540 and 470 Sundancers without pods?

Richie89

Active Member
Aug 20, 2012
599
Miami Beach, FL
Boat Info
450 Sundancer
Engines
Twin Cummins 480 Zeus
Anyone know if many of these models were made without pods? I am searching for next boat, and love the layouts of these 2 models (2013 or newer ones), hoping some were made with V Drives. but if they weren't, i will stop searching for them. there are so many awesome boats on the market, but seems almost all have pod drives, which won't work so well for me.
 
According to boat test dot com they were both available v-drive.......how was the Miami show Richie? We were down, but skipped the show and took the boat to key largo instead.....will be back middle of April.....do you guys have any trips planned?
 
Boat show was good, went on a lot of boats, was able to narrow down what we're looking for now. not any trips planned, just running around Biscayne Bay and hanging out a lot at Haulover sandbar. was Key Largo completely restored from hurricane? when we were down there before Christmas, there was still clean up needed and not everything seemed open yet.
 
we were at marina del mar and all was well - took on fuel at key largo harbor marina and there up and running too.....like nothing ever happened....from talking to people I guess many of the places on the ocean side from islamorada down are still closed (postcard, hawks cay, etc) but the bay side is mostly open for business.....
 
If you're looking at a boat with pods that are 2013 or newer, they will be much more reliable than the 2008-2010 variety. I speak from extensive experience.
 
You are talking a big size difference between the 470 and 540, I would think there are more 540s with v drives.
 
I hope there are more 540’s as that’s what I would prefer.
Sandy, tell me more. Obviously, I would love to be able to get a pod boat as there is infinitely more choices (I love the cruiser yacht Cantius).
 
I hope there are more 540’s as that’s what I would prefer.
Sandy, tell me more. Obviously, I would love to be able to get a pod boat as there is infinitely more choices (I love the cruiser yacht Cantius).

We are looking at similar size boats. Been on the quest for 5 months, but I love the Cantius as well.
 
If your talking about the Cantius 50.. I have heard similar comments about how much current Sea Ray owners like that boat. I was on one and I didn't get it. I thought the fit and finish was poor and the quality of the interior/exterior vinyl wasn't that great.
 
if i were to give in to pods, another boat i would be all over is the Sunseeker Predator. wow, it's an awesome boat. i'm just afraid of pods and my talks to everyone at the last boat show confirmed my reservations about them.
 
If your talking about the Cantius 50.. I have heard similar comments about how much current Sea Ray owners like that boat. I was on one and I didn't get it. I thought the fit and finish was poor and the quality of the interior/exterior vinyl wasn't that great.
I sea trialed a 42 and a couple of parts of the interior literally fell off while i was running it in 2-3 foot seas.......i was not impressed with the sight lines either......liked the bavaria 40 much better, but it had outdrives......too bad their north american operation went under.....
 
Cantius/Cruisers uses volvo IPS which is WAY more reliable and proven than mercruiser/zeus
But the boat is not built as well as Sea Rays. Just knock on the hull...
 
Humph, full disclosure, I own a Cantius, but I also have owned 2 SeaRays and have many friends with Sundancers. My experience has been that Cruisers quality, at least for newer boats, is better then SeaRay. The fit and finish is equivalent to the L class and the hull/gel seem solid to me. As for the pod discussion, IPS seems to be more reliable then Zeus, but over time they do require routine maintenance.
 
Humph, full disclosure, I own a Cantius, but I also have owned 2 SeaRays and have many friends with Sundancers. My experience has been that Cruisers quality, at least for newer boats, is better then SeaRay. The fit and finish is equivalent to the L class and the hull/gel seem solid to me. As for the pod discussion, IPS seems to be more reliable then Zeus, but over time they do require routine maintenance.
We all have opinions regarding brands and models. I have been on several Larger Cruisers and many newer Sea Rays including L Class. The hull is no comparison and the fit and finish in newer boats is becoming more equal IMHO. There is no way I would say a 48 Cantius has better fit and finish than the Sea Ray 510 for example and I know the Sea Ray hull is much more robust. I was out on a 48 Cantius and it bobbed all over the place, felt very top heavy.
 
re your comment on the Cantius, I have noticed no such top heaviness/bobbing that you describe. As for fit and finish you state that those features are becoming more equal and then go on to say that a Cruisers product doesn't compare to a similar sized SeaRay. At the end of the day both our comments are nothing more then opinions. I'll stick to mine while respecting yours. Peace out.
 
I hope there are more 540’s as that’s what I would prefer.
Sandy, tell me more. Obviously, I would love to be able to get a pod boat as there is infinitely more choices (I love the cruiser yacht Cantius).

Sorry I didn't notice your reply until now! I haven't been on the forum as much lately. Do a quick search under my posts on this forum and that will tell you the story of my Zeus pods better than I can summarize here. Suffice it to say that we're happy with our boat now and hope that the trend will continue as long as we own it. We're doing all of our routine maintenance and that's half the battle.

That being said we'll probably move on from our current boat within 3-5 years just because the future of the Zeus pod boat is so unknown. We would also like a boat that has more space for entertaining regardless of the weather. Right now we're a bit limited with space when the weather is cold. We've had 6-8 people in our cockpit but we're all crouched under the slant-back canvas which is not ideal.

Our search has led us to the L590 Sundancer and the Cruisers Cantius 54 or 60. After seeing the Cruisers 50 at the boat show this year we were really impressed with both the layout and the fit and finish. The boats were were not impressed with were the Prestige line of boats. Definitely very cheaply made.

So, we're still a long way off until we make any decisions but I'm very intrigued to hear from other people who have owned either Cruisers boats or boats with the Volvo IPS drives.

Thanks!

Sandy
 
Cantius/Cruisers uses volvo IPS which is WAY more reliable and proven than mercruiser/zeus

Since Volvo released pod drives first, I've heard that this is one of the reasons that they're more reliable. Mercury, though well-made is said to have been chasing patents and modifying their design so as not to infringe on Volvo's patents. The newer Zeus pods are more reliable than the original 2008-2010 like we have on our boat. I'm speaking from my own experience and also what I've learned from extensive research and speaking to other mechanics with Zeus and IPS experience.
 

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