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New Owner - 2014 Bennington 24 SSLX

My mistake, It is the Express Performance Package with the tritoon, lifting strakes, wave shield, etc......EPP that I got.  

Express Performance Package The Express Tube Package offers increased bow lift and moderately increased speed and maneuverability as an affordable alternative to a full-fledged performance package. Package includes a modified center tube, lifting strakes, V-Keels on all three tubes and modified waveshield. Add SeaStar® hyraulic steering for engines greater than 115 hp (25" tubes required).
 
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We just got our last Aug. its a 2014 with the 150 yamaha and I know what you mean about $$$ I was told at the time the 150 was the biggest we could put on our boat. I hear the 200 will work on it now. Anyone know the $$ difference to move up to the 200 and how much more speed you get ?? if its less than 5 mph I think Im happy with what I have.
 
Calamus said:
We just got our last Aug. its a 2014 with the 150 yamaha and I know what you mean about $$$ I was told at the time the 150 was the biggest we could put on our boat. I hear the 200 will work on it now. Anyone know the $$ difference to move up to the 200 and how much more speed you get ?? if its less than 5 mph I think Im happy with what I have.
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Same here, 150 was the max available on our 2013 2375GCW but in my case coming from an old pontoon with an 85hp 2 stroke, the F150 was a major upgrade and so far we are very happy with it.
 
If I'm not mistaken, it's not just the delta from 150 to 200, you would also have to go from Express to SPS to get the 200.

Guessing that's $4-$5k more?
 
It was around 3k for us to go up to the 200 over the 150. Not sure on the speed difference but will share once it is in the water and am past the break in period. I'll be happy if I see 45
 
But honestly, Will the minimal 5 mph difference between the 150 & 200 justify the cost. I mean you will have to get sps too, so your talking 5 to 6k with taxes. For me its not worth it, but some people have the extra money. Again, how often do u truly run your boat at full speed?? Everyone should ask themselves this
 
Hp isn't only for top speed. And when having different toon packages there are different handling characteristics as well. And as for asking our selves is the cost worth it. I haven't even had my new boat in the water yet but the answer is yes! It could be an over kill but I didn't want a row boat either.

The main thing to consider is your needs, and your budget.

Looking forward to seeing pics when it comes in!
 
Having more HP isn't just about going faster but having the power when you have the boat loaded. There's a big difference between having 2 or 10 or more on your boat.
 
We had 13 people on our boat last summer and I was able to get to 32mph on my phone GPS I can hit 39.8 mph with the wife and I on a calm day. I think we will keep it for now maybe in a few years upgrade to a 24' and a 250 but we do a ton of fishing and this works well for us now. Let us know your top end when you get your new boat and pictures!
 
ChiBenny said:
But honestly, Will the minimal 5 mph difference between the 150 & 200 justify the cost. I mean you will have to get sps too, so your talking 5 to 6k with taxes. For me its not worth it, but some people have the extra money. Again, how often do u truly run your boat at full speed?? Everyone should ask themselves this
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Build a Boat on a 24SSL and Yamaha shows it's about a $6500 difference from cheapest 150 option with Express to cheapest 200 option with SPS.  That's MSRP.  Taxes not included.  Actual dollars with 20% off MSRP is around $5500, so I would agree with your math.

The $3300 MSRP to go from 115 to 150 is money well spent and a HUGE bang for the buck.  You won't be disappointed with the 150.  Another $5500 to go from the 150 to SPS and 200, IMHO, is more of a luxury spend than a necessity spend.  Again, just my opinion for my needs.  Everyone's needs/wants are different, that's why there are so many options.  Pretty sure I'd love the 200 and SPS, but I'd have a hard time spending the extra cash.  That's just me though.  Andy is getting this set up, and I think a lot of us here are interested in hearing his results.
 
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Don't worry, I'll be posting as much data as possible once it is in the water.
 
Well thought out Kaydano.  I agree with you
 
In addition to the extra cost of the engine itself going from a 150 to 200, it's also "strongly recommended" to get the power assist steering for another $2K+.  

When I thought the 150 was the biggest engine I could get, I was OK with that since the 150 is by all accounts an awesome motor.  But when I heard I could get the 200 I thought long and hard and eventually decided to go with the bigger motor.  It might not make the most financial sense if all you care about is top end speed, but I was swayed by the load sensitivity argument and, most importantly, not wanting to have regrets about having that little extra oomph when I could afford it.
 
You know, with all the discussion about the differences between the 150 and the 200 I'm surprised fuel economy hasn't been mentioned. You can see the difference in fuel burn rates between the two motors on different pontoon builds at Yamaha's Tech Bulletin web site. The 150 is much more efficient than the 200 at both WOT and a spread of cruising speeds on both a tri-toon configuration and on a pair of ellipticals.

While the 200 basically provided about 2.5 MPG through it's performance range, the 150 was well above 4 MPG in a range of cruising speeds.

If this isn't important to you that's fine, but for me, the sacrifice of a bit of mid-range torque is more than made up by a near doubling of fuel efficiency.

Damn snow! When's spring gonna get here?!?   B)
 
That's interesting Chris.  Except at WOT, my 150 uses LESS gas than my 115 did (yes, less), at any given speed, because the 150 would breath easier (less rpms).  Of course at WOT the 150 goes faster, and also uses more gas.  But speed for speed, it was more efficient.

I keep details of my motor hours and fuel fills.  I compared my "final" 50 hours on my 115 (before I traded it in) and the first 50 hours on the new 150, and I spent VERY close to the exact amount of $ in gas per hour out on the lake.  And, the two sets of "50 hours" were VERY similar in what we did (tubing and cruising).  You may have noticed I said the 150 uses less gas, but then said I spent the same amount on fuel per hour.  The difference is the 115 was inadequate for tubing, and didn't go very fast.  Once we got the 150, I was able to use more speed when tubing (which is why we got the 150) and used more gas tubing.  So, that's the difference.  The 150 uses less fuel at any given speed cruising compared to the 115.  But, we could barely hold 20 mph tubing with the 115.  When we got the 150, our average tubing speed probably shot up to around 25 mph, if that makes sense.  So, while the 150 uses less gas cruising, it used more gas tubing (but I also drove a lot faster).  At the end of the day, it was pretty much a wash.  Anyway, this was a VERY pleasant surprise to say the least.

Sounds like the efficiency starts to go the other way with the 200?
 
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kaydano said:
That's interesting Chris.  Except at WOT, my 150 uses LESS gas than my 115 did (yes, less), at any given speed, because the 150 would breath easier (less rpms).  Of course at WOT the 150 goes faster, and also uses more gas.  But speed for speed, it was more efficient.

I keep details of my motor hours and fuel fills.  I compared my "final" 50 hours on my 115 (before I traded it in) and the first 50 hours on the new 150, and I spent VERY close to the exact amount of $ in gas per hour out on the lake.  And, the two sets of "50 hours" were VERY similar in what we did (tubing and cruising).

That was a VERY pleasant surprise after having the 150 for a while.  Sounds like it starts to go the other way with the 200?
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I was very surprised to see the difference between the two motors (150 and 200) in strictly a MPG comparison. Obviously this could be a more complex comparison but we don't have enough data to ring it out completely. Have a peek at the Yamaha pages and see what you think.

With regards to the 115, well, I've always been amazed at the fuel efficiency of that motor. I have one on my current boat, a 20 foot center console, and 6 MPG is not unheard of at a slower cruising speed.

But now I'm pretty sure that we've taken this discussion a fair distance off topic so... 
 
Yep.  We're WAY off topic.

But, some of the best thoughts and ideas on this forum came from getting off topic.   Plus, I'm WAY too lazy to have copied your thoughts into a new topic and then responded to them there, so it was either here or nothing.  I figure if it's about Bennington or boating, it's close enough to whatever the topic was.  I know other's don't agree, and I respect that.

We give Derrick a lot of crap for getting off topic, but IMHO, restrictions like that just dampen the spontaneous creativity. 

Plus, there'd be a LOT less funny sh!t.
 
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