Pulsare 2400 + E-tec 250 H.O.= WOW!

[cpr-7]

Our plans finally came together today to get out on Lake Norman to try and get some performance data on the new 250 H.O. E-tec on the back of a beautiful new Pulsare 2400 long deck. Lake Norman Boat Dock ordered the boat in with red, white and blue graphics to match the E-tec, and the boat is absolutely stunning!

I hooked up with my buddy that is the applications engineer for BRP as we were going to use this particular boat to gather test data for the BRP performance reports, but due to some wiring conflicts resulting from the new Elite guages being adapted to the E-tec, we weren't able to use the "official" BRP test equipment. Even so, we did manage to get some decent baseline numbers on the Elite guages, which I'm told are quite accurate.

With the box-stock E-tec with zero time on it, and running an off the shelf Raker II 24" prop, we were running a solid 76-77 mph on the speedo with 450#'s of passengers and 1/4 tank of gas. We picked up the store manager from LKN Boat Dock, and even with his added 220#'s we were running 72 mph. For the last run of the day I dumped those guys and the test gear off at the dock, and went out and hit a solid 80 mph on the speedo. Coming back the other way the speedo was actually climbing above 80, but the boat started to chine walk pretty hard and I couldn't steer thru it so I backed off the throttle.

Granted, these weren't GPS speeds. That being said, the Elite speedo is supposed to be one of the most accurate on the market, and I think for a box stock engine still running "heavy" oiling, and just guestamating on the prop, these numbers are very respectable. Not bad for a stocker running 87 octane fuel!

There was some noticable heavy torque steer even with the hydraulic steering when running full throttle, so I think the engine could be raised a bit on the plate to "loosen" the steering up a bit at high speed. Also, we were running right a 6K rpm's, so a little bit larger pitch prop might bring the engine back down a couple hundred rpm and increase speed at the same time.

As far as water and weather, it was flat calm and the air temp was 61 degrees. With a little time and tuning with props and ride height, this package should be able to run a gps verified 75-77 mph all day long. Oh, and the boat handled turns and wake crossings like a dream.....a big lake boat with big performance potential.

 

[WILDMAN]

I've had two new 2400's with the Merc 300xs. The best I ever saw on GPS, was 74.8 by myself with 5 gallons of gas. Three guys and 30 gallons ran 70. I gotta say that the speedo was WAAYYY above that. Let us know what the GPS says. If it's over 70, I'll start buying the Etecs.

 

[smallblockford]

I have a 20 pulsare with the 150 merc and we had a 20 closed bow pulsare here for the catalog shoot. both boats ran good but if you look in the checkmate catalog pics you will see my buddy shane driving both. He is a novice boater specially with these boats and he claimed the merc had more low end grunt. I have drove both boats but it wasnt that apperent to me
i did notice the e tec was jacked up higher than the opti a little but. the etec was only around for a catalog shoot very quick in and out.

i thought it was funny that a person with little seet time in any boat would come right up to me and start telling me how much more he liked how the boat with the merc ran

i personally liked the merc but was glad to say that the etec was good competition to keep mercury honest.

i beleive both could be tweeked and played with and would be comparible and close

 

[cpr-7]

Yes, I'm curious to get back out with a GPS and see exactly what the story is. Probably won't happen until mid to late January, as the boats are going to be in shows until then.

Wildman, just out of curiousity, were you running Merc guages or the new Elite guages?

In the meantime, I do believe either Kip or Doug Smith ran a similar 2400/250 H.O. package a few weeks back, and came away with some pretty impressive numbers from their package. Maybe they could chime in here and let us know what kind of performance they saw?

Sure makes for some fun conversation!

 

[Craig]

My Elite speedo is right on with GPS....running off a Merc digital pitot/sender on a 496HO. There should be a program/fix to get the Elite module speaking the same languge as the Etec?...if it's not already....I don't know how accurate it is over 77 though, because my boat don't run that fast!

Wildman, I've heard of 2400's running 80 GPS with 300XS..so they say. (Can't have the SM case, though.) Maybe this 250 Etec was dialed in pefect from the get-go? Although, if you can get that big boat running high 70's GPS with a 250 Etec, then that motor is really making close to 300hp.

Very interesting to me....fun stuff.

-Craig

 

[WILDMAN]

I've set up three new 2400's. Two had the 300XS and one had a 2001 Merc 250 XB. Best I saw on the 250XB was 66. I don't think it was running right though. The two 300 motors both ran low 70's for the most part. I tried all different hieghts and props. I had the Mercury guages which the speedo read a bit over 80 mph. I did get to test ride a 23ZT recently with the Elite guages and the speedo was right on with a GPS. I think if you bring a handheld GPS in the boat, you won't see over 70. All speeds I ever post are strictly GPS.

 

[cpr-7]

Craig, I don't think this boat/engine package was set up perfect. I do think there are slight gains in performance and driveability to be found with prop and ride height tuning. In regards to the Elite/E-tec being able to communicate, there was no problem with that. The only problem was that the Elite guages were hard-wired into the E-tec harness, and if had been wired in with a connector the BRP test instrumentation and GPS system could have been used. The BRP applications engineer took pics and made notes on this, and I think you'll see a change in the wiring procedure.

In regards to true HP, we've been told that the 250 H.O. puts out a consistent 278 to 282 HP at the prop shaft, depending on temp and air density, etc. Since I've never seen one dyno'ed, I can only speak for what I've been told. I've also been told that the Merc 300 is actually producing a "real world" 292 pshp, but there again I've never been there and seen one dyno'ed, so it's only hearsay.

The intent of this thread was not to start a Merc vs E-tec war. The 300XS should be, and most likely is, 3-4 mph faster than the 250 H.O. E-tec. That being said, the E-tec is able to run some impressive numbers out of the box, with zero tuning or test time, and on 87 octane fuel.....and if you buy one after January 1st you can get the engine with a 5 year warranty.

When these boats come off the show circuit later in January I'm sure the dealer would be up for another test day. At that time I'll post photo's of the GPS read out, good or bad.

 

[175checkmate]

Sounds like the E-Tec is running well. Its good to have competition between the engine builders, it keeps them moving forward. I am still very impressed with the new technology they are both coming out with. Great power numbers and good mileage, hard to go wrong.

 

[Craig]

I have only heard positive stuff about the Etecs….good to see some competition finally. Watch out Merc! And I could believe the 250 Etec being an actual 270-280hp....Not trying to spam your Etec discussion with Merc talk….BUT just want to say that the new 300XS's have got to be 300+. I was always told that my old 300Promax was around 285-290hp actual when I bought that motor....then the 300X came out and guys were claiming an actual 320hp. Merc even listed that one as >300 on their specs. When I bought my 300XS they were telling me at Ocean Outboard that it was probably an actual 305-310hp because it was 1-2 mph slower than the 300X. And that’s pretty much what you’ll hear form most guys when comparing 300XS to 300X is 1-2 mph slower, but you know how that goes. Talk is talk.


-Craig

 

[cpr-7]

Craig, excellent point: talk is talk. Another point of reference is that dyno testing can vary widely by type of dyno, environmental conditions, and operator. It's not hard to make an engine make a lot of power for a brief amount of time. Making that same engine live, now that can be a different story!

What I'd love to see, is Hot Boat or Powerboat or some other magazine take some box-stock engines, and dyno them at the same facility and on the same day. I'd bet a weeks salary there would be some VERY dejected factory reps walking around. Of all the "300's" on the market today, the Merc is the only one even in the ballpark. From what I've heard from some VERY sharp engineers is that it's not hard to get 270 or 280 HP to live in a 2 stroke package. Things start getting dicey around 290 HP, and to reach 300 HP with durability and runability, as well as meeting sound and emissions requirements, is very, very tough to do. To do it on 87 octane pump gas is even more difficult.....especially if you plan on offering a 5 year warranty!

A couple of other topics for discussion:

Gaining speed in a boat is an exponential process, where even a slight gain in speed requires some significant increases in HP.....even more so when the speeds start getting over 65-70 mph.

Also, weather plays a HUGE factor in how these 2 stroke engines perform. We were running in cool, dry air yesterday. Take the same boat to FL on a hot and humid day, and I'm sure the numbers would drop off significantly.

 

[Craig]

I agree, every situation is different, you could take two guys in identical boats/motor/setup and one of them is going to edge out the other one, whether its driver skill, water condition, or just the fact that the 2 motors might be 5hp different out of the box.

Definitely need to have same boat to compare....About 6 or 7 years ago, I was parked on the sand bar next to this 19’ Nitro bass boat with an Evinrude 225HO. This guy was in his late 50’s probably, and in a friendly way was just talking it up real big, wanting to go out side by side and said he was gonna smoke my big cuddy cruiser boat. At the time, I had a C’mate 21 Pulsare with 225 Promax, and I remember him picking on it and saying how small it was and that I should get a real motor…bla, bla. (That Promax was a screamer, rev limit was at 6800 stock, although it was a little lacking in torque for that Puslare.) He had me curious, though. I didn’t know (still don’t) anything about non-black motors so I was fully ready to possibly get spanked…..Wasn’t even close, my 225Promax would run high 70’s GPS on that Pulsare and this guy was probably barely seeing 70, more like high 60’s. Point is, it didn’t mean anything as far as Evinrude vs Merc hp, because they weren’t on the same boat…Turned out that Nitro weighed close to 1700-1800lbs, and the Pulsare definitely had a better/faster bottom/design.

-Craig

 

[WILDMAN]

I have only heard positive stuff about the Etecs….good to see some competition finally. Watch out Merc! And I could believe the 250 Etec being an actual 270-280hp....Not trying to spam your Etec discussion with Merc talk….BUT just want to say that the new 300XS's have got to be 300+. I was always told that my old 300Promax was around 285-290hp actual when I bought that motor....then the 300X came out and guys were claiming an actual 320hp. Merc even listed that one as >300 on their specs. When I bought my 300XS they were telling me at Ocean Outboard that it was probably an actual 305-310hp because it was 1-2 mph slower than the 300X. And that’s pretty much what you’ll hear form most guys when comparing 300XS to 300X is 1-2 mph slower, but you know how that goes. Talk is talk.


-Craig

I've seen the dyno charts on the 300XS. They have 308hp at 5750 rpm. The rev-limit is 6400. Power is strong to 6100-6200 rpm. That's what I prop them for.

 

[Craig]

I've seen the dyno charts on the 300XS. They have 308hp at 5750 rpm. The rev-limit is 6400. Power is strong to 6100-6200 rpm. That's what I prop them for.

Yep that's where I ran my 300XS WOT, at 6200.... The big thing for me was I was just so impressed with the midrange power it had. In that 21' Pulsare, you could be running along at 70-75 mph, and punch it down WOT, and it would raise that bow right out of the water!...Gotta stop thinking about that, though....gonna be an I/O guy for awhile. My wife hated my outboards. Kinda bought that last one without permission. Didn't last long....(I never get the things that I want, you know what I mean). This 230 I got now is fun though. Gonna try and talk her into letting me get an outboard project boat, and have 2 boats.

-Craig

 

[cooperider]

FYI, when Checkmate ran those E-tec boats on the res out here, the water was VERY, VERY, VERY COLD. So was the air.

And they was real tickled with the numbers they got.