330 Express RePower

[Comfortably Numb]

“Also, how come the 6 cylinder 350's are a non starter for you?”

Displacement and torque

Yamaha 350
4.3L v-6
5.3L V-8 (no longer being made)

Mercury 350
5.7L V-10


The Mercury is lighter than the Honda v-8, with more displacement and torque

Some guys are going Honda because they had a crazy deal of $10k off msrp

that sounds like desperation on Honda’s part…similar to what bombardier did with the Etec did before they discontinued it

 

[Comfortably Numb]

I’d like to know what they did to increase the hp rating on this hull. I’ve been very deep in the bilge in my ‘04 and it’s already got steel beams triangulated and connected to the transom. It looks like they just increased the max hp on paper as higher hp engines became available.

Anyway… for a 700hp rated boat my only choice would be Honda. V8’s and much cheaper than anything else. For newer boats, it’s the v10 Merc for me. For my era boat, I went with v8 300’s. Partly because that’s max rating for my hull and I’m a rule follower and partly because the the only 350’s available at the time were 6cyl which are a non starter for me. I’m a v8 guy.

Other than cost, why would you choose the Honda v-8 350 over a Mercury v-10 350 on a boat rated for 700hp? The Honda is a heavier engine with less displacement

 

[Automated14]

Other than cost, why would you choose the Honda v-8 350 over a Mercury v-10 350 on a boat rated for 700hp? The Honda is a heavier engine with less displacement

cost would be a major driver here.

 

[Automated14]

“Also, how come the 6 cylinder 350's are a non starter for you?”

Displacement and torque

Yamaha 350
4.3L v-6
5.3L V-8 (no longer being made)

Mercury 350
5.7L V-10


The Mercury is lighter than the Honda v-8, with more displacement and torque

Some guys are going Honda because they had a crazy deal of $10k off msrp

that sounds like desperation on Honda’s part…similar to what bombardier did with the Etec did before they discontinued it

all of my fun stuff has v8's. old truck, old car, daily driver silverado... boat. I'm a v8 guy. that's how a 6 cyl is a non starter for me. never said it made sense...

 

[Automated14]

Per the brochures... the 330 Express had a maximum horsepower rating of 600 hp up until 2007 and then in 2008, it switched over to a maximum horsepower rating of 700 hp. The dry weights also changed up between those years as well, going from 10k lbs dry up to the year 2007, then it went to a 10,840 lb dry weight in 2008. I imagine part of that could be likely due to additional standard features being added from one model year to the next. That being said, to me it would be very odd to have one model year be almost 1k lbs heavier than the previous one, as well as have an increase in maximum horsepower by 100 hp, to have them not do anything at all to the hull to allow for the extra 100 hp? Just my thoughts on the matter, of course. Might be worth a phone call or an email to Grady White and see if they have anything to say on the matter? Also, how come the 6 cylinder 350's are a non starter for you?

I don't care enough to call them about my 20+ year old boat...it's more of a commentary that the hp rating system the manufacturers use seems like a bit of a paper game.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

I don't care enough to call them about my 20+ year old boat...it's more of a commentary that the hp rating system the manufacturers use seems like a bit of a paper game.

Hence the reason why I suggested the option of emailing as well. As mentioned before, unless they just increased the numbers for no reason, I don't imagine that the 2008 model year 330 Express just magically gained 840 lbs, while also increasing their max horsepower rating on it as well. I know that Grady White did some similar things before, in 2002 for some models when the 4 stroke outboards came out, as they are heavier, so they reinforced some of their hulls to accommodate for the added weight. I know that the 225 Tournament as well as the 226/228 Seafarer at least had weight increases during those years. I believe other models did the same in 2004/2005. Unless someone else has confirmed it from Grady White themselves, it's all just speculation at this point.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

“Also, how come the 6 cylinder 350's are a non starter for you?”

Displacement and torque

Yamaha 350
4.3L v-6
5.3L V-8 (no longer being made)

Mercury 350
5.7L V-10


The Mercury is lighter than the Honda v-8, with more displacement and torque

Some guys are going Honda because they had a crazy deal of $10k off msrp

that sounds like desperation on Honda’s part…similar to what bombardier did with the Etec did before they discontinued it

Fair enough... I guess if you're wanting as much displacement and torque as possible then go with the Mercury v10, or if you simply want to go as fast as possible. That being said, I imagine the v6 Suzuki/Yamaha 350 will do a bit better on fuel economy as opposed to the v8/v10 350's. The Suzuki's oftentimes also have the different gear ratio to them, allowing them to swing bigger props and giving them a very good hole shot. We actually had somewhat of a similar discussion in another thread a couple weeks ago where the OP was talking about a repower option between 4 cylinder Suzuki 200's vs 6 cylinder Suzuki 225's/250's on his 272 Sailfish. He went with the lower hp 200 Suzuki 4 cylinders and he couldn't be happier. Like most things in life, it's a trade off of one thing vs another. In this instance it would be number of cylinders, power, weight, fuel economy and so forth. I'd think either the Suzuki, Yamaha or even the v6 Mercury 350 would be a happy medium of horsepower, performance and fuel economy.