Mercury Verado or Mercury Optimax

[HAV2FISH]

Ok it’s almost discussion time. I have narrowed my new boat search down to two boats. They are both new nitro 929’s. The only difference is the motor one has the Mercury v6 verado 200hp and the other has the 200hp Mercury optimax. The prices of both are within 200 dollars of each other.
My problem is I know a little about the Optimax but know nothing about the Verado other than it’s a V6. I have gone to Mercury’s web page and looked at engine test to compare, but they don’t compare the two motors on the same boat.
For those of you that know more than I do, I would like your option on witch to go with.

Thanks

[gss036]

If you are dead set on Mercury, I would suggest you choose the Verado because of the past history on the OptiMax. I know theysay the problems are fixed, but you are still seeing way too many problems talked about on the forums. Just my 2 cents. I just repowered my boat and went with a 225 Honda.

[rickdb1boat]

I would suggest you look at this site for more info on the Verado..

http://www.veradoclub.com/

[Silvertip]

Mercury Verados are in-line engines -- not V6's. If its a V6 it is not a Verado. there is also a weight penalty with the Verado. A full dress Verado tips the scales at about 650#. The Opti comes in at 497. That's akin to hauling an extra person around 100% of the time.

[jevery]

Comparing the two Mako test reports, Verado/Mako 215 Express and Opti/Mako 204 CC.
http://www.mercurymarine.com/look_de...sixCyl200300=4
http://www.mercurymarine.com/look_de...ptimax200250=7

The Verado pushes a much heavier boat to the same top speed and achieves nearly the same fuel economy doing so. The Verados are also among the quietest engines available, if that’s important to you. Weight could be a factor on a bass boat though. I’d want a water trial that included two adults standing on the back deck to see how that particular boat floats the heavier Verado while fishing.

[BaileysBoat]

I almost bought a Princecraft with the Verado. The small displacement and complication of a supercharger turned me off. A lot of OPTIs out there, so you here about the bad more, but some never have issues.
As pointed out the weight factor is significant.

[HAV2FISH]

Thanks for the info.
I’m thinking of going with the Verado, It is an inline 6 24-valve engine. (I had to call an verify this morning.) I also found out the name of our local Pro he used this boat this year for his tournament fishing. I also placed a call in to him to get his info on the boat. (Waiting for call back) The salesman told me originally that it was a demo boat. Neither boat has ever been titled but the demo boat is better-equipped fish finders etc.
Our local Triton /Nitro dealers are also Mercury dealers so a swap to a different brand of engine would be a hassle for me at this time.
I’m also not to concerned about the weight difference since I will very rarely have more than two people in the boat. But it was a good point. For me this is more of a performance / fuel mileage thing. I mainly fish a large shallow lake average of 4ft. So I want something that will get me on plane fast and take me to the other side of the lake and back but still be reliable.

Thanks again