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Hi all, newbie here. Got into boating a year ago with a Sting ray. Pulling the trigger on our dream boat 2016 R5. My dealer says the Volvo Penta v-8 300- G DP has plenty of power. We will be cruising the Merrimac River to Newburyport harbor and out close to shore. Will often have eight to ten adults on board. We also will trailer to Lake Winnipesakee for two weeks this summer. We have some rather large young adults wanting to water ski. My question, is this engine powerful enough? All the reviews on line test the boat with the 380 engine. Is it worth the extra money for the 350 or 380 ? Don't want to waste money but don't want any regrets either.

I think a big reason you see most configured with the 380 is that the 300 and 350 are likely based on a new 5.3L block (with variable valve timing, direct injection, and some other new features), while the 380 and 430 are likely still based on the older 6L block. The duo prop 300 is likely enough to pull a skier up fine (the skier won't affect a boat this size and weight very much), and I don't think you'll gain a lot in torque by moving from the 300 to the 350 using the same engine block. My inclination would be to move up from the 300 to the 380 If you want more top-end speed or want to get a skier up faster. Note the super-quick 2.6 second time to plane that the V8-300 has in a Cobalt 232 at http://boattest.com/engine-review/Volvo ... 8-300_2016, and with the improved technology in the V8-300 that would probably be my engine of choice.

In short, I think you'll likely have enough to tow a skier with the 300 duo prop, but they will get up more quickly and you'll have another 5-10 mph on the top end with the 380, but at the expense of fuel economy.

You can find reviews of each engine in greater detail at http://boattest.com/engine-review/Volvo%20Penta - good luck with your boat!

John

Did you pull the trigger on the new boat?
I have learned that You should get the largest engine you can. You never want to be under powered.

Yeah, you don't want be underpowered.
R5 with 10 people on board plus gear, food, water, etc...
I have a Mercruiser 8.2 with 380 horses on my 2014 R5. Very pleased with the boat, and glad I opted with a bigger block. Gets you out of the hole and into plane real quick.

What did you do and how does it do? I am buying an R5 with the 300hp Volvo. I have had less hp on same size and wt before and did very well with plenty of power. I am hoping for best economy with it as well as good performance.

Do you have the option to go bigger?

I am buying a boat in stock instead of waiting 3-4 months. Boat show buy and feel the deal is a good one and I like the boat. If 380 and 300 were side by side may opt for it but for 6-8k more may not.

It sure would be nice to be able to drive them right after each other.

Completely agree! I wonder how long it will be before vehicle manufactures -- boats, cars, motorcycles, etc. -- create virtual reality solutions to 'test drive' their vehicles. How cool would it be to sit at home and test engine configurations in an R5 right after each other? Or to test all the different Cobalt boats -- regardless of engine -- across a certain price range?

I'm not in the automotive industry, but I have to think that leading edge manufacturers are looking into this and that virtual reality companies view them as meaningful client opportunities.

We just have to use the manufacturer power and torque numbers for our decisions. Hp for top end, torque numbers for towing grunt.
More power doesn't mean less efficiency. I would also argue, especially now with the Gen 5 release, that the highest hp engines are probably the most fuel efficient for boating. So much lighter and powerful with better heads/injectors etc.

Sure, if conditions are perfect where water is flat, speeds are moderate, weight loads are light where more torque to move through the mass isn't needed, a smaller engine may eek out better fuel mileage. But in the density of water and usually rougher currents/waves, a higher torque engine will naturally be more fuel efficient due to less demand.
As I said previously, I owned a 5.0 240 hp alpha. It did a good job, but it wasn't very efficient when conditions were less than perfect.

Having said all of that, 300 hp is still a damn good sized power plant for a boat as light as the R5.

Will let you all know soon and will try not to be too biased (or lie) about my boat! I stoked as I have been boat less for a lot of years. Having had 4 boats since my teenage years up I'm back in the game!

Big Block Power wrote: Wed May 03, 2017 7:23 pm It sure would be nice to be able to drive them right after each other.

Well as it turns out I do still have the option of moving from the 300 to the 380 Volvo. With 3 aboard rode the 380 in good conditions, a little wind and chop, and reached 52 Mph trimming the drive. May have gotten another 1-2mph max but was in a confined space but maybe not. I'm ok with that.

You know my opinion.lol

Big Block Power wrote: Sun May 07, 2017 2:16 pm You know my opinion.lol

Yep

Power is expensive, but what other option is as prevelant, and obvious as horsepower and torque?
I'm so thrilled to know that I have the new high compression 6.2L 380 coming, that I could do handstands..

If you have the option for more power, it will go down two ways.
First, if you opt for standard power, you will have saved a few bucks.
Second, you will spend a few dollars more now, it probably won't change your life, but you will know it was money well spent every time you hit the water for YEARS to come.