Vmax vs standard F series yamaha

PortageScott

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Wondering what the vmax buys you over the standard Yamaha of equivalent HP and is extra money well spent?
 
Had the same question on my Evinrude, HO vs standard. For the money I should of bought the HO!! Best of luck on your quest for HP!!
 
I ordered the F200 on my new boat. I asked my dealer (they are a high volume dealer for Yamaha and Bennington) and they said save the money as they hardy ever put the Vmax on a pontoons. He did say it is an awesome engine though. I hope I don't regret it. 
 
My Loaner boat has a F-200
neighbors boat same length has a V-max 200
His boat smokes mine
 
Would love to see independent dyno comparison of all of the available 200 engines.
That seems to be the heart of the pontoon market now.
 
Told the VMAX 175 is the equivalent of the F200 with more torque out of the hole. The savings between the two goes a long way towards purchasing the power assist steering. The black paint scheme is sweet and works with the black out package.
 
I have the VMax 175 on my 2019 RSB. It easily pulls a wakeboarder or a tube. It's actually a better hole shot than my I/O 225 hp Mercruiser on my previous Hurricane Deck boat. Super easy to pull a wakeboarder with a great hole shot. The fact that you don't have to get up on plane like a V-hull makes a huge difference.
 
I love my VMAX SHO SUPER HIGH OUTPUT. It is a tick throaty compared to the F150
 
If you are going with a 200 the VMAX V^ is the best option, if it is the budget. If it is not go with the 175 VMAX, not the F200. IMO based on performance.
 
If you are going with a 200 the VMAX V^ is the best option, if it is the budget. If it is not go with the 175 VMAX, not the F200. IMO based on performance.

What kinds of performance differences are there between the VF175 and the F200 on 21-22' tritoons, would you say?
 
Go with a 200 Vmax, get it re tuned ($1000) then you can have 338 HP.
I would redo my 250 for a 200 if I had a do over, because you can re-tune either motor to 338 hp.
 
What kinds of performance differences are there between the VF175 and the F200 on 21-22' tritoons, would you say?
From what I can tell you may get about 2 mph more with the f200 but you will have equal or better (torque) in all of the RPM ranges with the VF175. Better for water sports etc. For the money IMO the f200 is not worth spending extra. They are the same motor just tuned in the computer differently. With that said a 200 looks better hanging off a boat lol. The Vmax 200 is the same motor as the f300. That is the 200 to buy if you want best performance.
 
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From what I can tell you may get about 2 mph more with the f200 but you will have equal or better (torque) in all of the RPM ranges with the VF175. Better for water sports etc. For the money IMO the f200 is not worth spending extra. They are the same motor just tuned in the computer differently. With that said a 200 looks better hanging off a boat lol. The Vmax 200 is the same motor as the f300. That is the 200 to buy if you want best performance.

Thanks for your feedback!
I'm torn between the VF175, F200, and VF200 depending on which series and size boat we decide to narrow it down to. Likely going to be a 21-22 foot SXP or G, regardless.

Going through all the Yamaha performance tests, the F200 seems to excel at cruising fuel economy, when paired with the right size/weight boat and prop'ed perfectly. The VF175 isn't far behind. The VF200 gets a bit more thirsty, being two cylinders stronger.

Alas, most of our usage would be to cruise out to coves with family and friends, kill the motor, drop the anchor, and enjoy the melody of the waves while working with a bit of fervor to empty out a cooler.
 
I see a lot of detailed answers. I don't have that. It was a $500 difference between the 115 standard and 115 VMax. Seemed like a no brainer for us. Not to say $500 isn't a lot of money but compared to the overall cost of engine it was a small fee. My uncle has the 115 standard and i smoke his boat. Both 22'. It pisses him off since he talked me into a Benny...

Have fun.
 
Thanks for your feedback!
I'm torn between the VF175, F200, and VF200 depending on which series and size boat we decide to narrow it down to. Likely going to be a 21-22 foot SXP or G, regardless.

Going through all the Yamaha performance tests, the F200 seems to excel at cruising fuel economy, when paired with the right size/weight boat and prop'ed perfectly. The VF175 isn't far behind. The VF200 gets a bit more thirsty, being two cylinders stronger.

Alas, most of our usage would be to cruise out to coves with family and friends, kill the motor, drop the anchor, and enjoy the melody of the waves while working with a bit of fervor to empty out a cooler.
If that is what you are doing then go with the Vmax 175 then you could get buy with just hydraulic steering also if you want to save even more money. If you are doing water sports I do recommend still getting the electronic assist steering with the 175. Power assist is amazing but expensive and if you get a 200 it is a need to add. 175 is on the edge. I went through this same thing a bit ago when I ordered my pontoon and I just bit the bullet and got the Vmax 200 with power steering. When you buy is the best time to get what you want. With that said if you do not need that power the 175 you will be very happy with, I would not spend the extra on the f200 IMO. If you go to a 200 IMO the VMAX is the only way to go.
 
If that is what you are doing then go with the Vmax 175 then you could get buy with just hydraulic steering also if you want to save even more money. If you are doing water sports I do recommend still getting the electronic assist steering with the 175. Power assist is amazing but expensive and if you get a 200 it is a need to add. 175 is on the edge. I went through this same thing a bit ago when I ordered my pontoon and I just bit the bullet and got the Vmax 200 with power steering. When you buy is the best time to get what you want. With that said if you do not need that power the 175 you will be very happy with, I would not spend the extra on the f200 IMO. If you go to a 200 IMO the VMAX is the only way to go.

We'll be getting power assist, regardless. :D
 
Power sterring and a 200 vmax---no 250 because it cost thousands more and it is the EXACT same motor!
 

There is a good discussion in the link above on differences between the F and VF series. Biggest one I see is that the VF was meant to battle the G2 Rude and Merc Pro XS back in the day in the bass boat world. Advance the timing and you get more power to compete with the 2 strokes, but requires 89 octane to prevent knock with the greater cylinder pressure. Nowadays that skirmish is over with Merc going 4 stroke and Rude 6 feet underground, but Yamaha created a great product that non-bass guys wanted as well. Likely why they now offer a 25” lower whereas when they first came out only a 20” was offered.

I went F250 because of the 1) digital controls 2) lower octane requirement 3) larger alternator and 4) hypothetical greater motor longevity. If I were pulling tubes or racing my friends then the VF would be better suited, but still no DEC available. Great motor that certainly has a place in the pontoon world, although the new Merc V8’s are likely going to take a lot of market share. Yam needs to come out with their new block ASAP.
 
I owned two 250 hp Yamahas. The first was the grey "Offshore" model and the second was the VF250 SHO. The grey one had a 3.3L block for which 250hp was the upper limit and the SHO had the 4.2L block. These two had different gear ratios so the grey one had a 19P prop and the SHO started with a 17P and ended with a 15P. The reason I had them change the prop was because the performance sucked on the SHO. It didn't even come close to the grey one with the 19P. With that boat I had a holeshot that tried to rip your arms off and a top speed of close to 49mph with one person on board and freshly cleaned toons. The SHO was hung on a boat that was a foot longer but I couldn't get out of the 30s with the 17p prop and only briefly saw the very low 40s with the 15P prop (once the toons got a couple of weeks worth of algae on them, it was back to the 30s for lil'ole me).

There could have been some other evil phenomenon at work here (mounting height, underestimating the extra weight 1 foot, etc.) but I was very unhappy with the performance of the RCW and I put the blame squarely on that SHO.

PS>>> The 3.3L engine I'm talking about above has been discontinued which is very unfortunate as it was a great engine. I believe the non SHO one the OP is referring to is also 4.2L and I don't have any first hand experience with that one.
 
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