This morning at 11:00 a.m. Mercury Marine introduced the world’s first V12 outboard engine, the 600 horsepower Mercury Verado.

600 horsepower mercury verado outboards running
The new Mercury Verado 600 is a V12 engine, with a weight of 1,260 pounds (dry).

This is the most power to hit a boat’s transom since Seven Marine introduced their 527 outboard, followed by their 627-horsepower model. But Seven Marine ceased production of those engines last year, leaving the Mercury 450R as the biggest power choice around with the Yamaha F425 XTO outboard close behind. Now, there’s a new king of the power hill.

Despite the size difference between the Mercury V8 250 and 300 FourStroke outboards introduced a few years ago, this new V12 shares the same basic shape and look. It is, however, a real monster: displacing a whopping 7.6 liters, it tips the scales at 1,260 pounds and is available in shaft lengths to 35-inches. Obviously, this means it will be appropriate for very large transoms which can support huge amounts of weight, as well as huge amounts of horsepower.

mercury marine 600 hp outboard engines
Yes, it's a V12, but the new Mercury Verado 600 maintains the shape and appearance of Mercury's V8 and V6 outboards.

The Verado 600hp has a full-throttle rpm rating of 5600 to 6400, includes integrated electro-hydraulic power steering, and swings through a 2.50:1 gear ratio. Interestingly, it also has a two-speed transmission. That’s an industry first, and Mercury says shifting from first to second gear takes place without clunking or noise. The 600 Verado is packaged with Next Gen Digital Throttle and Shift controls, and naturally can be integrated with Joystick Piloting — of up to six engines at a time. Mercury also went with a contra-rotating dual propeller lower unit, which steers independently from the upper unit. The steerable gearcase can turn 15-degrees farther than the norm, and since the upper units are static, less space is needed for mounting.

The new 600 horsepower V12 Verado also has a few unexpected perks to boast. Oil change increments are 200 hours rather than the usual 100, and the top cowl service hood allows for easy access to critical components from inside the boat. In fact, the full cowl doesn’t need to come off for regular maintenance until hitting the 1000 hour or five year service mark.

 

Introduction of the Mercury V12 600 HP Outboard

 

Undoubtedly, this engine would have been timed for release with the Miami International Boat Show. This year, thanks to the Covid-19 crisis of course, there is no Miami International Boat Show. So instead Mercury chose to introduce the engine via an 11:00 o’clock video released on Facebook, followed by the product details going live on Mercury’s Facebook page. Retail pricing is said to be "in the $77,000 range."

Unfortunately, this means we’ve been unable to actually lay our eyes on the real thing—much less run one for ourselves—as we’d normally have done at the Miami show. We will, however, be sea trialing the 600 hp Verado as soon as possible, and will report back with further information at that time. Until then, visit the Mercury Marine Verado 600 page, for more details.