8.1 liter engine info????

(hyrific) · (hyrific) **Join Date: Sep 2004** 07-30-2005, 12:23 PM

I have narrowed my boat hunt down to the wakesetter lsv or the supra 24ssv. bolth have a 340 engine and a 450 8.1 engine. I have scoured the web and can't find any info on gas guzzling numbers on these engines. My malibu dealer claims that the 8.1 isn't that bad. and the supra people say mixed things. soooo does anybody out there know about how much more gas the 8.1 uses for normal conditions vs the 340 in either boat?? I live in salt lake city so I would be using the boat at high elevations. When I test drove the supra it had the 340 and seemed to pull fine I didn't have any trouble. The malibu I tested had the 8.1 so I don't know if the 340 in that boat is under powered. Any feedback would be greatly appriciated.

(troublesnomore)

try this site, they have info on mpg/gph etc.

http://www.boattest.com/main_sis_Skiboat.aspx

(hyrific) · (hyrific) **Join Date: Sep 2004** 07-30-2005, 2:11 PM

that site doesn't have any current info on malibu and nothing at all on supra :-(

(wakesk8er2) · (wakesk8er2) **Join Date: Mar 2002** 07-30-2005, 7:59 PM

My cousin has the 502 in his super air and it actually uses less gas than super airs with the smaller engines because it doesn't have to work as hard, plus you can load up sacs and people and still get out of the hole very easily. IMO the are definately worth the extra money.

(nizzle77) · (nizzle77) **Join Date: Apr 2005** 07-30-2005, 9:11 PM

Hyrum,
We just got our VLX this year with the smaller engine. Although it is a smaller boat I can tell you a tank last quite a long time and definitly not short on power. We ride at Utah and Starvation all the time. Are you buying from Kevin at Croft Marine? Being in salt lake i'm assuming you are.

(hyrific) · (hyrific) **Join Date: Sep 2004** 07-30-2005, 10:49 PM

Yes we are buying from kevin I am demoing one of his boats on monday.

(tws_andrew) · (tws_andrew) **Join Date: May 2004** 07-30-2005, 11:08 PM

Hyrum
Get the hammerhead or the 8.1 for sure. I live in SLC also and at this altitude you will be thankful. It does use more gas but you will be happy. Personally I am going to get the hammerhead

(nizzle77) · (nizzle77) **Join Date: Apr 2005** 07-30-2005, 11:22 PM

When you get it stay away from the rankin cover....our boat is at kevins right now gettin the gelcoat fixed because the cover is rubbin it raw. Otherwise being that your getting a little larger boat then ours I'd probably go with the hammerhead.

(hyrific) · (hyrific) **Join Date: Sep 2004** 07-30-2005, 11:34 PM

Well the hammerhead only has 20 foot lbs more torque than the monsoon so I don't expect it to perform a whole lot differently. However it would probably pick up speed a bit above 25 mph. anyway I was hoping to run into somebody who ownes an 8.1 to say what there expirience has been. Did you own an xtar andrew??

(rson) · (rson) **Join Date: Jun 2002** 07-30-2005, 11:59 PM

Hyrum, I have been on the same LSV with and w/o the 8.1 and gues what.....same economy. Why....we surf a lot and the 8.1 doesn't use as much gas as the monsoon to get to speed.

basically the engine doesn't work as hard to get to the same speed therefore doesn't use as much gas. look at this pic.....10 men, 2000+ pounds and the engine barely works to pull out of the hole. Here is the wake:
LSV wake

THe boat:

(rson) · (rson) **Join Date: Jun 2002** 07-31-2005, 12:01 AM

oh yeah, the dealer has the 8.1 on his personal boat and he swears by it.

It also adds 400+ pounds to the rear.
Email me if you have ?'s

(Message edited by rson on July 31, 2005)

(hyrific) · (hyrific) **Join Date: Sep 2004** 07-31-2005, 10:33 AM

Well thats good news we are planning on keeping the boat for many years if we don't run into any weird problems. it would be nice to have the extra power without much extra fuel consumption. the extra money for the boat is ok, but if we are paying almost twice or an extra 50% fuel cost it could add up to quite a sum in the future.

(cdm) · (cdm) **Join Date: Aug 2003** 07-31-2005, 10:49 PM

thats a huge wake! imo, if you run a lot of ballast, have a large crew, wakesurf, plan on keeping the boat a long time and the extra $10K or so isn't going to kill you, go with the 8.1 for sure. They are both big boats and require much hp. I have a 03' X-Star w/ 350 hp MCX, its a great engine! However, even after reproping to 13.5 x 16 ACME when running ~2800 lbs ballast and a handful of people it takes a minute to plan. If you plan on running stock ballast ~1000 lbs and 10 people the smaller engine selection would be fine.

bruky__ 07-31-2005, 10:53 PM

A 502 in a Super Air, eh? Pics?

cc226 08-01-2005, 10:01 AM

http://indmar.com/engines/engine_detail.cfm?name=ind_81_L18

Full specs of the 8.1L engine that would be in the Supra.

(wakesk8er2) · (wakesk8er2) **Join Date: Mar 2002** 08-01-2005, 5:17 PM

Here it is. '99 super air w/502. It's hard to see but there is a hump in the back so the air breather can clear the hatch cover. This thing is mean and throws a bad wake with 2000 lbs and some people in it.