Which motor

[cmdworker]

One last thing to consider, according to the Merc specs:

300 Verado- 647 pounds
250 Opti- 505 pounds

That is significant

[PJM]

Originally Posted by bloodman

The verado is likely the most reliable mercury ever built. The smoothest quietest ever. Shift by wire and power steering which Mercury started using 10 tears ago and are only now being used by Evinrude. Who's behind?
You will love the motor. Good choice.

The majority of the motors on the don't have power steering and shift by wire but that does not mean their behind. How many people have trouble shifting their boats into gear and giving it gas with a cable and the majority of the time you are driving your boat straight ahead. It might be a selling point but again, its a non issue.

[bloodman]

Originally Posted by PJM

The majority of the motors on the don't have power steering and shift by wire but that does not mean their behind. How many people have trouble shifting their boats into gear and giving it gas with a cable and the majority of the time you are driving your boat straight ahead. It might be a selling point but again, its a non issue.

Maybe but it sure is nice and smooth. No grinding when you put it in gear either. Its sweet!
Touch starting. No vibration. So quiet you'll forget to turn it off.

[Tweak]

Originally Posted by bloodman

The verado is likely the most reliable mercury ever built. The smoothest quietest ever. Shift by wire and power steering which Mercury started using 10 tears ago and are only now being used by Evinrude. Who's behind?
You will love the motor. Good choice.

Electric shift has been done by Mercury, Yamaha, and Evinrude (long before the G2). In fact I think Evinrude offered it on I/O's decades ago. So nobody is ahead or behind there in my view. Yes, Mercury pioneered power steering, and it's cool to be first. But the G2 design does have some significant differences-no separate pump in the boat, a power system that is on demand as opposed to running a pump anytime the engine is "on", and the ability to steer without any power, are all substantial improvements on the feature.

I like the Verado. It is quiet, good looking, and offers great performance. I just always wished some of it's features, like quietness and power steering, found their way on the Opti. It has not. Consequently the G2 offered me these features in a lighter weight package. Time will tell if I made the right decision,

[CMesserschmidt]

Please post a pic of your ZV when you get it.

The one my parents have coming they ordered with black mist, Sterling, and Canyon Mist orange.

I cannot stand the stock color combos on the ZV especially that purplish looking color.

[deepsky]

After much, much thought, and a few phone calls, the verdict is in. I first want to say thank you to all you guys. Your advice guided me to this decision, your insights were invaluable.

Drum roll please ..............The Mercury 250 Optimax Pro XS

I weighed the issues, and took advice,and looked at the deal, and came away with my previous thoughts, here goes.

The Optimax weighs 150lbs less than Verado.
The statement from BP only give 4mph speed increase for 300 V vs 250 Opti.
The 2-stroke has better torq, witnessed by people who have driven ZV 21 with 250 Opti, and 300 Verado, also pro circuit guys use 250 Opti hands down over 250 Verado.
Optimax has built a long history of reliability

The quietness, convience of no oil, the better steering, and better gauges (Smartcraft), 50 extra HP, were all not enough for me to give up two stroke technology.

The other parameters were ordering this the way I wanted, or taking some consessions, and that with the above, still led me to this decision.
Thank you guys, all your advice was sound, and helpful.......Ed

[Tweak]

Congrats!

Don't let the smart craft thing hold you back. That is an easy add if you want it.

[winchester jack]

Nice choice. I decided to go the same route on the 2100 Tuffy I ordered. There are advantages to the Optimax, one of the biggest one being fuel economy. The opti is considerably better according to the performance reviews on Merc's site.
It is possible to add the digital shift and smartcraft to the opti as well, just not worth the cost to most people.

[deepsky]

yes I beleive the Smartcraft option is $1500 thru BP, and the gauges standard are miles ahead of most aftermarket stuff, so I am satisfied,

I put an order in for a 9.9 kicker today, and will pu in the ZV order on the 6th, so all looks like maybe early April for the arrival, keeping my fingers crossed