I have a friend with a '98 Cruisers 33, with carb'd 454's, and v drives.
On a 70 mile trip, I averaged roughly 1 mpg with on my 26 with 1 carb'd 454 with an outdrive, while he used twice the fuel, so I'd say you'll average roughly 1/2 mpg.

 

I have the 310HP Mercruisers with V-drives.

 

http://www.boattest.com/boats/Sea Ray/tested_brand.aspx

Boat test has the 330 but is in archives. Wesley has a account I will see if he can pull it up for you.

 

Thank you. JS

 

Tick Tock Too has the 380hp engines. We do have the generator and (a whole lot more weight when long range cruising) .. still getting averages of .82 - .85 mpg - and we generally cruise around 3200rpm.

 

I only see the results for the 330 with 2x310 hp Mercury 7.4 MPI sorry can't be more help. :huh:


Test Power: 2 x 310-hp Mercury 7.4L MPI V-drives

RPM MPH Knots Total GPH MPG NMPG Range NM Range dBa
600 4.7 4.1 1.8 2.61 2.27 529 460 64
1000 6.0 5.2 3.6 1.67 1.45 338 293 68
1500 8.3 7.2 7.0 1.19 1.03 240 209 76
2000 10.0 8.7 12.8 0.78 0.68 158 138 76
2500 13.6 11.8 20.0 0.68 0.59 138 120 79
3000 23.0 20.0 28.0 0.82 0.71 166 145 80
3500 29.9 26.0 32.0 0.93 0.81 189 165 84
4000 33.8 29.3 43.0 0.78 0.68 159 138 86
4250 37.1 32.3 49.4 0.75 0.65 152 132 88

Speeds measured with Stalker ProSports radar gun. Fuel consumption (gallons per hour) measured with Floscan digital fuel-flow meter on gas inboards, sterndrives, and outboards, TechMate electronic scan tool on gas EFI inboards, Caterpillar digital fuel-flow meter on diesel engines, or permanently installed fuel-monitoring equipment. Range is based on 90% of published fuel capacity. Sound levels determined using Radio Shack digital decibel meter on A scale. 68 dBa is the level of normal conversation.

Performance Chart

Test Conditions
Test Power: 2 x 310-hp Mercury 7.4L MPI V-drives Time To Plane 5.7 sec.
0 to 30 8.9 sec.
Test Power 2 x 310-hp Mercury 7.4L MPI V-drives
Transmission ZF
Ratio 1.56:1
Props 17x17
Load 1/2 fuel, 1/2-water, 3 persons on board, min. cruising gear
Climate Temp: 80F, Humid: 62%, Wind: 10-15 knots, Seas: 2-3 feet

 

My '97 330DA with carbed 454s ran 1.0 mpg after a tune up last year.

 

Thank you. With 225 gallons and loaded as above I should be able to make Frankfort, MI from Racine, WI-153 statute miles. Of course I'll test it with much shorter runs first.

Thank you. JS

 

Thank you. With 225 gallons and loaded as above I should be able to make Frankfort, MI from Racine, WI-153 statute miles. Of course I'll test it with much shorter runs first.

Thank you. JS

Remember the 1/3 rule ... always have a reserve of about 1/3 tank when planning a trip. Is there a place to refuel between these two destinations or no?

 

Hmm... one way trip and good conditions you will be using 85-90% of your fuel...

Make sure you get that Sea Tow membership before you leave.

Here are the "what-if" things....

What if you are 100 miles into your trip and you have to divert due to something unexpected... like weather... or a heartattack from watching the fuel guage, etc... Your hosed. I had this happed to me once going down through the Pamlico sound and halfway down, there are waterspouts on the water and the weather is crap. If you know that area, everything is a long way away and you can't get into the outerbanks with the wind ripping the water up. I turn around and head north and go down the ICW and came into Bellhaven on fumes.

 

This exercise is just that. I've never had this boat in the water. I bought it in December. There will be a good amount of driving and familiarization before I run the hours offshore required to make Frankfort in one jump. You'll see below that I don't think the boat will be the issue. I wonder if I can take it!

The numbers that Wesley kindly provided already have a 10% discount in the range results. Let's look 3500RPM. Range result=189 statute miles. Divide that by .90 (removes his 10%)= 210. The goal of 153 miles to Frankfort is 73% of 210. There's 25+ %. If wind, wave and the autopilot add 10% to the 153 miles the margin is still 20% and that on a boat that by then is lighter by over 1000lbs. If a boat starts on a trip with full tanks and ends near or almost near empty, as in this case, the average load is half full; an assumption used in Wesley's numbers. If the 330 is anything like my last boat it will be flying that last 30 miles or so.

This looks like 7 hours. I won't attempt it without other boats on the same route, and with more knowledge of this boat and with confidence that I can still take a good pounding.

 

Bliss,

I have a Navman fuel computer and on my boat <'95 330 DA with same engines> I get about .90 nautical miles per gallon. <I have done my best to calabrate the fuel computer and believe this to be accurate>. I have not really calcualated the max fuel range I could go as the farthest trip I have had to make between fuel stops is 90 miles.

BUT, there are many things that will effect your fuel consumtion. In addition to what's mentioned above, if you are heading into wind and seas, that will drive down your number. Also, you will burn more fuel in the beginning of your trip as you will be heavy with fuel. 225 gals of fuel weighs more then 1,300 lbs.

 

'97 330 Carbed with B3 outdrives...

I get about 1 mile /gal /engine. Keep the revs below 3200 and you should not have the 4 barrels open. Above 3200 and you will be suck- ing a lot of fuel. You might have a slightly different RPM due to the v drives vs. outdrives.

I have made the trip across from Sturgeon Bay to Frankfort. Nice trip except the visibility was 1/4 mile and we did the entire trip on "radar" mode. Caution of the shipping channel from Chicago to Mackinaw-Yes, there was a 1000+' freighter we "saw" on radar.

Bliss, you will love this boat! She is a very capable cruiser and handles rough water beautifully!

Welcome to the 330 family!

 

C-man, thanks for the encouraging words.
I have been between north and south bound lakers while in The Straights, both running at about 18 knots in peasoup. My radar gave me a very good picture of a sobering situation. As we looked to the west what sunlight we had provided a black silhouette gliding by at what I guess to be no more than 500 yards.THE ADMIRAL was never so focused - never so quiet. J