Thoughts on 290 Engine/Drive (single Vs. Twin)

I really like the performance of small block v8 twins in a 12000 lbs boat, but I can honestly say that I have never met a person with the twin 4.3s who wasn't happy with them overall. There will be some slight compromise with top end and torque out of the hole when fully loaded, but the v6 quys are always quick to point out the fuel economy and I can't blame them for that. When you are measuring MPG in "Gallon" per mile not "Gallons" per mile, you have to decide how important what's after the decimal point is to you.

I get about 1 - 1.5 miles per gallon depending on conditions and speed etc...
 
Buy your next boat now if you can afford it. You will save money in the long run and get to enjoy it now.

The kids grow up quick. When I purchased my 260DA my 2 boys were younger and smaller and boating was fun on the 260DA. My intentions were to hold the boat for 4-5 years. By the fifth year if I did not upgrade boating would no longer have been fun.

Twin engines are more gas and maintenance but V-Drive maintenance is minimal and most engine maintenance is not too bad. While I loved my 260DA with a single engine and B3 - I would never trade it for my twin V-Drives.

-Kevin
 
Little Ducky said:
If you are looking at a 290 DA ..... look for a later year 290 DA when the boat hull changed.

I looked at a few before landing on the 98 290 and the over all living space is fantastic compared to a 95 or 96.

The 2 links in my signature has all the boat information I could find and a thread on my fix-er-upper. I had a great year with the 290 so far..... so much more room over my 11 260 DA

BTW Mine has the twin 5.0's and I love how easy it is to get up and go. Throttle up it can easily drink up some fuel. But pull back the throttles a little and get it into its sweet spot and the boat stays on plane with very little effort and I bet not that much more fuel then my 11 260 DA when it was up on plane.
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Great info and thanks for the helpful links. We were leaning toward the 95-96 because of the U-shaped bench, but now I am having second thoughts based on your information.
 
atrick said:
Yep 1995 sundancer 290 with twin 4.3 V6 with 4 barrel carbs alphaI gen II drives with all the tanks full 5 adults and 4 grandkids all under 7 cruising at 3400 rpm get about 1 mile to the gallon with a dirty bottom and at 2000 rpm used 20 gallon of fuel in 30 miles.
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Wow thats a lot of weight and not bad fuel economy, thanks for the info!!!
 
KevinC said:
Buy your next boat now if you can afford it. You will save money in the long run and get to enjoy it now.

The kids grow up quick. When I purchased my 260DA my 2 boys were younger and smaller and boating was fun on the 260DA. My intentions were to hold the boat for 4-5 years. By the fifth year if I did not upgrade boating would no longer have been fun.

Twin engines are more gas and maintenance but V-Drive maintenance is minimal and most engine maintenance is not too bad. While I loved my 260DA with a single engine and B3 - I would never trade it for my twin V-Drives.

-Kevin
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That's about where I am at right now with younger boys (smaller for the moment), thanks for the information!!!
 
mesquito_creek said:
I really like the performance of small block v8 twins in a 12000 lbs boat, but I can honestly say that I have never met a person with the twin 4.3s who wasn't happy with them overall. There will be some slight compromise with top end and torque out of the hole when fully loaded, but the v6 quys are always quick to point out the fuel economy and I can't blame them for that. When you are measuring MPG in "Gallon" per mile not "Gallons" per mile, you have to decide how important what's after the decimal point is to you.

I get about 1 - 1.5 miles per gallon depending on conditions and speed etc...
Click to expand...

Get info thanks!!! Make sense.
 
I had a 2000 290 with twin 5.0's and BIII's - it was a great power setup for that boat. A dockmate had a 1996 290, which was pretty much the same size, he had a single 7.4, plenty of power for the boat and the 7.4 was rock solid, his only complaint was handling around the docks could get spirited sometimes. Of course with a wet slipped boat and an outdrive there all the maintenance issues - especially with a BIII and corrosion.
 
BillK2632 said:
I had a 2000 290 with twin 5.0's and BIII's - it was a great power setup for that boat. A dockmate had a 1996 290, which was pretty much the same size, he had a single 7.4, plenty of power for the boat and the 7.4 was rock solid, his only complaint was handling around the docks could get spirited sometimes. Of course with a wet slipped boat and an outdrive there all the maintenance issues - especially with a BIII and corrosion.
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Great feedback!!! Was not aware of the BIII corrosion. Hmmmmm
 
Our 1998 290 with T5.7EFI's and Alphas (4 blade aluminum props, 14x20) cruises at 28-29mph at about 3200 rpm, which ends up being 1.3-1.4mpg. Near full fuel, half water, genset, 2 adults, and gear.

I can stay on plane around 2900 rpm with the new props and full tab, doing about 24mph

the 1997.5+ boats with the 4.3's can be a bit sluggish to get on plane but once up they seem to move along just fine unless you load to boat with a ton of stuff.

I wouldn't trade our motors for much in this boat, but I would love to have bravos over the alphas.
 
Strecker25 said:
Our 1998 290 with T5.7EFI's and Alphas (4 blade aluminum props, 14x20) cruises at 28-29mph at about 3200 rpm, which ends up being 1.3-1.4mpg. Near full fuel, half water, genset, 2 adults, and gear.

I can stay on plane around 2900 rpm with the new props and full tab, doing about 24mph

the 1997.5+ boats with the 4.3's can be a bit sluggish to get on plane but once up they seem to move along just fine unless you load to boat with a ton of stuff.

I wouldn't trade our motors for much in this boat, but I would love to have bravos over the alphas.
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Great insight!! thanks for the info.
 
dpostman said:
Great feedback!!! Was not aware of the BIII corrosion. Hmmmmm
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If you do go with B3's you need to stay up on your game with the corrosion issues otherwise in salt water they will melt away. In salt water you need to make sure your using aluminum anodes, upgrade and add more as needed (I added a prop shaft anode to my setup like the newer ones). You need to make sure you are well painted with a proper paint, make sure there is a bottom paint gap of 1.5 inches all around the drive and also make sure the mercathode system is working if you have one.

-Kevin
 
KevinC said:
If you do go with B3's you need to stay up on your game with the corrosion issues otherwise in salt water they will melt away. In salt water you need to make sure your using aluminum anodes, upgrade and add more as needed (I added a prop shaft anode to my setup like the newer ones). You need to make sure you are well painted with a proper paint, make sure there is a bottom paint gap of 1.5 inches all around the drive and also make sure the mercathode system is working if you have one.

-Kevin
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Good to know, I am in fresh water in Lake Huron.
 
Strecker25 said:
I wouldn't trade our motors for much in this boat, but I would love to have bravos over the alphas.
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Curious why would you love bravos over alphas behind 300 hp small blocks?

My boat sits in a fresh water slip 8 month a year and on the hard for 4 months. I do all the annual maintenance, down to full rebuild if necessary. Given 5.7L EFI motors at less than 300 hp I can't think of any reason why I would want the bravos besides the smoother shifting. But then again, I own another boat with an older volvo AQ280 and I prefer it to all the mercruisers....
 
KevinC said:
If you do go with B3's you need to stay up on your game with the corrosion issues otherwise in salt water they will melt away. In salt water you need to make sure your using aluminum anodes, upgrade and add more as needed (I added a prop shaft anode to my setup like the newer ones). You need to make sure you are well painted with a proper paint, make sure there is a bottom paint gap of 1.5 inches all around the drive and also make sure the mercathode system is working if you have one.

-Kevin
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Kevin, I think the rule of thumb for anodes is:
Zinc for Salt water use
Aluminum for mixed fresh and salt water use
Magnesium for fresh water use
 
Great lakes pirate said:
Kevin, I think the rule of thumb for anodes is:
Zinc for Salt water use
Aluminum for mixed fresh and salt water use
Magnesium for fresh water use
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While that is partially correct you also have to take the application into consideration. In this case we are discussing dual stainless steel props. So, in this case I always went off the recommendations of BoatZincs.com technical people that recommended AL.

reference: http://boatzincs.com/pdfs/Chart_B-Which_Anodes_Should_I_Use.pdf
(see note 13 regarding Bravo 3)

Also, because the Bravo 3 housings are aluminum you really need to keep up with the paint too.
I have seen some around boat yards that were destroyed because of galvanic corrosion and neglected anodes.

-Kevin
 
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dpostman said:
Great info and thanks for the helpful links. We were leaning toward the 95-96 because of the U-shaped bench, but now I am having second thoughts based on your information.
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I like mine better than the newer ones one for the U shaped seat and the walkway is port side so ur not walking in between everyone. The info I read rate the 1995 290 at around 7500 lbs so the weight is lower than the newer ones. As far as single verses dual take the duals sooo much easier to handle especially on a windy day when you need to get in that tricky fuel dock.
 
atrick said:
I like mine better than the newer ones one for the U shaped seat and the walkway is port side so ur not walking in between everyone. The info I read rate the 1995 290 at around 7500 lbs so the weight is lower than the newer ones. As far as single verses dual take the duals sooo much easier to handle especially on a windy day when you need to get in that tricky fuel dock.
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Great info thanks!! I know my 268 feels like a sail some days pulling into my slip. Its a single 7.4 Alpha 1. I have got used to it. Truth be told I have never owned a boat with twins, and when I see the folks that have them in larger boats they seem to make docking look really easy even in windy conditions or tight spots!!! Thanks again!!!
 
dpostman said:
Great info thanks!! I know my 268 feels like a sail some days pulling into my slip. Its a single 7.4 Alpha 1. I have got used to it. Truth be told I have never owned a boat with twins, and when I see the folks that have them in larger boats they seem to make docking look really easy even in windy conditions or tight spots!!! Thanks again!!!
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Once you have twins you won't want to go back to a single, this boat was my first one with duals and I don't want to go back even tho my 21' maxum is a single.
 
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