SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW...TWO BOLT-ON PRODUCTS THAT QUICKLY ADD HORSEPOWER TO MERC's EFI 150/200 V-6s

When it comes to outboard performance, there's a simple philosophy among racers that basically says that the better an engine breathes, the more power it will make. That is why one of the first changes many boat owners make to their outboard is to replace the stock exhaust tuner with a shorter, racier version.

Usually, from this point on, more sophisticated refinements are needed to make the engine breathe better and produce more power. Take, for instance, the 2.5L Mercury V-6, which has long been a favorite among bass boaters for reliability and overall performance. The 2.5L block has also been the focal point for serious drag racers, who regularly extract upwards of 300 ponies from the 2.5L block by doing elaborate machine work and adding some expensive after market parts.

The stock 150 tuner is about 14-inches long and is one of the items Merc uses to control the 2.5L block's horsepower. The performance tuners (in foreground) mesaure less than eight inches in length.

But this isn't always the case. Everyday boaters can give the stock 150/175/200 V-6 Merc a little extra muscle with a couple of bolt-on items. One is new and rather pricey; the other has been around For a while, but is a bargain in terms of price for performance.

We're talking about the addition of a Brucato SVS intake and Mercury Hi-Performance's Bridgeport exhaust tuner. Together, these two performance parts bring some very satisfactory results to the 2.5 V-6.

It's a combination that the father/son drag racing team of Phillip and Chris Bond, owners of Crown Leisure Marine (800/972-2277), brought to my attention this summer when I inquired about getting a little more zip from our Gambler Outlaw test boat.

Phillip says that, as with all motorsports, speed is a "horsepower-to-weight factor, and you can't go faster without improving on that ratio. You can do that by getting the air in and out [of the engine] faster."

Their suggestion: Remove the Merc EFI 150's long exhaust tuner, replace it with the short one used in the old 2.4 L Bridgeport race engines, and bolt on the new Brucato SVS intake to help the 2.5 L breathe better in the mid- and upper-rpm range. It's about a half-day job for the average shop.