TeamSaris

The QC4V engines are nothing short of amazing. For what they cost, they should be. But they really, really are. Turbo lag is nonexistent and if you get the chance to really throttle one in some sporty water the waste gate sounds turn you into a human tripod pretty fast. Just epic.
Ill just throw my fairly educated 2 cents in here-
The 1075 platform was much easier (and cheaper) to work on. The 1075 still idled great and had great manners all around. Would they be able to make reliably1500+ with that platform? Not with the ease of operation the QC4V engines have.
We maintain quite a few boats with the QC4V platform from one of the first sets of production 1100s to a set of 1350 dual cals in a 42x. 9x of 10 the client has a flawless trouble free summer. But that 1 out of 10 chance something happens the odds of us or any other Merc Racing dealer being able to just "fix it" quickly are slim to none. We've bought all the Mercury special tools required for yearly maintenance (valve lash mostly). They weren't cheap. And changing all three impellors even in a full stagger boat is quite the feat.
I love the QC4V platform. I really do. Its Mercury flexing. It's the epitome of what's truly possible in a "production" engine.
I also love that it hasn't and I don't believe ever will really affect the custom engine market. Let's face it, even if cost was the same...they're DTS only, Dry Sump only, technically you aren't allowed to put mufflers on them, they're HUGE, require some decent yearly maintenance, are tough to work on, and when the **** does eventually hit the fan, crate it up and send it to Merc via your local racing dealer.
So for the guy re-powering his BBC boat, a set of 91 Octane 1100hp Whipple engines from me, Teague, Tyler, etc are going to be a lot painless and a lot less expensive. And these days, if your EFI blower motor doesn't idle as nice as the QC4V package, get a different builder. Because it should. And for what it's worth on our 1100s in the average poker run boat...valve job at 200-250 hours. Full rebuild around 400. Not that far off.

TeamSaris

Dont be afraid of Stage 3 700s. They still have a tiny cam-long life. Great package. The NXT transmission is a weak link and uber expensive. Speaking of expensive....a 700SCi intercooler is now $16k MSRP.
Hope this helps. No wrong answers, just what isnt right for you.

Adamallas

TeamSaris, that is a great response, especially from your perspective as a Merc dealer. I've read, heard, and love the 1100s. But, I happen to be an owner who comfortably lives in a 700 stage 3 pocket book who has the tenedency of reaching outside of my comfort level, if the risk vs reward is worth it long term. But because these three boats are so close in purchase price, I want to be comfortable and realisticly educated as a consumer on which motor package will be most efficient, reliable, and at least reasonable on future standard maintenance costs. I don't do poker runs, but I am planning on starting to enter a few poker runs annually. But for the most part, due to where I boat, I cruise between 80-100mph at short distances, and when I ever get to open throttle moments, it's only for a moment. I know the 1100s performance are superior of the three, but I am not going to be offshore doing 100mph+ for hours at a time. Continuing to hear about how flexible the 1075s are including their maintenance costs being much less than an 1100, my concern on those is if they are boater friendly for someone like me that boats currently on bodies of water that are very recreational with the possibility of attending a few poker runs a year. The 700 stage 3 boat does have the NXT transmission and drive with drive guardians. What is your take on the drive guardians?

TeamSaris

We were the first race team to run the DG prototypes and we love them. Game changer for us. BUT...we run very hard and In rough water. Calm water applications they wont give much benefit. Cats do "pop" more than Vs though

Diamond Dave

You answered it right there.

I read on FB recently form someone who has done a lot of research and owns a stock 700/ NXT V bottom, that the NXT transmissions can become exceedingly unreliable if the Whipple tunes are added. I forget the jist of it, but I don't think it was HP related either? I thought it was interesting anyways.

You will see a TON of used Merc turbo powered boats (and 1075 boats) for sale with either fresh power or ones that are coming up on full rebuilds. Those expenses are absolutely astronomical (turbo boat I'm not sure on 1075's) and, in my opinion, killed the performance I/O market but that's another conversation.

My assumption here would be that the ones with fresh power did so after being bent over by Merc for rebuilds and do not want to go through that expense again and moved on to something else. The ones coming up on rebuild already know they are about to get bent over and want to wash their hands of that expense. Hot potato! Again, that is my assumption so take that for what it's worth.

For me, custom power is the only way to go if you have any sort of budget and can't sit behind a desk and write checks all day without a care in the world.

My choices would be:
Merc powered max 700's, stock with NXT's
Merc powered max 700's stage 3 with 6's
Custom power w/ 6's or IMCO SCX's.
Lottery money 1750's/ M8's or turbines and M8's

My choice was custom power w/ 6's.

Adamallas

Diamond Dave, I agree with your point of view. Its basically how I see things as well. The 1075 boat was just rebuilt and the 1100 boat is at 125 hours, so the 200 hour rebuild will be waiting for me in about 2-3 years for $80k each. But because the performance of the 1100s are so unbelievable, I am hoping that someone has a proven and different POV of the required costs and intervals, which most likely wont happen because of my wishful thinking. I should take my own advise that I give to my kids which is "Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it". Lol. As much as I would love to go with custom power, the majority of enthusiasts on the west coast do not prefer custom over Mercury in particular. So I would be battling with resale if I were to go custom. Your lottery money callout isn't far from the truth for us average Joe enthusiast. Pretty crazy that I have the perception of purchasing a boat at these prices and consider myself an average Joe. Thank you for the feedback.

TVMNick

Which 1075 boat are you looking at? One of my friends had Teague go through his 1075s and make them 1200s, I've been pretty impressed with how durable those have been. Stock though, I don't feel like the 1075 is even in the same ballpark as the 700 or the 1100 for reliability. I don't have personal experience with that other than my friend who fought his 1075s for a season before sending them to Teague.

I had a F32 with Whipple 3 700SCi and NXT's and it was fantastic, I put 190 hours on that boat after I had the top ends done and transmissions refreshed, and it treated me extremely well. I would say the 700s will bar none be the lowest cost of ownership and the easiest to maintain.

If you take good care of the 1100s they seem to be extremely reliable as well, just like the others have said, if something goes wrong or they need rebuild its going to be expensive. I personally would love to own a QC4V powered M35 at some point, the fastest I've ever been on the water was a dual cal 1350/1550 M35 and that boat was unbelievable how fast it accelerated. We went from 80 to 165 MPH so quickly it felt like someone punched me in the chest as it accelerated.

mcollinstn

Qcv4

IGetWet

Keep in mind most 700sci #6 boats still use the NXT transmissions.

snapmorgan

Doesn't Bam offer a better transmission for the NXT's