. With the new Verado V10 Mercury has once again upped the ante on displacement and power, while remaining class leading in weight and performance. Let’s take a look at the specifications.

The V8 on the left and the V12 on the right. The new V10 at 350 and 400 HP slots right between them. The new Verado V10 is much closer in size to its smaller V8 sibling.

Of course, the big advantage of a V10 is the smoothness and because of the large displacement, 5.7L, the new Verado 350 and 400 will have effortless torque. Since a significant number of these engines will be on large fishing boats, heavy pontoons, or multi-engine center consoles, the torque and power is going to be welcome. Already, the preliminary reports from testing at Lake X have the new Mercury Verados outperforming the outgoing i6 Verados by a wide margin. The Valhalla V33 test boat ran 3 MPH faster with twin 400 V10 over the old 400 i6. A Boston Whaler 380 Outrage with quad 400 V10 ran 68 MPH, which is 10 MPH faster than before and the hole shot was measurably improved. This is mostly the power and toque of the V10 but also the new gearcase.

The new 6.4” gearcase can house the new large diameter Revolution X propeller. Mercury went with lower gears than usual, 2.08:1 ratio, for taking full advantage of the torque on tap.

For the new Verado, the gearcase is a new 6.4” diameter, with 2.08:1 gears and can turn a large diameter prop, like the new Revolution X, making for a robust power delivery. Because the engine revs up to 6400 RPM, you can really get a big heavy boat moving quick using the low gear ratio while achieving good top speed. A 20” version weighs 695 Lbs, which by today’s standards is very good in this power range. The V10 is about 5.5” taller than the comparable Mercury V8 in dimensions. For multi engine applications, the new Verado will be offered in 20” to 35” midsections.

This will be an excellent multi-engine outboard. (photo credit: powerboatandrib.com)

Mercury has designed the new Verado to mount on 26” centers. With an electric assist hydraulic steering system, DTS, adaptive speed control, and all the latest monitoring, it is going to be a quiet and smooth ride. And, like all Verados, the big V10 uses the AMS midsection, further enhancing the driving experience. Similar to the V8, you do 100 and 300 hour service intervals and it has the top hood for quick access.

Now it’s easy to imagine Mercury Racing will get their hands on this. The 400R was popular and the 450R is really popular but what do they do with the V10? Does it get really tuned and modified to be a 500 HP monster? Even just 8 years ago I would think that would be nuts, but now I’m not so sure. The number of orders the big performance builders are getting for outboard Cats and Center Consoles is astounding and boats just keep getting bigger. There are things to like about the 450R but a naturally aspirated engine is more reliable in general. My bet is they do bring it in as a 400R replacement. Then possibly 450R to replace the supercharged V8, with the AMS and supercharger the existing 450R weighs about the same as the V10. One thing about the AMS midsection is that it has too much movement in my opinion for high performance use, and maybe they do a HD midsection V10 that’s even lighter and stiffer.

The 2.6L Verado had a good run. Does Mercury Racing work its magic on the new V10?

Overall, the new Verado V10 350 and 400 are incredible engines and will no doubt do really well in their market. You have to respect the direction Mercury Marine has taken since 2018 with a completely new design philosophy and leading the industry with innovation.