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F300 vs. 250 SHO

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North Carolina Mountains

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After much deliberation, I am probably going to pull the trigger on a new 2350 RSR.  I'll get it tricked out with most every option including the ESP package. 


I have talked with at least 10 dealers about which engine to buy.  1/2 of them say I should get the Yamaha 250 SHO.  1/2 say I should get the F300.


Cost is an issue but not a major one.  I intend on keeping the boat for 10 years and don't mind the delta if the F300 is the way to go. 


What say the group?
 
10 years ....  :p


Good luck on that!
 
We are on our 11th year with ours Smitty.
 
I am biased as I just ordered 23 RCW with F300 was advised to go with F300 over the SHO.
 
627.  :rolleyes:
 
I'd go 300.
 
cant speak about a 300 as 250 is max on my boat.   That being said I maxed it with the sho and really love the motor.  Really strong out of the hole, unbelievable mid range punch, and not too bad on gas.   
 
I don't have any issues with my 250 SHO and with the added weight of the tower and "gear" it moves the boat great. I think I was topping out at 44-46mph, which is plenty fast enough. Don't get me wrong, more usually seems better, but the difference between my last boat (same boat without tower and a 200 SHO) was only about 3-4mph. Now I know some with my same layout, without all the extra weight are reporting in the 48mph range, but unless you are doing long full out runs, I don't think it would be a huge difference, what is the weight difference between the two? If I remember correctly the SHO was 515lbs. Not sure what the price difference is, but weigh out if going 2-3mph faster is worth the extra. Oh, and also the added cost of the digital controls, although that may be something you like.
 
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I could only wish I had a dog in this fight! My little 200 is no comparison, but as they say...... there's no replacement for displacement! :)   best of luck on this one!
 
On Friday my wife and I are test driving a boat we saw at the boat show. It has a 350 Mercury Verado on the back. As big as that monster of a motor is.........it weighs about 80 lbs. less than my I/O. Looking forward to experiencing the hole shot and seeing what kind of numbers it can put up. I'll report back.......
 
adkboater said:
but as they say...... there's no replacement for displacement! :)   best of luck on this one!
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I don't know . . . I think that old saying was back when 90 HP ruled the water.  My vote is go with the 250 and keep your toons clean. 


I had the 3.3 Yamaha 250 on my 22RLCP and when the toons were clean it reached 49 (the 4.3L SHO should do even better?)  Going that fast was kind of fun but it was just a gee whiz/been there done that thing because nobody enjoyed going that fast.  That started the windshield fiasco and if you followed my story from last year, you know what happened there.  Now I will probably seek out a 250 again when I correct the windshield fiasco (I think I'm going to start a thread with that title when I'm done here) because as soon as my toons got dirty, my top speed was 42.   Also, as others have pointed out, the HP to SPEED graph is hardly linear.  You can add 50 HP to the top and only gain 2 to 4 mph.  Besides, isn't that 300HP the "Offshore" line rather than the more aggressive SHO line?  Wouldn't a 250HP SHO perform closer to the non SHO 300HP?
 
BigKahuna said:
On Friday my wife and I are test driving a boat we saw at the boat show. It has a 350 Mercury Verado on the back. As big as that monster of a motor is.........it weighs about 80 lbs. less than my I/O. Looking forward to experiencing the hole shot and seeing what kind of numbers it can put up. I'll report back.......
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YES, do it! Time for another PADS club member.


We've demo'd a few boats recently (in Florida) with twin Verado 350's w/joystick, and trust me, it's an awesome motor ;-)
 
TomS said:
YES, do it! Time for another PADS club member.


We've demo'd a few boats recently (in Florida) with twin Verado 350's w/joystick, and trust me, it's an awesome motor ;-)
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Twin 350  Verados?!? Holy crap! 


I don't think PADS count if.............The boat we're test driving is a competing brand which will remain nameless. Ha!
 
I've got the 2350RSR with F300.  Great combo.   There is probably only a 3-4mph difference between the two as far as MPH is concerned.  The digital controls and gauges are nice, but spendy.  Best of all, I don't have any regrets or "second guessing" motor choice because I got the biggest one I could for the boat.   
 
Very timely topic for me as well.  I am within 30 days or so of placing an order.  My dealer advised to go with the SHO250 vs. the 300 for cost and the strong performance it has vs. the 300.  Better low end torque and a couple of miles per hour difference less than the 300..  I looked at the specs on the Yamaha outboard site and it seems to back it up.   I'm a HP junkie, but I think I'm going with the SHO250.   Really, you can't go wrong with either one.
 
North Carolina Mountains said:
Thanks everyone.  I shifted from a 300 to the 250 SHO back to the 300.  Yamaha pricing is so inconsistent between dealers.  In the end my 300 is only going to be about $1,000 over the 250.  So the 300 it is.
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Sounds like you've got a pretty impressive build coming. Enjoy!
 
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