350 Coupe Cruising Range

A

argus1

Member
Apr 12, 2015
196
Apollo Beach, FL
Boat Info
2011 350 Sundancer
Engines
MerCruiser 377 MAG ECT w/Bravo III Drives, Axius
http://www.boattest.com/review/sea-ray/3612_sundancer-350-coupe_rel2899
BoatTest.com is reporting "Best cruise for the Sea Ray Sundancer 350 Coupe (2017-) is 12.2 mph (19.6 kph), and the boat gets 0.5 miles per gallon (mpg) or 0.21 kilometers per liter (kpl), giving the boat a cruising range of 97 miles (156.11 kilometers)."

Cruising range of 97 miles; 0.5 miles per gallon? What am I missing?
 
Range is a function of tank size over MPG. Speed is only relevant as to how it affects MPG. How big are the tanks? Assuming no reserve, 97 miles at .5 MPG would indicate a tank size of 194 gallons which seems reasonable for that size boat.

That said, most tests do quote range based on having some emergency reserve left over, and I see the specs say 214 gallons, so a range of 97 miles would leave 20 gallons in reserve (or ~10%)
 
Last edited:
As I look at the chart on your link I actually read 12.2mph @ .5 mpg as the WORST cruise speed, not the best.... that chart shows the best cruise at 33.3 mph @ .9 mpg with a range of 179 Miles. 33mph sounds kind of fast as a best cruise speed to me, but those are their numbers.
 
bobeast said:
Range is a function of tank size over MPG. Speed is only relevant as to how it affects MPG. How big are the tanks? Assuming no reserve, 97 miles at .5 MPG would indicate a tank size of 194 gallons which seems reasonable for that size boat.

That said, most tests do quote range based on having some emergency reserve left over, and I see the specs say 214 gallons, so a range of 97 miles would leave 20 gallons in reserve (or ~10%)
Click to expand...

This is NOT reasonable. I am thinking the BoatTest.com article is incorrect.

BoatTest.com reported "Best cruise for the Sea Ray Sundancer 350 (2014-) is 29.4 mph (47.3 kph), and the boat gets 0.95 miles per gallon (mpg) or 0.4 kilometers per liter (kpl), giving the boat a cruising range of 193 miles (310.6 kilometers)". http://www.boattest.com/review/sea-ray/2528_sundancer-350

Tested power with 2014 350 Sundancer was with twin 375-hp MerCruiser 8.2 L Horizon DTS and with the 2017 350 Coupe twin 350-hp MerCruiser 6.2 Bravo 3.

Dry weight of the 2017 350 Coupe is about 3,000 lbs more than the 2014 350 Sundancer. At 12.2 mph you are not on plane, so the boat is plowing through the water burning a lot a fuel to get anywhere. Cruisers are most efficient when they are on plane. Best cruise at 12.2 mph and 0.5 miles per gallon seems to be wrong.
 
argus1 said:
This is NOT reasonable. I am thinking the BoatTest.com article is incorrect.

BoatTest.com reported "Best cruise for the Sea Ray Sundancer 350 (2014-) is 29.4 mph (47.3 kph), and the boat gets 0.95 miles per gallon (mpg) or 0.4 kilometers per liter (kpl), giving the boat a cruising range of 193 miles (310.6 kilometers)". http://www.boattest.com/review/sea-ray/2528_sundancer-350

Tested power with 2014 350 Sundancer was with twin 375-hp MerCruiser 8.2 L Horizon DTS and with the 2017 350 Coupe twin 350-hp MerCruiser 6.2 Bravo 3.

Dry weight of the 2017 350 Coupe is about 3,000 lbs more than the 2014 350 Sundancer. At 12.2 mph you are not on plane, so the boat is plowing through the water burning a lot a fuel to get anywhere. Cruisers are most efficient when they are on plane. Best cruise at 12.2 mph and 0.5 miles per gallon seems to be wrong.
Click to expand...

As I said above, if you click on your link and scroll down to the fuel economy chart (its right at the top) it lists 12.2 mph at .5 mpg as the WORST speed and fuel economy, not the best, disregard where the article says that and look at the chart instead, it’s a typo.
 
I didn't write the article - I am quoting what BoatTest.com said about the 350 Coupes "best cruise." In any regard, I have already written BoatTest.com to ask them if them if their statement is correct. I will let you know what they say.
 
Jmac572 said:
As I said above, if you click on your link and scroll down to the fuel economy chart (its right at the top) it lists 12.2 mph at .5 mpg as the WORST speed and fuel economy, not the best, disregard where the article says that and look at the chart instead, it’s a typo.
Click to expand...

BoatTest.com is talking about best cruise which is different then best speed/fuel economy. At 4500 rpm my 350 Sundancer is way to loud to be a comfortable ride for hours. You pointed out that "33.3 mph @ .9 mpg" is the best cruise. No, sir. Note that at 33.3 mph, RPMS = 4500 and the noise level is 91 db, loudest reported at any speed. NIOSH, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, reports that 91 db for more that two hours will cause permanent hearing damage. When you read the chart you got to pay attention the noise level. When I get my boat over 4000 RPM, my passengers remind me to dial it back - the noise level is really uncomfortable. Best cruise has to consider noise level.

I have the same engines on my boat that weighs 3000 pounds less. I wondering if the test boat is under powered with the 350-hp MerCruiser 6.2 Bravo 3?

Sea Ray reports that the 2017 350 Sundancer dry weight is 15,780 lbs; and the 2017 350 Coupe dry weight is 18,792 lbs.

I am still waiting the hear back from BoatTest.com.
 
argus1 said:
BoatTest.com is talking about best cruise which is different then best speed/fuel economy. At 4500 rpm my 350 Sundancer is way to loud to be a comfortable ride for hours. You pointed out that "33.3 mph @ .9 mpg" is the best cruise. No, sir. Note that at 33.3 mph, RPMS = 4500 and the noise level is 91 db, loudest reported at any speed. NIOSH, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, reports that 91 db for more that two hours will cause permanent hearing damage. When you read the chart you got to pay attention the noise level. When I get my boat over 4000 RPM, my passengers remind me to dial it back - the noise level is really uncomfortable. Best cruise has to consider noise level.

I have the same engines on my boat that weighs 3000 pounds less. I wondering if the test boat is under powered with the 350-hp MerCruiser 6.2 Bravo 3?

Sea Ray reports that the 2017 350 Sundancer dry weight is 15,780 lbs; and the 2017 350 Coupe dry weight is 18,792 lbs.

I am still waiting the hear back from BoatTest.com.
Click to expand...
You can have any definition of 'best cruise' that you want but Boat Test is talking about speed/fuel economy/range. They have an obvious typo in their article.

The 2017 test boat was loaded light at 20,440lb. Knowing that and looking at the performance chart I'd think the boat is underpowered.
 
Woody said:
You can have any definition of 'best cruise' that you want but Boat Test is talking about speed/fuel economy/range. They have an obvious typo in their article.

The 2017 test boat was loaded light at 20,440lb. Knowing that and looking at the performance chart I'd think the boat is underpowered.
Click to expand...

I just watched the video attached to the article. In the video they report that best cruise is at 4500 RPM, 33 MPH, burning 0.9 mph; so as other said the numbers that I was reading must be a typo. Thanks for clarifying this for me.
 
argus1 said:
BoatTest.com is talking about best cruise which is different then best speed/fuel economy. At 4500 rpm my 350 Sundancer is way to loud to be a comfortable ride for hours. You pointed out that "33.3 mph @ .9 mpg" is the best cruise. No, sir. Note that at 33.3 mph, RPMS = 4500 and the noise level is 91 db, loudest reported at any speed. NIOSH, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, reports that 91 db for more that two hours will cause permanent hearing damage. When you read the chart you got to pay attention the noise level. When I get my boat over 4000 RPM, my passengers remind me to dial it back - the noise level is really uncomfortable. Best cruise has to consider noise level.

I have the same engines on my boat that weighs 3000 pounds less. I wondering if the test boat is under powered with the 350-hp MerCruiser 6.2 Bravo 3?

Sea Ray reports that the 2017 350 Sundancer dry weight is 15,780 lbs; and the 2017 350 Coupe dry weight is 18,792 lbs.

I am still waiting the hear back from BoatTest.com.
Click to expand...


As others said “best cruise” to you could be defined differently based off of what you’re looking for (ie sound vs speed). But I assure you boattest.com is referring to speed vs best fuel economy, and there certainly is a typo in their article.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,177
Messages
1,428,006
Members
61,088
Latest member
SGT LAT
Back
Top