New twin 4.3 carb VS 5.0 mpi Bravo III

[jimbenton]

I have the opportunity to purchase a new maxum 2900 se with twin 4.3 carborated motors with alpha drives. I currently own a 2500 scr with 5.0 and Bravo three. the new boat is 4 feet longer thus the interest. would I be better off sticking with my current boat. Iam worried about total cost of ownership and my questions are in reference to:

apha drive yearly maintance cost? reliability
fuel usage 2 190 hp motors vs one?
potential problems with carburated engines?

Thanks
Jim

[seapuppy]

Jim...welcome to the zoo....
I guess others will kick in here...but I'm willing to offer my 2 cents worth... :shock:
2 engines are nice since they are V6's ...they are carbed which isn't bad...they've been around for a hundred yrs....they are easy to rebuild ...mpi is more precise and economical concidering the cost of fuel...
the V6s are gonna cost you about 50% more in maintenance costs in tuneup,operating and oil changes....compared to a single drive....I have a single in mine and I love the room and manuverability of the duoprop drive...
the twins are great for docking due to differential thrust...you can spin it anyway you like....the alpha drives have been around for along time and are pretty reliable as long as you keep up on the zincs and routine maintenance....they are the weak link if you impact a dead head or something....but that's my opinion due to me smacking a dead head.... :?
either way ....you can't miss with either the V6-twins or the single....probably not what your looking for as an opinion..but I try to be non-biased towards either....
hope this helps....