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I don't know if you read thru the OPs full post or not but he is talking about the different fuel usage between his old AR240 ( with the same motors ) and his new boat. Before he purchased his boat I told him about the different fuel usage. So the factors you are talking about are not there. We are comparing basically the same boats.
But they aren't the same boat at all. The keel will definitely add more drag....and drag that not matter how fast you go...its in the water! The bimini is like a massive SAIL and add both major weight and drag. The whole tower weighs another human on board. I wouldn't give up my bimini.....I like the keel, but fins probably would have been enough. I notice the fuel burn when we go to Bimini. The older 240s and 230s get much better fuel economy....but with my bimini and rain screen...I stay dry....and cool!
When I received my boat I figured out that the battery wiring is a little messed up so my first few tanks of fuel were not actually saved in the trip information on connext. I am now just leaving the battery switches on and turning the key off which allows all my setting and mileage information to be saved. I was at the lake for 2 weeks and we probably went through 500-600 dollars in fuel. One of those tanks I was able to get some raw numbers and just curious what other 242x owners are getting. When comparing my fuel mileage between this boat and my old AR240 this one is just sucking down fuel like crazy. Keep in mind we are doing the same activities for roughly the same amount of time like surfing, cruising or outrunning storms at full throttle. To me its just crazy this thing is using as much fuel as it is. BTW I fill up at one of the most popular marina's on the water so this isn't old fuel or have any ethanol in it either.
I am getting 1.8mpg on average. I would give my total mileage but I don't think I have those numbers yet.
Whats everyone elses experience? If you don't have numbers, whats your gut say? Burning a lot more fuel than you anticipated?
@CDENsomnia ..... your key words are "or outrunning storms at full throttle"..... you go full throttle and your fuel curve sinks like a stone. That would be the end of your fuel "efficiency". Of course the words boat and fuel "efficiency" should not really be used in polite conversation!
But they aren't the same boat at all. The keel will definitely add more drag....and drag that not matter how fast you go...its in the water! The bimini is like a massive SAIL and add both major weight and drag. The whole tower weighs another human on board. I wouldn't give up my bimini.....I like the keel, but fins probably would have been enough. I notice the fuel burn when we go to Bimini. The older 240s and 230s get much better fuel economy....but with my bimini and rain screen...I stay dry....and cool!
I don't think the keel adds that much more drag, it is linear with the boat in the water. Bobs old boat didn't have the factory tower or bimini and I know his new tower weighed more then the factory tower. We have even compared fuel usage when we didn't have the bimni up for a loop cruise up in Chicago. The new boats just use more fuel. I agree our bimini is the #1 reason we love the boat and really don't care about fuel usage.
I don't think the keel adds that much more drag, it is linear with the boat in the water. Bobs old boat didn't have the factory tower or bimini and I know his new tower weighed more then the factory tower. We have even compared fuel usage when we didn't have the bimni up for a loop cruise up in Chicago. The new boats just use more fuel. I agree our bimini is the #1 reason we love the boat and really don't care about fuel usage.
I'm not an expert on performance on these boats, but my understanding is drag is the #1 performance issue. These hulls aren't much different from one another....other than the keel. So yes...more weight will push the boat into the water more....increasing drag, and the keel itself will be in the water with more surface area than a non-keel boat. Perhaps they both contribute an extra 10% more wetted surface area????? Since the engines and pumps are the same.....I have to assume drag is the primary delta?
I'm not an expert on performance on these boats, but my understanding is drag is the #1 performance issue. These hulls aren't much different from one another....other than the keel. So yes...more weight will push the boat into the water more....increasing drag, and the keel itself will be in the water with more surface area than a non-keel boat. Perhaps they both contribute an extra 10% more wetted surface area????? Since the engines and pumps are the same.....I have to assume drag is the primary delta?
@Julian agreed. As well from my conversations with Rocky and Mike back in the days when the Mercruiser Engine plant in Stillwater was liaising with engine builders and racers I had a discussion wherein I was told when engines were checked there was a +/- 5% difference in HP and efficiency based on manufacturing and assembly tolerances and practices. We found this to be true particularly when we were up-grading 350 small blocks to 377s and 383s - there could be quite a bit of difference which prompted us to run them for 10 hours +/- then re-deck them for better quality control, this despite using cnc machines for decking, valving and general block prep.
