Sundancer 280 (02-04)-- Need recommendations on Engines

[swest]

Shopping for a 2002 -04 Sundancer 280. Would appreciate any recomendations of engine sizes. We'll be moving up and the last thing I want is an underperforming boat. There are 5 in my family and we often have guests. Will the twin 4.3 220 HP Alpha One Mercs be enough? Should I shop for the 5.0 twins? Any other general recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

 

[jason78]

Shopping for a 2002 -04 Sundancer 280. Would appreciate any recomendations of engine sizes. We'll be moving up and the last thing I want is an underperforming boat. There are 5 in my family and we often have guests. Will the twin 4.3 220 HP Alpha One Mercs be enough? Should I shop for the 5.0 twins? Any other general recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

This has been discussed MANY times here. For that reason you are not likely to get the amount of responses you may be looking for simply because others have answered the questions before on several occasions.

To sum it up briefly- Pretty much everyone as far as I can tell, with any of the three engine configurations (available in the years you specified) are happy with their boat.

Single 496MAG=375hp
Twin 4.3MPI=440hp (and more weight)
Twin 5.0MPI=520hp (and a little more weight and the T-4.3)

Some have reported that the Bravo 3 drives help with planing.

Personally with a family of 5 and regular guests, I would go for the T-5.0MPI configuration. It has worked great for me.:grin:

FYI- Some early production 2002 models may have EFI engines, which have slightly less horsepower than the MPI motors so be aware of that.

You should read through "The Official 280 Thread" as is discusses many things you will be interested in. http://clubsearay.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10064

Good Luck. The 280 you are looking at is great and one of the more popular cruisers Sea Ray has made. The hull was unchanged from 2001-2009 with cosmetic upgrades along the way. I am not sure another SR hull style has been produced for that span of time unchanged.

Good Luck!