Bayliner 185 3.0 vs 4.3 and planing/props

R

rockfishguy

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Joined
May 25, 2012
Messages
6
We took a 2012 Bayliner 185 4.3 for a test drive today. The dealer said they had the wrong prop on it and the boat tended to ride rougher and had difficulty getting on a plane.

I was fine since I'm pretty tall, but my wife couldn't get the boat on a plane (flat enough) to see out the front. The guy said the prop caused that regardless of how we adjusted the trim. The ride was very choppy even though waves weren't terrible

Is the dealer messing with us? Does this boat ride that poorly? Would the 3.0 ride better or worse?

We also looked at the Sea Rays, just hard to justify the extra cost.

Thanks all!
 
Bondo

Bondo

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Re: Bayliner 185 3.0 vs 4.3 and planing/props

rockfishguy said:
We took a 2012 Bayliner 185 4.3 for a test drive today. The dealer said they had the wrong prop on it and the boat tended to ride rougher and had difficulty getting on a plane.

I was fine since I'm pretty tall, but my wife couldn't get the boat on a plane (flat enough) to see out the front. The guy said the prop caused that regardless of how we adjusted the trim. The ride was very choppy even though waves weren't terrible

Is the dealer messing with us? Does this boat ride that poorly? Would the 3.0 ride better or worse?

We also looked at the Sea Rays, just hard to justify the extra cost.

Thanks all!
Click to expand...

Ayuh,.... Welcome Aboard,.... Hard to believe a salesman would be allowed to demo an improperly prepped boat...

Try another Dealer...
 
F

fishrdan

Admiral
Joined
Jan 25, 2008
Messages
6,989
Re: Bayliner 185 3.0 vs 4.3 and planing/props

If the salesman was blaming the prop for poor performance, have them swap it out for something better suited (lower pitch, 4 blade?) and take the boat out for another test. Why would you buy a boat that has poor performance, they need to show you it performs to your expectations. Prop selection has a BIG impact on boat performance....

The 4.3 will be better than a 3.0 in every respect, except maybe fuel economy. What are you going to use the boat for, watersports, cruising, fishing?
 
oldjeep

oldjeep

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May 17, 2010
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Re: Bayliner 185 3.0 vs 4.3 and planing/props

Sounds odd, even with the wrong prop a 4.3L in a 185 should be able to plane.
 
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UncleWillie

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Oct 18, 2011
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3,995
Re: Bayliner 185 3.0 vs 4.3 and planing/props

I re-read your post a few times.
You are not saying the boat doesn't plane.
The complaint is the wife can not see the horizon when on plane.

Two months ago we took possession of a 2012 Bayliner 185Br with the 4.3L, 220MPI Engine.
We have 12 hours on it so far,

The bow does come up considerably in the hole shot but drops a few seconds later.
Smart Tab are in my near future.
The Admiral is 5'4" and can see over the bow at speed.
It think the seat does sit a little low. A seat cushion might help her issue.

This boat is a rocket! If anything it may be a bit overpowered.
It will get on plane at anything over 2000 rpm.
The hard ride was likely due to the speed.
A modest 3500 rpm get it above 40mph quickly.
Hitting anything at 40 mph is going to feel hard.
We mostly cruise at 2500 rpm at 25-30 mph.
2500 rpm sounds like a high idle, and who want to demo a boat at idle?

Lake Erie chop occasionally lets us open the throttle a bit more.
A burst of WOT pushes it past 55 mph in less than a minute in 6 inch chop.
I don't know what the rpm is at 55 as I am too busy looking ahead to look at the gauges.

It has the factory 14 x 23 Aluminum 3 blade on it.
Finding a higher pitched prop would be difficult.
So your demo prop was the same or lower pitched.

Planing is not the issue, keeping it on the water is more of a concern.
We were doing 45-50 in nearly calm conditions and must have hit an old wake that I didn't see coming,
It felt like smacking a speed bump at 50 as the boat nearly became airborne.
I did not hear the prop ventilate so it must have not been as bad as it felt.

I love the Boat and the 4.3L engine. I would do it again!
I seldom have the need for the power but it is nice to know it is there when you get the occasional "Need for Speed."
It should pull a 6 man tube with no issues.

Everyone I know has a bigger boat but no one has a faster one.
A full tank will last 6 to 8 hours with an even mix of open water flying low and river cruising at 5 -6 mph. (900 rpm)
 
NYBo

NYBo

Admiral
Joined
Oct 23, 2008
Messages
7,107
Re: Bayliner 185 3.0 vs 4.3 and planing/props

I think the salesman is clueless or lying. His explanation doesn't make sense.
 
R

rockfishguy

Cadet
Joined
May 25, 2012
Messages
6
Re: Bayliner 185 3.0 vs 4.3 and planing/props

Thanks everyone. It's very difficult to test drive boats here (we live in Minneapolis/St. Paul). None of the dealers are on water, we were just lucky in this case that they had a couple of boats on a local lake. So as much as we want to buy a boat, we were left a bit confused and wondering if we needed to look at something other than Bayliner.

Note we had the normal 4.3, not the MPI engine (Uncle Willie I'll bet that is a hoot!)

Our plan was to use the boat to some some skiing/tubing, some cruising, and a little fishing. We looked at a Sea Ray 190, but just couldn't stomach the 34K price for the 4.3MPI. We've consider looking at Glastron, but again no chance to test drive.

On the planing issue, it took the boat a good 10 seconds to plane when I drove it and it was still very choppy. My wife couldn't handle that long of time and because of the choppy ride he couldn't see well. She is 5' 7". Maybe the boat was just that screwed up?

Appreciate the feedback, keep it coming.
 
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