I saw a just released video from Mercury about the factory. I was very surprised they were advertising that the factory was busy completely rebuilding and updating 3.0 liter 2 strokes in all sizes up to 300 hp because so many boats have been designed around the higher torque output of the 2 strokes that the new 4 strokes don’t deliver. Their words not mine. See the video on YouTube under boatest.com From what I have seen the new V8 is very sensitive to prop changes which makes me think Mercury has figured out the new motors are are not very versatile at running good on various weights and hull designs. They are putting the latest upgrades and technologies on these rebuilt 2 strokes and claim the motor can be swapped out in 3 hrs or less by a dealer. My thoughts are Mercury is doing all it can to keep from losing customers. They are basically keeping the 2 strokes in production because people will be going to Yamaha and Evinrude out of necessity for outboards where they can have prop options to fine tune their boats performance. The new motor seems like a one trick pony. They perform great in a very narrow weight and prop specification. People are used to putting a Merc on anything that floats and then propping it for the application. This performance and versatility loss, and ugliness in appearance, is causing severe heartburn at Mercury it appears. Before responding please see the video.