Why inboards?

Whats the advantage of an inboard vs an IO? My uncle has a sail boat with a rudder and knows how hard it is to park the thing, same goes with an inboard with a rudder, so he was asking me why they still use inboards and I was curious as well.

What are the main advantages to inboard setups vs IO setups?

Drive it once, then you know the anwser!
The handling on an inboard is superior to a IO, we bought an inboard 5 years ago and would never go back.

Inboards have more torque because they don't have an outdrive with a bunch of gears. The prop is under the boat, so they are better for watersports and people swimming near the back. Also, they normally put out better wakes.

inboards are also way more better on $$$ gas and the power they have rules.

"What are the main advantages to inboard setups vs IO setups?"

In thoery, not much. Someone mentioned torque, but an outdrive can be geared to put out almost as much torque (allowing for gear reduction) as a direct drive. That being said, you may need an outdrive a little more beefy than an Alpha One to handle it. And I'm not sure how much of an inboard's cruising speed handling is attributable to the drive type vs. the hull design but there is probably an advantage there. Surfing is a no-no on an I/O but most of the other arguments I've seen specific to the drive type are questionable at best.

In practice, nobody really build I/Os for proper wakeboarding. I/Os are typically built for smooth general cruising, reasonable speed, and some notion of fuel efficiency. After those goals are met, they see what they can do about wake. Inboard wake and ski boats usually start from the other end.

adam, that doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Gas = power.

The torque required to pull a loaded wakeboat out of the hole and hold speed isn't available in an i/o setup. To answer your question, we gladly sacrifice a little control around the dock for the necessary torque and steering while loaded and underway.

Can you wakeboard with an I/O? Of course

Why an inboard...

1 My four year old climbs onto the swimdeck by herself. She also jumps in from the bow, side, stern, wherever.
2 The wake is smooth so I tow my 10 year old at 18 mph on her slalom ski and she doesn't get hurt when she falls. She easily crosses the smooth wake.
3 I tow my 8 year old at 12 mph to learn new things on his wakeboard and I can get the wake clean. Now he jumps W2W at 16 mph but slows down when he's just riding again.
4 It's much harder to make it cavitate.
5 It pulls me out of the water at part throttle.
6 It handles much nicer.
7 It holds any speed better.
8 My daughter says wakeboats are Class A (so are express cruisers) and new I/O's are Class B. An old boat, like my last one is just Class C. (She's the style conscious one)
9 I can parallel park mine with less effort than my I/O. (It's a learned technique but it's easy) A sailboat can't slide sideways from prop torque so they're harder.
10 Mine uses less gas when just putting along or cruising @ 25 mph than the same size I/O.
11 Mine gets far less bow rise.

That's enough for me. OK, number 8 is lame but she feels good about it.

Here is a short description I put together, obviousley for MC but it applies to all inboards/v drives. This is by no means exhaustive but I think it hits some of the main points. Like Tom said, drive one and thats your answer.

Also note that by put together I mean made a jpg of some images from the old MC brochure.

After owning I/Os for 20 years, I agree with Tom and Art... Drive one! I made the change in '99, and the difference in handling and response are not even close.
(I find it easier to dock than an I/O.)

Plus the saftey factor, both my sons started driving the boat at 12 years old , and I let them out on their own at about 15, I might not have been as willing with an I/O.

My wife likes driving it better, and can hold a constant speed, which was very difficult in our I/Os.

I went from a 205 hp V-6 to a 330 hp V-8 and fuel consumption is about the same (4-5 gph)

Plus less to maintain without that sterndrive.

And oh yeah ..THE WAKE IS BETTER!

(Message edited by rio_sanger on October 10, 2007)

you can't surf behind an I/O!

Well, you can, but falling into the prop may sting a little.

i can park a dd or vdrive much better than any i/o. once you learn it it alot more maneuverable.

(Message edited by rodltg2 on October 10, 2007)

What Chris & Rod said ^^^^. Never going back.

Matt Loudsubz, I remember you from when you were asking about buying my boat from out of the country and having me ship it to you... and I thought you were a scam artist... After that, I guess you had me convinced that you just really really knew what kind of boat you wanted, and were confident enought to shop for it over the internet, sight unseen.

Anyway, my answer to your question is, aside from the superior wakeboarding wake of an inboard, and the fact that it tracks better than an I/O so you don't pull it around with the rope when you're riding, there's also the fact that you can turn around and pick up your fallen rider without fighting the wheel every time. With an I/O, your arms feel like a spagetti noodles by the end of the day. That's big. I/O's are made for general purpose. Inboards are made for one purpose, watersports.

The flat bottom hull produces a superior wake.

An I/O with a deep V hull creates a washy rooster tail as the displaced water comes back together at different angles. This created the flatter washed out rooster tail, and wider, washier wake.

The inboard with the flatter hull created a nice and sharp rooster tail where all the water seems to converge on a single point before spreading out in a slightly narrower but much cleaner wake. The wake also forms a good 10 to 15 feet further away from the boat compared to an I/O, which lets you run a longer rope for easier cuts and greater speeds, yet still retain a similar distance between the wakes.

Inboard motors also hold their speed much more easily. You have to constantly adjust an I/O as the speed creeps up or down if you just leave the handle alone.

Inboards handle better because you have a rudder behind the prop. I/O's the steering is done with the whole lower unit prop,skag,shaft this causes much more water to be displaced thus creating cavitation on tight turns. Oh yeah, and Inboards are just cooler.

Thanks for all the great feedback. I was never doubting one bit just curious thats all.

I can't wait to drive mine come spring. I guess I will have to practice parking at first because from the little water test we had It took me a few times to even get remotely close to the dock.

They always pull to the same side, depending on prop rotation. You can either come in with the tail of the boat pointing slightly toward the dock, or slightly away from it, depending on the side and pull direction, then give it a shot of reverse. It's the same as with an IO or outboard, only you don't get to crank the wheel to change the direction that it pulls.

What'd you end up buying?

Tim,
I agree with most of what everyone is saying, but I just dont get the part u say about ur arms being tired from driving. I have never had tired arms from driving or anyone else for that matter including my girlfriend...maybe on ur old boat (Im assuming u had an I/O) ur power steering fluid was low?!?

So, I guess you're saying they're putting power stearing on IO's now.

In my old Bayliner, my arms were the power stearing. On the plus size, they got really really big, so people were scared of me

.....I know on my outboard if you trim the moter up to a certain point there is no more force pulling the steeering wheel to one side its all even and you can let go. at this point steering is extremely easy and there is no power steering. But I know on my friends new boat the steering is stif but he can let
go any where as far as the trim goes and the wheel wont pull. So there is a trade off I guess...

"In my old Bayliner, my arms were the power stearing. On the plus size, they got really really big, so people were scared of me"

Lol, Well theres a benefit to I/O right there!!!

How come off shore racers use I/O then? if the handling is better on inboards? not tryin to high jack man sorry just wanna know.

I think the answer to the offshore racer question has to do with how far the outdrive sticks down into the water and how the hull cuts through the water. If the boat is going to be bouncing around in the water at high speeds, having a propeller that stays in that water more of the time will provide more thrust than having one that's going to bounce out, and having a hull that will cut though the chop is a plus as well.

For the same rated HP I/O's are faster. I rarely drive faster than 23 mph, I don't care about top end.

As to the "handling better" question, handling is a relative term. The hull of an inboard ski or wakeboarding boat is typically lined with small fins, like a surfboard. This helps it hold a precise direction when someone is yanking on the rope behind it. It also makes for alot of fun when nobody else is around, and you have glassy water to chew up. With those fins there, when you crank a hard turn at high speeds, you can really feel the g-force, because instead of skidding to the outside of the turn, the boat tracks and goes where you point it. Just don't go nutty with these hard turns when I'm riding

A list I made some time ago:

Inboard
Pro #1: Firm wake – The exhaust is not ported through the center of the propeller. The theory is that the bubbles from I/O exhaust make the wake soft. I don’t if this is fact or fiction.

Pro #2: Draft – The draft on a typical inboard might be 8 to 10 inches less than an I/O. Result lower prop repair/replacement costs. On my old I/O I generally tore up one prop per year.

Pro #3: Dead rise – Inboards generally have less dead rise. When starting from a stand still inboards don’t push the propeller deeper into the water. I/Os and outboards generally have more dead rise and they push the prop deeper in to the water from a standing start. Result see Pro #2.

Pro/Con #4: Our drive costs – The cost of a motor and out-drive is higher than a motor and a inboard transmission (For some reason inboard manufactures make up for this cost savings some place else running costs higher). Result inboards should cost less but in reality they don’t.

Pro #5: Maintenance costs – Inboards should cost less to maintain.
Maintenance common to both inboards and I/Os (winterization)
Flushing the cooling system
Fogging the engine
Oil and filter change
Change impeller
Unique I/O maintenance
Change I/O gear case grease
Change V-drive transition oil

1) Lower maintenance cost
a. No out drive maintenance – but you may still have a v-drive trany
b. An I/O outdrive lasts half as long as the engine
c. There should be more – anyone?
2) Steering is better
a. An inboard rudder can pivot something like +/- 60 degrees
b. The freedom of movement on an I/O outdrive is more constrained +/- 30 degrees?
c. An I/O leans into a turn an inboard is flatter feels more like a sports car.
d. At idle speeds an I/O wags back and forth – doesn’t hold a straight line
e. The fins on an inboard help prevent waging – tracks better
f. However an inboard is more difficult to backup
3) Bow rise - an I/O has more bow rise, the bow can obscure the drivers view
4) Draft
a. An I/O typically has about 10 to 12 inches more draft – can’t run shallow
b. However an I/O can tilt up in shallow water reducing its draft but only at idle speeds.
5) An I/O gets better fuel economy
a. That’s bad for wake boarding it means the hull on an I/O is out of the water and not making a wake
b. The orientation of the inboard prop and the shape of the inboard hull is different and makes the boat push more water out of the way – more wake
6) Wake firmness
a. An I/O vents it’s exhaust under the water from the center of the prop
b. I’ve heard but don’t know that the exhaust gas in the center of the wake make the wake less firm – that’s bad
c. However, the CO risk is higher on an inboard
7) Prop cost
a. Aluminum I/O props are cheapest
b. Brass inboard props are medium cost wise
c. SS I/O props are more expensive than inboard props

Tim that makes sense because of the deep V hull off shores have. Having a Drive on a flat hull would create a lot of drag and the thrust would be coming from way under the boat (I'm probably wrong about that thats just what I would think)and the way you put it it would seem pointless. But we have a 73 Donzi x-18 with a pretty deep V and it handles awsome. It seems like I/O's are more squirley(no idea how to spell that) and I's seem tighter in handling. Our Donzi has spoiled us for the past 13 years or something like that because it is so simple and is a whole diff feeling that in I/O flat hulled boat.

I meant to say I's are more squirley(spelling) and I/O seem tighter in handling.

Huh? The best handling boats are I's. I/Os are trucks.

To me it feels completly the other way around, our donzi seems like it handles better then our x-star

Offshore racers also have an interest in being able to trim the props down so they don't have the nose jump up on them. At that speed, they'd crash. I just saw the discovery show "Build it bigger" where they featured "Miss Geico"-offshore racer that uses twin helicopter turbine engines. When they trim the props, its the whole shaft.
Technically this is an inboard offshore racer isn't it?
Check it out..
http://www.missgeicoracing.com/boat.htm

Is your X loaded with ballast? Try putting 2,000 pounds of ballast is a similarly sized Donz.

True true, I see your point. To me it seems like in a wakeboard boat you are always turning the wheel to stay straight and the reaction when you turn the wheel is slower. With our Donzi you nudge the wheel and it immediately turns. And def at slow speeds the Donzi is better by far because of the drive and the thrust is going in a certain direction rather than with a rudder it takes a more thrust to turn. Once again I am just blabbering on and could be completely wrong this is just my idea.

The drives in the offshore boat where BMX the come straight out of the transom. the have a u joint at the transom. The reson for that is outdrives will not take the HP after 1500 hp and 1000lb torque drives blow up. the reasons offshore boat use outdrives. 1 trimable to put less drag in water.2 they stager the motors one in front of the other and the can adjust the x factor the hight of the drves. closer to the vbottom of the boat. so they are the last thing to leave the water and the first to reenter.Twitch get in a dd boat with no weight and turn it.

I have a dd boat. I also havent driven it much and Ive driven the Donzi much more.