www.iFourWinns.com

Sierra, thanks for the info. That's about what I had thought with regard to the Volvo's. I believe that it roughly the same CID as the Crusader - the only difference being how quickly the boat comes on plane.

Have you made a decision yet? I've gone out in the 340 and was impressed. Am scheduled to trial the V358 on Tuesday. We'll see...

Two things that made the choice for us:

The forward port lounger seat in the cockpit. This is my wife's favorite place to sit.

The walk-through windshield. This makes is much easier to get onto the foredeck. For dealing with lines, sitting out on the pad and anchoring. Guests like to ride up there when we take a slow trip through ego alley or to gawk at waterfront houses. Making folks walk around the gunwales is nowhere near as easy (or safe).

Now, if Searay was to improve the cockpit seating and put a walk-through windshield that still wouldn't be enough. Ever looked inside the engine compartment on a Sundancer? You have to be a contortionist to get to anything beyond an oil dipstick. The FW engines have *excellent* access, both inboard v-drives and I/O setups. SR has improved their interiors a bit. But they still GLUE the carpet down. With FW it's high-grade carpet that can be easily removed for cleaning. I pull mine out and use a SteamVac on them at home. MUCH easier to deal with.

So when shopping always consider what it'll be like to actually use and maintain the boat, regardless of brand.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

I'm getting on board a FW this weekend to just confirm what I already know - that ordering one is a foregone conclusion. I'm still trying to make my engine decision and upon re-evaluating those numbers I posted, it's hard for me to understand that, all things being equal, there is such minimal performance difference in the Volvo 320hp's and the Crusader 375hps. I have one dealer saying he won't even order the Crusaders because of problems he experienced on a few boats that had em', but Bill seems to love his and an owner's experience has a lot of value with me. I'm also not going to be able to have the engine dealer-serviced because of my location and my local guy specializes in Mercs and Crusaders, not Volvos. It's my understanding that the current $7K incentive is only in place 'till 10.30 and if the numbers come up where I feel they should, I may pull the trigger sooner rather than later also to ensure I won't be at risk of a late-starting season which is always possible if you order a few months from now and they're in a production crunch. Saving on winterization would be nice too.

It made me sad to really look into the Sea Ray 340 because of how much I enjoy my '06 260 Dancer. Before I really spent time on one I was sure it was the only way to go. Unfortunately, it's a few years behind in the cockpit and cabin design curve - look no further than their new for '08 models to see this (they will likely replace the 340 with a 350 in '09). The walk-through windshield and port-side lounger in the FW were big factors for me. Then there's the engine compartment space, helm layout (nav in the 358 is where it should be - front and center), head layout and even a screen door for the cabin (duh). There are also enough small improvements from '07 to '08 in the FW that will have me buying the '08, even though buying a leftover is such a great way to go. Let's keep each other up to date on our respective searches...

One note on the TV... Sea Ray is among the boats with a larger flat screen on the bulkhead wall forward of the mid-berth. Nice as it may look, it never really occurred to me, as Bill points out, that you would have to face sideways to watch it. So I'm now wondering how the salon TV is also the TV for the forward berth if you don't have the stateroom - is it mounted on an articulating arm? I guess I'll see this weekend if no one chimes in sooner...

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Previously:
2008 V358/Volvo 5.7 GXi Inboards