Official 320 Dancer Thread

[madgrit]

Today I brought home my new to me 2003 320. Drove her up the Chesapeake for about 1.5 hour trip to get her home. What a beautiful day it was on water. What a big difference in comparison to my 260. I think the family and I are going to have a blast on it.

 

[midtown_towman]

Congrats! The 320 is an excellent boat, and you and your family will indeed have a blast-enjoy!

 

[SeaRenity]

Your going to love the 320. We moved up from a 270 and have enjoyed the difference in the ride and the space.
Where are you docking the boat?
Rich

 

[Alex F]

Thanks. Thats why I'm looking for someone with the same set-up as mine. Appreciate the reply but yours has more HP and 4 blade. I know there are a few 320 owners with the same power and props so I'm curious what their real world numbers are.

Sure wish I had the 6.2's and 4 blades on mine!!!

Barry,
My 320DA WOT numbres are:

Port=4900RPM, Strbd=4800RPM
speed was around 34mph

Always had 3 blades.

 

[madgrit]

Your going to love the 320. We moved up from a 270 and have enjoyed the difference in the ride and the space.
Where are you docking the boat?
Rich

Stoney Creek Bridge Marina

 

[320Bob]

Thanks. Thats why I'm looking for someone with the same set-up as mine. Appreciate the reply but yours has more HP and 4 blade. I know there are a few 320 owners with the same power and props so I'm curious what their real world numbers are.

Sure wish I had the 6.2's and 4 blades on mine!!!

Barryg,
Even though I have bigger engines and 4 blade props, my numbers are very close to AlexF's who has the same configuration as your boat. The reason for that is my props were sized to match the characteristics of the factory 3 blades by having the same diameter but 1" less pitch. The key issue is what is the WOT range for your engines. Mine is 4600-5000 which is what is stamped on my engines but the Mercrusier manuals that came with my boat have it at 4800-5200 which is wrong. As I posted before, the Sea Ray prop chart has you at 4800 rpm WOT. If you are at 4600 with a clean bottom you might be okay but check what the WOT range is stamped on your engines. Another suggestion if you haven't already done so is to have your props scanned to see if they are in spec and if any adjustments to pitch are needed to get you at the optimum WOT rpm for your engines.

 

[Vince_nj1]

I launched on Sat. Props reconditioned over the winter. Clean bottom, 1/4 tank of fuel, no water, no canvas. I hit 5050 RPM's on port and 4980 on Starboard. GPS read 31.5 knots which is about 37MPH. 10 mph wind on my port which might have pushed me somewhat. I dropped back to 3850 RPM's and was getting .9 mpg doing 24.3 knots. Last year I was only getting .7 mpg.

 

[320Bob]

I launched on Sat. Props reconditioned over the winter. Clean bottom, 1/4 tank of fuel, no water, no canvas. I hit 5050 RPM's on port and 4980 on Starboard. GPS read 31.5 knots which is about 37MPH. 10 mph wind on my port which might have pushed me somewhat. I dropped back to 3850 RPM's and was getting .9 mpg doing 24.3 knots. Last year I was only getting .7 mpg.

Damn dude you are really smokin' speed wise compared to me last year. But I run with full canvas except for the rear curtains which may account for some of the difference. Maybe my boat and I need to go on a diet!:grin:

 

[barryg]

Thanks everyone for your responses. I will have to dive down myself next week and see if the diver cleaned everything off of the shafts, props and bottom. I still am about 4-500 rpm's shy of where I should be so it's either the bottoms not clean or the props need to be taken off and scanned.

Will let you all know the outcome.

Barry

 

[Alex F]

.... 1/4 tank of fuel, no water, no canvas. I hit 5050 RPM's on port and 4980 on Starboard. GPS read 31.5 knots which is about 37MPH. 10 mph wind on my port which might have pushed me somewhat. .....

Hey Vince, this is "cheating"...LOL. My numbers were taken with full fuel, full water, full gear and full camper on. I don't recall, but I might even had a dinghy on the platform as well.

 

[HUMPH]

I launched on Sat. Props reconditioned over the winter. Clean bottom, 1/4 tank of fuel, no water, no canvas. I hit 5050 RPM's on port and 4980 on Starboard. GPS read 31.5 knots which is about 37MPH. 10 mph wind on my port which might have pushed me somewhat. I dropped back to 3850 RPM's and was getting .9 mpg doing 24.3 knots. Last year I was only getting .7 mpg.

Kind of sketchy sitting on blocks like that don't you think? I don't think I would do that...

 

[HUMPH]

Today I brought home my new to me 2003 320. Drove her up the Chesapeake for about 1.5 hour trip to get her home. What a beautiful day it was on water. What a big difference in comparison to my 260. I think the family and I are going to have a blast on it.

Good for you! That's a great upgrade from a 260. You will LOVE this boat! (BTW, change your description from 320SD to 320DA)

 

[Vince_nj1]

Hey Vince, this is "cheating"...LOL. My numbers were taken with full fuel, full water, full gear and full camper on. I don't recall, but I might even had a dinghy on the platform as well.

Alex, I think I might have been able to get another knot out of her, but I didn't want to push it too much. I only ran wide open for about 10 seconds. But it is not a fair comparison to a fully loaded boat. I will run it again once I fill up. :grin:

 

[Great lakes pirate]

Kind of sketchy sitting on blocks like that don't you think? I don't think I would do that...

No doubt. It looks like a good fart might knock it right over.

 

[Feliz Dram]

Just donate $25 silver member and post away!!!

I like your blue ligths on the back, looks great.
How you did that?
FeLiz Dream

 

[edkap2002]

Congratulations...we enjoy our 320 immensely; and use it often. You must have felt like you were in command of a large vessel on the way home...I remember when we brought ours home...All the Best!...Ed

 

[ratherbeboating]

in my opinion (quote my opinion), the 320 is the best boat searay ever designed, perfect size, adequate space, maneuverability, the boat itself is a dream to handle, have had other boats in varying sizes, the 320 out performs and maneuvers all, you can pull a tube, a skier, and also still have all the comforts of home, again (just my opinion), keep on smiling summers here again....

 

[paul1543]

I have a 2007 320 DA with 350s and V drives. Just splashed today and leaks were apparent at the fuel coolers. It didn't take much research to discover these aluminum units have been the subject of quite a bit of problems. My mechanic has advised me of the considerable $ just to replace them, but this won't fix the problem long term. Can anyone advise me if there are any better replacement parts for this? It seems to have been an issue for some time and I would hope a better solution is available.

Thanks!

 

[Havana Shamrock]

I like your blue ligths on the back, looks great.
How you did that?

First, congrats to Madgrit, enjoy the boat,!, and Feliz, I installed them using 12vledlights.com thanks for the compliment.

 

[Alex F]

in my opinion (quote my opinion), the 320 is the best boat searay ever designed, perfect size, adequate space, maneuverability, the boat itself is a dream to handle, have had other boats in varying sizes, the 320 out performs and maneuvers all, you can pull a tube, a skier, and also still have all the comforts of home, again (just my opinion), keep on smiling summers here again....

I totally can relate to the feeling. For the last 4 years it was our favorite. Even though we've upgraded I will always love my 320.