Diesel-Powered 52-foot Outerlimits Hits 94 mph

During test runs two days ago in Bristol, R.I., an Outerlimits 52 SL with triple turbocharged 480-hp Cummins MerCruiser diesel engines turning 3,450 rpm and Mercury NXT¹ drives with Hering propellers reached 94 mph. That’s according to company principal Mike Fiore.

“It’s awesome—it’s a boat I would buy and own,” said Fiore. “It’s gets on plane quickly, it has good midrange acceleration and runs 94 mph. But here’s the best part, the oil-change interval for the engines is 150 hours. That’s the entire lifespan of some supercharged big-block gasoline engines.”

This diesel-powered 52-footer reportedly reached 94 mph.

With the engines turning 3,000 rpm, the stepped-hull V-bottom cruised at 84 mph, said Fiore. Fuel consumption—for all three engines—was 45 gallons per hour.

The largest offering in the Outerlimits line, the diesel-powered 52-footer boasts a full cabin and an unusual open-bow area conversion option. Two panels, connected to the gunwales by stainless-steel hood pins, can be removed to transform the boat into the largest “bowrider” in Outerlimits history. (Read the original speedonthewater.com story, “Outerlimits Building 52-foot Bowrider.”) With the panels in place and connected, the boat, which is owned by a multi-time Outerlimits customer in Boston, reverts to its original closed-deck form.

Outerlimits installed three 480-hp turbocharged diesel engines in the 52-footer.