First Mercury Racing 1550-powered DCB widebody 35 reaches 180 mph

Yaj Yak

Gladys
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May 24, 2007
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:bowdown:

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During its first on-water test session on California’s Lake Elsinore earlier today, the first M35 Widebody catamaran from DCB Performance Boats powered by a pair of Mercury Racing 1550/1350 engines impressed the team at DCB, to say the least.

DCB’s Tony Chiaramonte ran the boat up to a top speed of 180 mph—10 mph faster than he’s ever been on the small Southern California lake—and said the 35-foot cat was on rails. He drove it to an impressive 169 mph in 1350 mode, but after flushing the 91-octane fuel from the tank, pumps and pickups utilizing the custom setup DCB created and refilling with 55 gallons of 112-octane race fuel, Chiaramonte hit the 1550 key fob and off he went.

“I can’t even describe how hard the boat pulls with the 1550s—it’s ridiculous,” Chiaramonte said on his drive back to the DCB shop in El Cajon, Calif. “I was seriously laughing out loud to myself it was such a rush. I’m still feeling the adrenaline rush from it. I can’t wait to run it in the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout after it’s broken in a little.

“We ran a set of 41”-pitch props today and there’s more left—I just ran out of room,” he continued. “I had to shut it down at 180 just to make the turn to take it back into the launch ramp. If we get a set of 42s and the right efficiency, we could be in the 185- to 190-mph range. One of the coolest parts though was idling back in like it was nothing. It didn’t feel any different than an 1100 boat, the only thing was that you could smell the race gas. I wasn’t sure how much a difference the 1550 setup would make, but it blew away my expectations. It was like cracking a whip when I snapped the throttles forward.”

Chiaramonte said the boat, which features an upgraded carbon-fiber Kevlar layup, will be leaving the shop on Monday for delivery to Oklahoma performance boater Shawn Gibson, who has owned two M31 Widebody catamarans—his first had twin Mercury Racing 700SCi engines and his last one was powered by twin 1350s.

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First Mercury 1550-Powered DCB M35 Reaches 180 MPH

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ydMVAO-fT8
 

Xfirez51

Fast BoyZ of IllinoiZ
Jan 1, 2013
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i dont think it shares much with any O.E. engine from the automotive world.

This is a total design by MMR including the PCM. We visited the MMR facility 2 years ago in Fond du Lac and watched as a tech built one of these monsters. It is massive with the cylinder heads dwarfing the short block. While there we also saw racks of GM big blocks which are not used for the QC4V.
 

Xfirez51

Fast BoyZ of IllinoiZ
Jan 1, 2013
1,795
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Northwest Chicagoland
That 1550 hp rating is also at the prop for you that don't know that, marine engines from the late 90's early 2000's and newer the hp rating is prop hp not engine hp, same thing as rating a new car with a whp number from the factory pretty sweet

Goddamn that's a load of power! And it's going to be stone dead reliable.
 

SHARKBITEATTACK

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Jun 15, 2008
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Mercury Racing designed the QC4 engine architecture in 2010. It’s a deep-skirt block that's based on a big-block Chevy architecture. It has cross-bolted main bearing caps, dual overhead cams (DOHC), four-valves per cylinder, sequential-port fuel injection, and coil-on-plug ignition. The engine also features a 90-degree Chevy V8 bellhousing and a dry-sump oiling system

9.0L DOHC Big-Block Crate Engine: See It First!

I'd be willing to bet the rotating assembly from a BBC is used to cut down on costs...

Regardless, these engines are a monumental achievement. I've always felt like most inboards whether Mercury, Volvo, or OMC were mostly just GM long blocks with a couple modifications to make them "marine suitable".
 

1quick

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Jan 29, 2008
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Mercury Racing designed the QC4 engine architecture in 2010. It’s a deep-skirt block that's based on a big-block Chevy architecture. It has cross-bolted main bearing caps, dual overhead cams (DOHC), four-valves per cylinder, sequential-port fuel injection, and coil-on-plug ignition. The engine also features a 90-degree Chevy V8 bellhousing and a dry-sump oiling system

9.0L DOHC Big-Block Crate Engine: See It First!

I'd be willing to bet the rotating assembly from a BBC is used to cut down on costs...

Regardless, these engines are a monumental achievement. I've always felt like most inboards whether Mercury, Volvo, or OMC were mostly just GM long blocks with a couple modifications to make them "marine suitable".

The motor drive package cost just under 200k I doubt they care about cutting cost
 
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