I live in a state where we have nothing to do but go boating with our 11,000+ lakes. Everyone has a boat and they are under 20 feet so as to fit in the garage. Here you don't upgrade to a larger boat but to a higher end boat of the same size. I've also been boating for 38 years QUOTE]
I happen to live in Minnesota too and this is my 2 cents on why I picked the Sea Ray 180 Sport. First off, I agree with you that the 180 Sport is a bit spartan, but that is what I like about it. I got the version with the 2 pedestal seats and the non-bench seat style. I like that open feel of the passenger area. Lots of floor space for a small boat that I can add cargo nets etc. We don't even run with the snap in carpet. So I guess you could say, my preference in a boat is to NOT have all kinds of padding and cushioning all over like some boats do. The Sea Ray without the carpet and the pedestal seats has more of a fishing boat feel than a recreational ski boat.
Now on to the motor. I have the 3.0L and I feel it has plenty of power and what I really like is the fuel efficiency. I hear comments that the 4.3L does just as well. Well that depends upon at what speed you are running. At cruise, yes the 4.3 and the 3.0 are similar however, if you look at a typical day of boating, your not running at cruise all the time. We boat on the St. Croix river and with the no wake zones and my desire to just putter around, I would guess we are at cruise speed no more than a third of the time. At 1000 rpm, the 4.3L will do about 3.2 mpg, the 3.0L does 9.0 mpg. During a typical day of boating the 3.0L will use approximately 1/2 the gas. I know this to be true from asking my friends with their 4.3L boats.
The other bonus with the Sea Ray 180 sport is its size. The boat is only 84 inches wide as opposed to most of the competition which is at around 90 inches. It weighs just 2100 lb as opposed to around 2600-2800 lb for it's larger competition. Now of course, that has its negatives in reduced floor space but also means the 3.0L is ideally suited for this boat. The 3.0L weighs 235 lbs less that the 4.3L. So put that all together and if you want a boat that has enough power yet gets good mileage, this is a great choice. If however you need more floor space, I would agree the 4.3L in a larger boat makes more sense.
I keep reading forums where everyone is spouting off about boat quality. My take is, at the low end such as this boat, there really is very little difference once you get past the lowest end of the range. Boats are just a collection of plastic molded parts, upholstery, windshields and engines and there isn't really much to them. As long as the basic hull is built well, most of the rest of the parts come from the same third party vendors anyway. Heck, even the windshield and all the gauges on my boat is not being made by Sea Ray. So unless a manufacturer does some really big blunder in the hull layout or design, I just don't see how there can be so much difference between brands.
