www.iFourWinns.com

Hello Vista Members...been a long time since I posted. My wife and I have a 2006 318 V that we are considering selling and moving up to a 378V w/ IPS 500 diesels. Has anybody had any experience with the 378s, IPS, or diesels? A bit nervous doing it in todays economy, and certainly can't unless we can move our 318.

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2008 378 Vista
"Not 2 SHABI"
IPS 500 Volvo-Penta D6

Previously
'06 318 Vista
'97 258 Vista
'98 195 Sundowner
'87 180 Horizon

Had a chance to play with Axius (which is like IPS).

If you can swing it - do it. IPS is amazing for docking and slow speed navigation/maneuvering.

378 is a gorgeous boat. That's a very nice upgrade from the 318.

In our area, usually folks who are in the lower 30's skip the upper 30's and head straight into the 40's. 45' is a sweet spot in the Pac Northwest... out around the islands we have national park buoys -- and the limit is a 45' boat for them. Otherwise, you're anchoring.

Just evaluate your needs. There's a decent market for 318's that have been cared for.

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2008 318 Vista -SOLD, but I am still around!
All Night Long, Seattle WA

The similarities are in the joystick control that the two systems share. Axius is for
sterndrives only. IPS are pod drives not attached to the stern of the boat. A better
comparison with IPS would be Zeus drives. Which have the propellers facing aft, while IPS has the propellers facing front.
Both are pod drive systems.

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

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy

Cougar and Capt'n...your both exactly right! We have to evaluate our needs...and IPS is like zeus. There are several 08 model 378 Vista's left on the market that are still "new" so they come with all warrenties. I am just trying to evaluate whether $289K (new 08) and $249K (85hr 08) are worth doing. We are going to florida on vacation in a couple weeks and will swing by to look at the 08 Vista w/ 85hrs. Both are similiarily equipped...diesel, IPS, etc... Eventually my wife and I are going to move to florida and do intercoastal, cross the stream to Bahamas, and great loop...trying to determine if 378 will meet those wants!

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2008 378 Vista
"Not 2 SHABI"
IPS 500 Volvo-Penta D6

Previously
'06 318 Vista
'97 258 Vista
'98 195 Sundowner
'87 180 Horizon

378 Vista retirement boat? Hmmmmmm. are you planning on being live aboards for lengthy stays? Or just use it for week or two long excursions and then stay at your palatial estate the rest of the time ?

You have to really like the express cruiser sytle to make it a live aboard boat, even a V378. The "cave like" salon can get on
some people's nerves for extended stays. It all depends on your intended use. If your intent is just short ICW cruises, and an occasional
jaunt over to the Bahama's, the V378 will do the job. Anything more, and you need to consider other options. Like a Sedan Bridge or Aft Cabin Motoryacht, which of course takes you out of the Four Winns line up.

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

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy

Cap'n...most likely not live aboard...1-2 week jaunts at a time...no estates here, I am in the Army...and in 5 yrs will be done there, and looking for something a bit more "part time" for employment. But...we are thinking of pulling trigger now...because it is a buyers market. What are your thoughts on the prices (previous post), go new 08 or used 85hr 08...is new really worth $40K? Also, depends on how the used 08 surveys out...

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2008 378 Vista
"Not 2 SHABI"
IPS 500 Volvo-Penta D6

Previously
'06 318 Vista
'97 258 Vista
'98 195 Sundowner
'87 180 Horizon

Prices are not too shaby but like you say, survey will be a big factor in determining what you choose.
I think for your use, the 378 will be fine, if that is what you both like the most. For me, $250K will buy a hell
of a lot of boat, I would be shoppin' around and look at other possibilities like I mentioned above. Might not
be your style, but worth a look, shopping and just looking is cheap.

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

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy

Capn...the "not 2 SHABI" = first letter from members of my family's first names (Spencer, Heather, Ashley, Bob, and Last Name initial" my 8 yr old son came up with that! Go figure...goto love kids minds. Anyway, we are loyal Four Winns owners...my dad is Sea Ray! Causes some friction in the family... I would consider other makes, but really looking for diesel and pods. Found a Sea Ray 38 Dancer '08 with zeus for $325K, but certaily could get them down into a price range...but not sure. So...we are stuck to late model boats. We will procede slowly in any case!

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2008 378 Vista
"Not 2 SHABI"
IPS 500 Volvo-Penta D6

Previously
'06 318 Vista
'97 258 Vista
'98 195 Sundowner
'87 180 Horizon

Clever boat name. I like it. Glad to see you are a dedicated FW owner. If you happen to be browsing
boat yards, and can take a look at one of these, please do. At least for comparison purposes to a V435.

Or maybe this for a V378 comparison.

I'll let some 378 owners add their comments. I have added more than my 2 cents worth.

Good Luck in your search !

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

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy

Hey Bob. We have a 2006 V378. If you have any questions I'd be happy to help. Ours does not have diesels or IPS so I won't be much help in that regard.

As for the boat itself, overall we are happy with her as it fits our boating style. We make a couple 1 week trips per year and a dozen day trips and weekend over-nighters per season. In my opinion this boat needs diesel power due to it's weight. The 8.1 gas engines we have moves the boat nicely but only gets 0.7 mpg at 26 mph. Fine for us because of averaging 40 engine hours a season. I'm guessing with diesel you would get 1.2 mpg, adding IPS maybe 1.4 mpg due to less drag from shafts, struts and rudders. Boating friend has similar sized Formula with diesels and gets 1.2 mpg at 32 mph.

Very happy with this hulls sea manners. We boat on Lake Michigan/Green Bay which is known for it's choppy "square" waves. This past weekend for example we were running in steep 4 foot following white capped waves at 28 mph. No spray on the windshield, solid feeling hull, no slamming and no open cabinets or displaced items in the cabin below.

We have only experienced minor problems thus far...fresh water pump gave out, built-in coffee maker quit and the rubber backed cockpit carpet is junk. Only one relatively important item to date...8-inch diameter dry pocket on front deck that didn't get any epoxy during layup. Minor fix by injecting epoxy from the top through the non-skid surface, I hope!

So other than being gas hungry we love this boat at rest and on the move. This reminds me, we bought it last Spring and haven't posted pictures yet.

JAK, thanks for the info...alas...we need to move our 318V first. One of the biggest issues we are facing, shipping a 378 V anywhere involves not only shipping cost, but about 25hrs of disassembly (radar arch removed, back lounge removed, fridge and icemaker removed) just to ship it, then reassemble when it gets to its destination...so for us that is about a $7.5K addition. So we will see, but we love the boat. I am glad you like yours, wish we would have just gone right to the 378 from our 258! but...3ft itis bit us....again!

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2008 378 Vista
"Not 2 SHABI"
IPS 500 Volvo-Penta D6

Previously
'06 318 Vista
'97 258 Vista
'98 195 Sundowner
'87 180 Horizon

For long passages and extended stays aboard I would not recommend an express boat. I'd be far more inclined to consider one of the 'fast trawler' designs instead. Not as fast but that's usually not the point of passage-making trips. Fuel economy is typically a lot better. That and there's usually a lot more places to store things (a pet peeve about express cruisers).

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista