Well I just got back from the lake and I am impressed with the torque. Cruised around for break-in which reads nothing over 4500 for the first 2 hours and vary throttle often. Took lunch, which is damn good news, I am getting my appetite back. Just put an hour on it and it is incredible how much additional thrust the larger prop and deeper gears make. Seriously it is on plane in a boatlength and a half and will stay on plane with light load (me) down to about 10.5 mph. Fantastic news because the flat bottom has a tendency to beat your fillings out in the rough. The larger gearcase does seem to give some additional stern lift at speed and it is possible to jack the motor all the way up and the boat will still get on plane and run. No way the old Johnson case and 15P prop were up to that task. The bow rise coming out of the hole is nearly imperceptable so it is hard to really put a stopwatch to it. Half again faster than the 90 Johnson that was no slug to start with. The prop I borrowed off the V-20 is the Thunderbolt Quicksilver 21P. It swings it without a problem but who knows on top end. Couple more hours to go before we find out. This is absolutely the quietest motor I ever owned. In neutral you can hear the water stream as it breaks friction from the telltale. In and out of Forward and Reverse is quiet. Trim buttom is funky on the up. It snaps. No tach for the trip.. None of the gauges worked. The Merc Tech that hung and rigged the motor said they did?? I was more interested in how it floats and what the extra weight would do. I think it is very close to the old setup.. Self bailing without a problem, no hop, nothing but quiet performance. Everything you ever wanted fom a outboard motor, including the PC of 3 star super-low emission status and no bad 2-stroke oil.
Oh yeah, motor mounts are loose as a goose in this thing. It shimmys and shakes back there but you can't feel a thing. In fact that is about the only way to tell if it is running at idle if your more than 10 feet away.
I have gotten used to the solid mounts in the big Merc. This is a departure from that. Nothing but good, a few loose ends to tie up as you would expect. Smiles
Now for a nap and tear back into the dash area again... build fence at the house, bathroom remodel, the list is growing I think..