300 D.A. w/5.0 bravoIII ?

D

daileyinterest

Member
Mar 5, 2007
55
Lake St. Clair, Mi
Boat Info
310 sundancer 2000
Engines
350 MAG MPI w/Bravo 111 Drives
I am looking to move up to a 300 D.A. and was wondering if the 5.0mpi/bravoIII combination was adequate for this boat. My gut feeling tells me the 350 mags are the way to go. The problem for me is I found a nice 300 D.A. closer to my price range but, you guessed it, it has the 5.0.

Thanks for your input!
 
I owned that exact setup for 5 years 2002-2006, as well as another member here, MichaelNJ, and I can tell you that setup is more than enough. Typical numbers for me were cruise@ 25-28 mph at 3400-3600 rpm burning 11-12 gph per engine. Top end approx 40-42 mph @ 4800-5000rpm. The boat got up on plane quickly and had great mid range punch. I typically traveled with 2-4 adults with full gear and fuel and water and never had an issue. The Bravo3's didn't like to much trim but was smooth and quiet on plane trimmed out just a touch. Not much need for tabs unless there was a strong beam wind. This boat has plenty of mass for its length and handled rough water very well. Hope this helps.
 
Hello Daily Interest

jg300da said:
I owned that exact setup for 5 years 2002-2006, as well as another member here, MichaelNJ, and I can tell you that setup is more than enough. Typical numbers for me were cruise@ 25-28 mph at 3400-3600 rpm burning 11-12 gph per engine. Top end approx 40-42 mph @ 4800-5000rpm. The boat got up on plane quickly and had great mid range punch. I typically traveled with 2-4 adults with full gear and fuel and water and never had an issue. The Bravo3's didn't like to much trim but was smooth and quiet on plane trimmed out just a touch. Not much need for tabs unless there was a strong beam wind. This boat has plenty of mass for its length and handled rough water very well. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
The above sums it up quite nicely, especially the "minimal trim". When we were buying our boat, I was concerned as are you, and the salesman assured me that the boat was not underpowered. With much skepticism, I proceeded and bought the boat. :smt009
I was re-assured when I had 2 - full tanks of fuel, 6 adults, and 2-100 lb. dogs aboard, (at the best seat in the house, the absolute stern, [naturally] :smt043 :smt043 ), and she got right up and planed to the point that I had to back way off on the throttle.
Skepticism aside, she's almost perfect.... :thumbsup:
 
I also have the 5.0 L bravo 3. I have been satisfied with their performance. With our family of 4, it planes very quickly. There have been a couple of times, when I have had 9-10 people aboard, and it is slow getting on plane.....but times with that many aboard are rare.
 
My numbers, cruise, rpm, gph, are consistent with JG's.

I don't own mine anymore either. I traded it in last Saturday on a 2006 Meridian 341 SB.

I was unable to get on plane a few times with a large load in rough water but, for the majority of the time, the boat is not underpowered. Given the option, I'd go with the 350's.

I originally thought that they would be more fuel efficient but now I'm of the belief that the fuel required to move the same boat at the same speed is virtually constant regardless of the size of the engine. That being said, the larger engine will afford better top speed, more torque and won't be working as hard because you can cruise at lower RPM's.
 
I've had my 300DA with 5.0 Bravo III's for one full season and my results agree with the other guys. Only once, with 6 big people aboard did it seem slow to get on plane. Now I use the trim tabs when it's crowded.

Since everyone else on my dock has inboards or v-drives, they actually think I have a fast boat. I've topped out around 42 MPH on the GPS, with two aboard.
 
I guess im in the minority.... I had 02 300 with the 5.7's and had problem getting up on plane . But i also had a generator. That might be the key. anything more then six adults and we had to disperse the load ... ( people having to move to the bow )

There is no replacemnt for HP... get the most u can .... Then there's no regrets. After spending some big money last thing u want is to kick urself in the tail and say I should have ...

Rob
 
Thanks everyone for your replys. Do any of you think the engines (5.0s) work to hard for that size of a boat? 3600 rpm at cruise seems to be a lot for me since my current boat cruises at 2500 rpm/35-38 mph. I was wondering for engine life if the bigger motors would be a better option. Iam going from a go fast style boat to a sundancer and just want to make sure I make the right power selection.
 
I owned a 270DA with a single 7.4L BIII (310 hp) to push roughly 7500 lbs through the water. I reasoned that if I were to push twice the weight, I should have as close to twice the hp as possible. The 6.2's seemed that the cost for the extra 10 hp (320) didn't offset the extra weight that came with them.

My 350 Mags cruise anywhere between 3450 to 3650 rpm - 21 gph (grins per hour) and anywhere between 26 - 28 mph on the wish-o-meter. The "boys-in-the-bilge" seem quite content at these cruising speeds regardless of load. In addition to boat load, the time to plane also has a lot to do with how deep of water you are in, current flow, and even wind direction.

The 300 is no go-fast boat. It's no slouch either...from my perspective. Engine life will be determined by how well it is maintained; how often the boat is required to carry extra heavy loads for long periods.
 
daileyinterest -

I inquired about that boat - I think - when we were looking. We ended up buying locally. But it sounded like a nice boat.

Good Luck -
Scott
 
I'd find one with 6.2's and not consider anything else. My 310 is a bit heavier, but by no means "over-powered".
 
I would suggest you sea trial the boat and see if it performs up to your expectations. When I was looking, I looked at the complete boat "package". What I ended up finding was a great boat with about 55 hours on the engines and 30 hours on the genny, 2 years left on the extended warranty and it still had the brand new smell. Enjoy the hunt..... :thumbsup:
 
I just traded off a 2004 300 Sundancer with a gen. and 6.2s. As you can imagine it ran really well. The 6.2s have very good torque but I would not have been afraid of the 5.0 engines as I ran one once and it was fine. My boat was what you could almost call fast as it would run 52 mph on gps.
 
I have the 6.2's in my 300 and like it was said above I don't believe it can really be overpowered. i jump right on plane with 8 people in the boat it doesn't really seem to matter..just my last time out last year I had 8 people in the boat and one skier and it was still no problem.

It depends what you want to do and whats important to you. The right boat for the right price is almost always out there, but it requires looking harder. I'm not one to just settle because its "easier". If you want the bigger engines I would keep looking.

However nice price, nice boat, enough power, and these are all you are looking for then go for it. I just know that in the boating world you can never have too much of anything. We only had our boat one seasons and we are always considering something else, but I love the 300 way too much to switch. I would just say in closing its a lot of money to not get EXACTLY what you want
 
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