www.iFourWinns.com

Nav package 1 is $6000, teak is for the swim platform only at $3500 and the ocean drives at 5K. It's actually 15k retail in options. The problem is I have called out of area and was quoted much less (from 200-205k) but not sure how I could buy a boat and have a service problem or get my trade to them. I don't understand why the dealer is being so inflexible. Long Island is the land of Sea Rays where 8 out of 10 boats is a Sundancer so it's not everyday someone walks in and is willing to spend 200k on a boat as it is with the market being so soft nowadays.

It will be interesting to see what Kydds committment is to the Four Winns line now that they are "Doral" dealers ! If Doral proves to be successful for them, I would not be surprised to see them push the Four Winns line on the sidelines. IMHO, Doral, although nicely appointed, is extremely overrated and overpriced! If I were you, I would line up another dealer and see what kind of a deal you get there.

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'04 FW 268Vista "Andiamo"

The problem is the closest next dealer to me is at least 75 miles away from where I boat. How would I get service done to the boat under warranty? Also the dealer in New Jersey and CT both said they cannot help me and referred me to Kydds Marine. The dealer in Rochester(400miles) gave me a price and now I have the Lake George dealer working on a deal for me.

I think the v drives get up on plane faster because of the prop position. The front of the boat goes up higher with sterns when getting to plane which means the aft is digging in deeper until up on plane.

Speed to get on plane is more important in smaller boats. When you're pulling a skier you want to get out of the hole quick. On a big boat, well, this isn't usually the type of vessel you'd be using for pulling water toys. That and the fuel burn rate on a smaller sport boat is a LOT less expensive! A 34', fifteen(plus) thousand pound boat doesn't "hop" up on plane, no matter what sort of drive setup it's using. That and the 348 tends to ride a bit 'bow high', at least in the inboard configuration. I don't know what boat they had the Annapolis show last weekend, but I saw it leaving Monday morning. It brought that bow up and got on plane quite nicely.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

Bill, I agree with all your points about getting up on plane except you left out my main reason for wanting a boat that gets on plane quickly...safety and loss of vision. When it takes a while with the bow riding high it is very hard to see.

Well, just how high do you think it's going to rise? Just how much visibility do you really think is going to be lost? In all honesty? Not much. That and the time difference is likewise going to be pretty short. I've had 12 people on the boat, luggage, full fuel tanks and water, food and of course various frosty beverages. I noticed time to get on plane did suffer. From the usual short time to about three times longer (didn't time it but I'm sure it was less than a minute).

All the while the bow being up really wasn't a problem for visibility coming out of the Severn into the Bay (through crab pots). The 348 rides a bit high anyway. I would prefer to have higher helm seating.

So while I understand your concern I'm not sure it's going to make much difference either way in the 348/358 Vista based on inboards vs outdrives.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

Don't you guys have trim tabs? Use em, geesh!

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Brett DiMichele

Of course we do. Ten additional feet of boat means it'll trim a bit differently.

I am a bit curious as to if something could be done to reduce the bow rise on the 348 with inboards. When wandering through fields of crab pots it's pretty much necessary to be standing at the helm to see far enough over the bow.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

IPS would probably solve that issue... My next boat will be Diesel IPS... I'm saving up my pennies right now for a V458 and I think I might be ready to purchase it by the time I am ready to croak!


So when you start out with your boat Bill, if you have the tabs fully deployed, does that not push the bow down far enough? If the answer is no, then I am thinking the tabs are not properly sized to the boat. Tabs SHOULD be able to keep the bow down on any boat if the planes are appropriately sized. Your boat should have at least 14" by 18" long planes. (I have no clue how big the one's are FW used on yours).

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Brett DiMichele

That amount of time was important to me. We originally bought the boat for use on Lake of the Ozarks. There have been times where over 150 boats have been in view on the weekend. It is very crowded at times with jet skis as well. You are fortunate that you probably don't have this much traffic to worry about where you boat. Now, I don't either since we are keeping the boat at the river. When I tested the stern drives there was a noticable difference in not only how high the bow went up but the duration. I do believe the trim tabs are undersized on the 358. They just don't seem to do much on my boat.

An IO boat should have less bow rise than a straight inboard. Inboards do not have adjustabe thrust angles and the prop is always pushing it's thrust downward (also why they are less efficient, use more fuel, have little to no steerage at 2-3Knts etc). But they sure are "simpler" than I/O's to work on and maintain!

If I bought a big boat and didn't get IPS I would go sterndrive (Ocean Series, there is no better choice) unfortunately I don't know if you can mate the OSX drives to diesels, and my next boat will be Diesel for sure!

After watching a 378 drive sideways right up to the dock as gracefull as a ballerina with a greenhorn driving.... No other way to fly for me!

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Brett DiMichele

Ok, don't get me wrong, but if traffic is THAT heavy then being up on plane just doesn't seem like a good idea. But I don't want to start an argument about being irresponsible or anything like that.

Did you compare two 358's; one with each type of drive? Which one seemed to have more bow rise a) when getting on plane, and b) once up on plane?

I'm likewise a "little" curious as to whether the tabs are appropriately sized on the 348. That and I'm not entirely sure as to what I'd have to do to find out what might help. Spending a couple hundred bucks to pull it out of the water for "testing" isn't my idea of a fun way to spend money.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

Don't forget the celery sticks to improve planing times. On Merc Bravo drives (at least) there is a piece where rams attach to the drive that controls how far in your drive will go, when you trim the drive in. It looks like a cross section of a stick of celery. The dealers (manufacturers?) typically put these in front of the attachment bolt. Moving them to the rear allows the drive to tuck in an extra inch, which improves time to plane.

My mechanic says that by limiting the amount of down trim is safer. Too much down trim makes the boat steer unpredictably at high speeds. He thinks the boat makers do this to prevent unskilled operators from accidents. But a side affect is less abilty to direct the thrust down and get on plane. I was going to change these on my Searay during winter lay-up but I bought a new boat instead.

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2008 V358 Two-tone Blue V/P Dual Prop 320 HP
Lake Winnipesaukee, NH

Well, I guess I'm ready for the sparking A/C (unless they fixed the problem), useless holding & water tank gauges (unless they upgraded) and a couple of MPH off my top speed 'cause I'm getting V-drives, but the paperwork should be arriving for me tomorrow to sign off on my yet-to-be-built 2008 Vista 358. Growing up boating I always heard "you never buy a new boat," and I justified that last year because I bought a new leftover that already took the hit. Then I figured, only buy leftover from here on out, and now happily justify the '08 with the notion that it will be exactly what I want and I actually think she'll stick around for a while. I probably had to just type that to further make myself believe it. In any event, I am thrilled to be joining the FW family. I have a strong feeling my expectations will be met and look forward to firing off a lot of questions and even helping out where I can. Updates to come...

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Previously:
2008 V358/Volvo 5.7 GXi Inboards