I used to have a 20.5 ft I/O 4.3L Merc, I now have a 21.5 ft v-drive with a 315 HP Merc inboard. The fuel consumption on the inboard is much higher. We have an annual family reunion, in which we do a lot of boating. Early in the morning it’s all wakeboarding, skiing and knee boarding, in the afternoon when the lake is crazy-busy with other boaters all we do is tube without ballast. With the old boat I would run through a 40 gallon tank every two days. In the new boat I ran through a 36 gallon tank every day. That’s not gallons per hour but I think it tells the fuel consumption story pretty well. My old I/O with 185 HP had a top speed of about 45 MPH, the inboard has 315 HP and a top speed of about 44 MPH. What’s the difference? It’s taking more power to push the inboard, and I’m sure that’s mainly due to hull shape. More power and the same speed means more fuel for the same speed. The benefit is wake size and shape, IMO the inboard wake is considerably better. Is it worth it? Well not for tubing, but if you really want to push the wakeboarding envelop then it is. On the other hand if wakeboarding is a casual interest then maybe a lower cost I/O with lower fuel cost might be the way to go. I’ll second the marriage saving Perfect Pass, I’ll never own another boat without it (only for serious wakeboarding and other water sports not needed for tubing and casual use). The fuel consumption difference between the 315 and the 330 should be nil on the same boat. The 330 will use more fuel when you ask more from it, but otherwise like I said before that will be not be noticeable.
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