What is the best I/O?

[danpar]

I'm looking or a new bowrider. If you could choose any I/O, what would it be?

 

[ThePartsMan]

Re: What is the best I/O?

Mine.

I actually don't have an I/O but that's the kind answer you will get on a forum.

 

[Thad]

Re: What is the best I/O?

Volvo Penta!

But you know, this is like asking a bunch of farmers which is better...Red or Green.

 

[ufm82]

Re: What is the best I/O?

LOL- great question. Nobody here has any favorites or loyalties...

Mercruiser 5.0L with an Alpha 1 drive- pretty bulletproof with normal maintenance.

Mercruiser 5.7L with Bravo 1 drive- pretty bulletproof with normal maintenance

Mercruiser 5.0L with Volvo Penta- pretty bulletproof with normal maintenance

Yada, yada, yada...

 

[ezmobee]

Re: What is the best I/O?

Whichever one has a more convenient dealer to you for service.

 

[smokintoad]

Re: What is the best I/O?

Once again,

Ginger or Maryann

and of course somebody will say Mrs. Howell

 

[acefreely]

Re: What is the best I/O?

Its not an IO but definitely Mastercraft...those are some sweet boats. If you are into watersports and fun on the lake definitely the way to go.

I've only had experience with Mercruiser IOs from a ownership/maintenance perspective. I've had very good luck with my stuff, but I service everything myself and take good care of it.

From what I've seen Volvo seems to be a great choice. I know guys that have been Mercury guys for years that have switched to Volvo and will never go back.

Based on what I've learned from others, my next boat will be a Volvo IO...

 

[QC]

Re: What is the best I/O?

What's your budget? Unlimited? Imco. $30K plus and high performance? Bravo X $30K plus and sub 60 MPH? Bravo 3 or Volvo DP. Sub $30K? Alpha with a serious consideration for Volvo SX if service is available.

 

[windsors03cobra]

Re: What is the best I/O?

An iBoats member is working on a Mercruiser 470/OMC Stringer Hybrid and claims extensive testing has proved it to be the hottest thing on the water.

"The one to watch"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9EQwqtoTgo

 

[CHAWK46]

Re: What is the best I/O?

Once again,

Ginger or Maryann

and of course somebody will say Mrs. Howell

Mrs Howell ( Lovy ) was smoking hot.

 

[Cruzomatic]

Re: What is the best I/O?

Maryann for me.......

oh and my vote is for the Volvo Penta!!

 

[ziggy]

Re: What is the best I/O?

mary ann for sure....

i'm with ez.... whoever has the closest dealer to me. which is mercruiser in my case @ about a mile to them. closest volvo dealer is 60+ miles away. that would be a bummer to have to go get parts that far away... mercruiser in general since if there's only one dealer around, it's usually a mercruiser dealer.

 

[KermieB]

Re: What is the best I/O?

Maryanne with a 4.3 Mercruiser

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: What is the best I/O?

OMC Cobra and high maintainence Ginger.

 

[bigbad 4cyl x2]

Re: What is the best I/O?

Volvo ,from what i here there clutch cone drives in the stern drives give a Cadillac like ride compared to the competition as far as shifting

 

[Philster]

Re: What is the best I/O?

The best is still far below what it should be. It's the best of the worst, whatever it is.

Too few players means few options -- far too few. I want numerous offerings. Right now, boaters have little choice because Merc and Volvo have no competition other than each other, and their base product comes from the same place.

Some of the weak points in each I/O setup are inexcusable.

This is not a dynamic, diverse industry. I think it's great that something can be considered the best in this class, but keep it in perspective. None of these products are on par with a Honda, a Buick, a Caddy, etc.

There are a lot of designs that appear as jury-rigged solutions.

 

[JetBote]

Re: What is the best I/O?

Teague/Arneson

 

[SS MAYFLOAT]

Re: What is the best I/O?

About 12 years old, I've always been in Merc driven boats. Seems that there was always some kind of major maintenance had to be done at some time or another.

In 2001, I bought an old boat with a VP 280 outdrive. It is the only thing that has not had any major maintenance problems in the 9 years I've owned it. I do preventive maintenace on it regularly as I did my Merc's. I'm very pleased with the VP. My moto is that if it doesn't break, then service is not a problem.

 

[danpar]

Re: What is the best I/O?

Volvo seems to be the popular answer here. The reason I asked the question is, I have now my first I/O which is an '88 OMC cobra 3.0l. I get the impression from other people that they are frowned upon. One dealer told me that they don't take that engine even in a trade.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: What is the best I/O?

That's not so much that it's a bad drive. It's just that it isn't fully supported with parts/service.