Since its official launch at the 2016 Miami International Boat Show, Mercury Marine’s Active Trim has been providing a “wow” factor that even the most seasoned boater is adopting.
Ft. Myers boater Doug Fillman took to the water as a seasoned boater who liked to trim his own engine. Within 10 minutes of using Active Trim, he was hooked. Doug’s story is chronicled in a new video from Mercury Marine. “I’ll tell you, it’s one less thing you have to think about when you are driving,” said Fillman. “More eyes on the water, safety, you can’t beat it.” Boaters like Fillman have compared Active Trim to moving from manual to automatic transmission on an automobile. “It’s better than manual,” said Fillman. “It does it better than I can.”
Designed to suit entry-level and expert boaters alike, Active Trim simplifies boat operation while improving engine performance and decreasing fuel costs. New boaters are immediately able to properly trim boat engines with no intimidating learning curve, and experienced boaters won’t need to constantly monitor and adjust trim with changes to boat speed or when going into turns. “It’s speed based, there’s actually a GPS chip built in so it knows how fast you are going based off your speed,” said Bret Martin, Mercury Marine manager of sterndrive integration.
Active Trim is compatible with 40hp to 400hp Mercury FourStroke outboards, two-stroke outboards with SmartCraft, and all gas and diesel MerCruiser sterndrive engines with SmartCraft. The system is also available for retrofitting to engines already in the field. Another Active Trim exclusive are its five selectable trim profiles that accommodate nearly any boat application, from small runabouts, pontoons, bass boats and cruisers to high-performance applications.
For operators wanting to get the last mile per hour out of their boat, Active Trim can be overridden by using the regular manual trim buttons, though auto mode can be easily re-engaged.
