175 4 stroke

[Shuck Grass]

I have a 05 tr-18-6. Is anyone running the 175 Mercury 4s? I have a 150 optimax and thinking about re-powering with the 175. Wondering if any performance gains between the two. TIA

[ford4wd08]

I have the new 4 stroke Pro XS 175. Absolutely love it.

I had a Johnson 150 that was carbed on a previous boat, great motor, but the torque on this thing is insane.

I know there is a lot of love for the 4.6 V8's that are 200 and above, but I think a lot of people overlook the 3.4 V6 that is the 175 Pro XS.

My hull is very similar to yours, I think you'll enjoy it.

Supposedly there will be a lot less maintenance with the 4 stroke coming from the Opti. I will say that the oil on the dipstick looks as new as the day it was poured in and I have around 35 hours on mine now.

[Shuck Grass]

Thanks Ford. Did you loose or gain top end ? My boats Max HP is 175.

[ford4wd08]

Thanks Ford. Did you loose or gain top end ? My boats Max HP is 175.

I came from another boat all together and traded into my new boat.

On the 186, I'm sure you'll gain some top end coming from a 150 opti. The biggest thing you'll notice is how it will move a load and has good acceleration all the way through the RPM band.

Oh and no 2 stroke oil or compressor to deal with!

[berudd]

I am sure it will be faster by a few MPH. I think they ran around 65-67 with a 175 Optimax. I'd expect similar. I considered it for my 186 but I decide to just move to a large boat. I love the fourstroke. Some claim its cheaper to operate than a 2 stroke but I have no idea and that was not a part of my decision to go that route. I just prefer the design and I love not having to worry about keeping oil in the tank.