www.iFourWinns.com

Bye Bye old friend......

The venerable 3.0L Volvo is history. Merc remains.

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One of 4 Previous (Sold) Boats:
2000 Four Winns 268 Vista

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy

Sad. That engine got a lot of people into boating, and serves a lot of other people who don't need anything more.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

It is sad indeed. The "entry level" stern drive engine for now will be the 4.3L V6, which puts the price of the boat possibly out of the entry level category. Especially if a builder does not offer Mercruiser power and the 3.0L motor. Brunswick (aka. Bayliner and SeaRay) will gain the lions share of boats equipped with the 3.0L in 2011 and ahead. But on the positive side, for builders like FW that have not offered a Merc 3.0L it will put the emphasis on outboard powered boats for their entry level offerings. And we now know Four Winns has some OB powered boats ready to sell for 2011.

Another interesting observation is the return/revitalization of the super-entry level boats. The 16 foot outboard powered boats that you can practically tow with a scooter. Larson has the LX620, Bayliner has the 160 and there are a few more. These boats will get first time boaters started with a boat, motor and trailer for less than $10K.

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One of 4 Previous (Sold) Boats:
2000 Four Winns 268 Vista

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy

I've long thought it was a bad idea to abandon the 16' boat. It's good to hear there's some interest in those again, although owning a 16' boat now would be a very different proposition than it was "back in the day" when the biggest boat on the lake might well have been 18' or 20'.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

Realistically, how much more does it cost VP to buy a 4.3 V6 from GM compared to a 3.0 straight 4 ? Not a lot, I'm sure. In reality, I wouldn't mind betting the actual extra cost, NOT price, of a marinised 4.3 V6 is only a couple of hundred dollars more than the 3.0 at most.

Graham

I had heard that the 4.3 was not going to be made for that much longer either...too bad because it's a good choice for smaller boats where the extra length of the V-8 (about 3.5-4 in) might be an issue...Personally although it was too long for smaller boats, I was a fan of the 250 cu in (4.2 liter) Chevy six that Merc used years back, about the easiest engine to work on that there ever was, like my old 4.0 Jeep six...

As I've said before I like the idea of FW bringing back outboards on the smaller boats and giving people more choice...although the intial cost is higher than with a sterndrive running costs over time tend to be a good bit lower...but that 3.0 4 cyl was a really nice SIMPLE engine, that had a real backyard mechanic appeal...not too many of those types of engines left...that's why I hung on to my old Jeep 4.0....

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

Maybe when the market picks back up, Volvo with get back into the market with some smaller non GM blocks? There are certainly some better 4-cyl options out there IMO.

On a related note, I find it interesting that VW is doing marine http://www.vw-m.de/index.php?id=12&L=1

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-2006 H180 VP3.0 SS 21p

re VW marine ; all diesels and probably very nice. A 130 HP VW diesel marine engine probably costs more than the cost of a boat + 3.0 litre petrol engine ! In Europe, our wonderful unelected EU "government" has eliminated reduced tax diesel for leisure marine use across all member states; it has to have road use tax added ! The price of marine diesel engines over that of petrol (gas) ones is eyewatering. Yet a diesel car is not that much more than a petrol one here.

Graham

Here a diesel vehicle carries a big cost penalty and diesel is sometimes more expensive than premium gas...but interestingly diesel pick ups tend to hold their value well at resale..
Jeep sold the Grand Cherokee WK series with a Mercedes 3.0 diesel that had as much torque as the Hemi V-8 and was probably at least 30% less fuel consumption, but since I'm a do it yourselfer I preferred the thirstier but less expensive to maintain Hemi...Mercedes designs are technologically advanced but for do it yourselfers there is much un-needed complication and the parts prices are out of sight, the parts prices on the Hemi V-8 are not any more than other domestic engines...

As far as marine engines, I think the 3.0 was a good low cost engine for marine use, it could have been updated and kept in use if they added a crossflow cylinder head, the lack of an OHC design to me is not a big deal and the cost of re-power is so low with those 3.0s it kept many people in the boating hobby that couldn't have afforded it otherwise...

I would like to see small diesels mated to a sterndrive power package in the US as sooner or later the fuel prices will rise, and the advantages of diesel will be a marketing factor, esp if we get close to $5-- a gallon like 2 seasons ago...

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

My first boat was equiped with the VP 4.3 engine in a 19 ft boat. At the time I didn't really know what the difference meant in terms of performance. The only thing was that all my young friends with a 4 cylinder engine wanted to sell their boats after only a year or 2. By spending a little more money for the 6 cylinder I was able to use my first boat for 14 years before I traded up to the H240.

To add to my own post earlier today I was just reading about "engine buying tips" in BoatTest.com. There comment on 4 cylinder inboard engines was:

When selecting power for a sportboat perhaps the most important thing to avoid is under powering the boat. Some boat builders and dealers typically will install 3.0L 135-hp engines in the smallest sportboats to keep the total price of the boat as low as possible. They call them “entry level” boats. This package might be sufficient for a youngster just starting out or for a newbie couple, but for slalom skiing and hauling a boat full of guests it is simply not enough.

Maybe customer dissatisfaction with the product was the reason VP quit making the 3.0L engine?