How Big is your motor?

What size motors do you have in your boat?

Is the difference between Mastercraft's 310 and 330hp worth the extra cash? The boat will be used for wakeboarding only.

sorry I orginally posted it under another topic and then moved it here...

Don'/t know much about there power plants but I doubt you will pick up much if any top end. Probably more torque in the 330 but I doubt more top end.

You might gain 1 or 2 mph at best in the 330, but you will gain better "hole" shot. I don't think it is worth the extra money. I have the 310 and I run my boat with about 2200lbs of ballast + 3 to 4 people and have had no problem getting on plane.

DC I have a 385 horse caddy in a MC and it is sweet. It will out accelerate or out run a 330 so i would get the biggest deal you can , with a load of ballast 6 pepes in the boat and you just crack the throttle to 1500 or so rpm and the biggest rider will pop right up with no strain at all and it runs 52 on gps in my opinion it was money well spent just my 0.2 MITCH

Thanks! I'm not too worried about the top end. My main concern is that once the boat is loaded additional ballast and 5+ people how will it perform and if that extra 20 hp is worth $1700?

Joe - Sweeeeet a$$ boat! and that's a serious trailer! how's the 2003 treating you so far?

(Message edited by dcervenka on September 16, 2002)

DC so far so good 78 trouble free hours . I went thru the same dilema you are going thru wich power plant to choose . Based on the number of people we take and the size of the boat i was going to put the 496 cu in it but the dealer swore i would like the cad better so i went with it and he was right nice and smooth .I would up for the 330 horse over the 310, maybe a little better on the resale end also anyways good luck with your new MC, any power you choose you wil still have a blast.Thanx Mitch

I have a 2003 209. I ordered it with MC new MCX 350 HP. After inital break in was running 50.9. I had a 205V with 310 and that boat would run 47's. I do think the 310 may have had a little more umph from the hole due to gear reduction in the v drive.

Oh, yeah my dealer charged $1250 for the upgrade to the 350 hp. It really was a no brainer.

Mark - Thanks! Unfortunatley I only have two choice for the x-star.

1) MasterCraft Power Vortec Predator 5.7L EFI TBI 350 cubic inch GM V-8 engine - 310 hp

2) MasterCraft Power Vortec LTR 5.7L multi-port w/ NorthStar ignition EFI 350 cubic inch GM V-8 engine - 330 hp Cost: + $1700

Has anyone out there with a x-star paid less than $1700 for the 330hp upgrade?

DC,

we bought our X star in MAy. We didnt bother with the upgrade to the 330 hp LTR motor. Ours has the 310 TBI and it works great. I just didnt see the need to spend $1700 more for the LTR. Good luck on your new boat purchase. Either way you go, you will be happy.

You won't go wrong with either engine. The question you need to ask yourself is: Is the bigger motor worth the 1700 bills?? Do you need to go 47 + over the lake?? My answers were NO, and NO. I haven't ever had my boat above 36Mph. It gets you up and out of the hole great with the 310 and I have 2200lbs of ballast and another 750lbs of people weight. I get decent gas mileage for how much weight we put in the boat. So you gain 2 or 3Mph?? How often do you run it wide open?? You are actually never supposed to run a boats motor at full throttle, so why get the bigger motor. Just my .02!

Thanks! Gramps if you're running 2200 lbs of ballast with no problem then that's good enough for me. I plan on adding more ballast as the time goes on and my only concern is how the boat will pull with the additional weight. Top speed is not an issue.

You will be fine with the 310, I have had 2200lbs and 6 people in it + a rider and didn't have any problems. This past weekend I had 2200lbs plus 3 people in the boat and we pulled a set of doubles. One rider was 270lbs and the other 185lbs, they popped up no problem at all, and we got on plane pretty fast. Save the $$ use it towards some goodies on the boat, a bigger down payment, gas, or something for the girlfriend/wife for letting you get a boat!

I traded in a Pro Air with the 310 GT-40 (Ford)for a regular Air with the 330 Excalibur (5.7L GM) and I swear the difference in hulls made a huge difference in performance. With no weight, out of the hole the 330 in the Air is a lot better. With weight the 310 in the Pro Air was a lot better. I seem to have a lot more bow rise with the 330 in the Air which at least makes it feel more sluggish with weight out of the hole.

To sum up my confusing comments I would suggest trying to drive similar hulled boats with the 310 and the 330 and go from there.

4clys hehe

2wordminmun

Sounds like the 330 is more advanced in terms of injection and what not. might be better for cold starts and fuel economy. I'd go for the 330 for that extra torque and the refinement. good luck

There is a major difference in the 310 from the 330hp.
the 310 is a standard Chevy 350 motor, no frills and TBI.
The 330LTR is the marine version of the Corvette LT1 motor. Not only is the 330 different with EFI, Distributor-less iginition, long-chamber plenumb, but it also has a different, Head, valve/rocker and CAM combination over the 310. The Torque in the 330 is better than the 310, and will accomodate extra weight more easily.

The 330 though is really geared for the X10/30, which were the largest boats MC had made till this year.

Just my $.02, but I did a little research before going for the option myself. personally I could not have been happier.

KG

I have the 310hp on my X10 and at idle there is a clicking sound. I figured out it is the 2 injectors on the TBI opening and closing rapidly to squirt fuel in the openings in the TBI. I'm guessing you guys with the 330hp don't have that same noise. I too did not up for the 330hp purely for economics. $1700 for a 6-7% horsepower gain is steep, although I'm sure the torque curves are different but that's nearly $250 per percentage point increase. Either option I'm sure will leave you with a smile on your face at the end of the day.
My $.02 or 2%

I have a 2.1 lt 4 banger with 115hp, it's mad!!

-Matt

i disagree about these motors running at full rpm, they are designed to run at max rpm but as with anything it will last longer if you dont run it at wot, thats why these motors cost so much more then their 4 wheel brothers(way more -check their prices), they are high performance motors from the start
You wouldnt dare drive your car down the block at wot for very long and get away with it.

joe how do u find towing a trailer with triple axles????

Get the 2003 MCX 350 horse power. It rocks.

Get the 2003 MCX 350 horse power. It rocks. It has all kinds of torque out of the hole and i didn't even have to change props like i did on my 2002!!

is this working

MC 475 hp, load this bitch like whoa

Isnt that triple axle trailer pretty overkill? There is no need for triple axles on a trailer for a boat that size. We use doubles up to 30ft boats, and the double is way easier to manage, and less tire wear. Have you ever noticed how much the tires chew the pavement when turning on a triple?

If you look at the torque curves produced by these 2 engines, the 310 has more torque at a lower rpm. The 330's torque is produced at a higher rpm. Wakeboarding = low rpm. Get what you want, I've been in, drove, and rode behind xstars with both, couldn't tell the difference.