SeaRay vs CrownLine
Sola Optical USA
180 Bow Rider.It has the Mercruiser 4.3XL stern drive motor,VERY nice
interior,tandem trailer,etc.
The other is a 1994 CrownLine 182 BowRider with a 302 Ford fuel-injected
V8/OMC drive.This is also a nice looking boat and comes with a depthfinder
and single axle?wheel? trailer.
Both boats sell for the same price.
Today I test drove the CrownLine and was impressed with performance but
then again I haven't been on a decent boat before so I'm easily impressed
at this point.
I'll be test driving the SeaRay in the morning so I'll be able to make some
more judgements on my own,BUT I would feel much better getting input from a
much better resource than sales pitches or my own inexperience with these
boats.That's why I dialed the world.
Bob Randall
Mark Maral
I sent you email regarding your question. But I will post here as well.
My wife and I also in the market for a new bowrider. We have looked at
a long list of boats. In my email to you I forgot one other boat we
really liked and that was the Mariah 210 Talari. Actually we rated it
right below the Chaparral. We also looked at the SeaRay and Crownline
boats. All the boats appear to be fairly equally constructed. We
really just liked the Chaparral as it had all the features we were
looking for in a bowrider. Also the dealership, Hoigs Marine in Sacremento,
was excellent. Let me know any thoughts you have about the Chaparral and
what you think about the the SeaRay and Crownline that you preferred over
other boats.
Thanks,
Mark
Bill Walker
> I've narrowed down my joice of bowriders to two. One is a 1994 SeaRay
> 180 Bow Rider.
[...]
> The other is a 1994 CrownLine 182 BowRider with a 302 Ford fuel-injected
> V8/OMC drive.
[...]
Just a hunch, but the Sea Ray _might_ have better resale value down the
road, and be easier to sell, because of being a nationally known brand
(Sea Ray dealers are practically everywhere). I've seen ads for Crown
Line, and I've even seen a couple of the boats, but not many. I've seen
zillions of Sea Rays over the last 25-30 years.
If you're planning to water ski, compare performance closely (it would've
been nice to take a stopwatch and measure time to plane, since
seat-of-the-pants measurements aren't always accurate). That V8 in the
Crown Line might make a big difference in how happy skiers will be behind
the boat (then again, the added weight might reduce the difference
considerably). Also, if you intend to ski, make sure you get a prop
pitched for skiing, rather than pitched for top end (which seems to be
what most manufacturers install stock, so they can claim their boat is
faster). But don't get one pitched so low that you exceed the max rated
RPM at wide open throttle.
----------
Bill Walker - WWa...@qualcomm.com - QUALCOMM, Inc., San Diego, CA USA
"First thing we do, we kill all the lawyers." - Shakespeare
acss...@eku.acs.eku.edu
I would probably pick the Crownline just for the engine. The 302 is an
excellent engine and the FI will make starting easy and throttle
response excellent. I would prefer a Mercruiser drive over OMC, but the
new OMC drive are quality drives from what I have heard and read.
On the other hand, the 4.3LX is an excellent engine as well and Sea Ray
boats are probably better know and easier to resell when the time comes.
I doubt you could go wrong either way.
dsc
Dudley Cornman - Systems Programmer
Academic Computing Services
Eastern Ky. University
Richmond, KY 40475-3111
(606) 622-1986
Bob Rusk
>In article <32s9lr$e...@crl3.crl.com>, so...@crl.com (Sola Optical USA) writes:
>> I've narrowed down my joice of bowriders to two. One is a 1994 SeaRay
>> 180 Bow Rider.It has the Mercruiser 4.3XL stern drive motor,VERY nice
>> interior,tandem trailer,etc.
>> The other is a 1994 CrownLine 182 BowRider with a 302 Ford fuel-injected
>> V8/OMC drive.This is also a nice looking boat and comes with a depthfinder
>> and single axle?wheel? trailer.
>I would probably pick the Crownline just for the engine. The 302 is an
>excellent engine and the FI will make starting easy and throttle
>response excellent. I would prefer a Mercruiser drive over OMC, but the
>new OMC drive are quality drives from what I have heard and read.
I'm not sure I would want the new OMC drive in its first year. OMC (like
most companies in general) has had their share of first-year model problems
(VRO, V4/V6 loopers, Series 400/800 drives, etc), I'd buy a MerCruiser or
Volvo now or wait a year or so.
--
Bob Rusk
rr...@mail.csd.harris.com
My thoughts, probably not Harris', maybe not even reasonable.
Bill Walker
rr...@mail.csd.harris.com wrote:
[...]
> I'm not sure I would want the new OMC drive in its first year. OMC (like
> most companies in general) has had their share of first-year model problems
> (VRO, V4/V6 loopers, Series 400/800 drives, etc), I'd buy a MerCruiser or
> Volvo now or wait a year or so.
Umm, Bob, isn't the new Volvo drive the same (or at least partially the
same) as the new OMC drive (wasn't that the point of the Volvo-OMC deal)?
In any event, it's also a new drive in its first year. Of course, this is
only an issue with the _new_ Volvo drive, and shouldn't be a problem on
the other models, which I think they're still selling (e.g., Duoprop).
Sola Optical USA
: Bob,
: Thanks,
: Mark
Honestly my decisions as to which boats I seriously considered were based on
price, looks, and size. I was very interested in the Chaparral because an
article I had read in some boating mag gave it very good ratings and then there
was also a Stingray Bowrider that looked intersting based on price and performance. Funny, I never found out anything about the SeaRay or Crownline. Since you
mentioned the Chaparral, I decided too call Hoigs Marine to check that one out.
They didn't have anymore and the price was more than I wanted to pay, somewhere
around 20k. I don't know of a Stingray dealer around here and I sure like to
stay with local dealerships on significant purchases, at least until I learn
something about boating. I really know next to nothing on this subject except
boats pull skiers,tubes, etc. which equals fun! This kind of attitude may lead
you to believe that I am being a bit compulsive which I am, but I did Test drivethe two boats my wife and I agreed on and we both liked the Crownline. Thats
about as effort as we are going to put into searching for a boat. The price
was affordable so I think we will be hitting the lakes soon, as soon as we find something to tow it with.
Bob Randall
l
A
A
A
was affordable
C
C
A
A
A
A
me into wrong choices but for some reason I'm feeling good about being a lttle compulsive, at least for now.
ke...@kmoore.itg.ti.com
In article <32taqu$d...@male.EBay.Sun.COM>, <ma...@xvnews.unconfigured.domain>
writes:
At the beginning of the summer, I bought a new Mariah 200 Talari.
I've really liked it so far. In looking at several manufacturers,
I rated them as follows:
1. Mariah (of course) Well built, best fit & finish
2. Cobalt - Probably the best built, but it was not quite what
I wanted and was also quite a bit more expensive.
3. Sea Ray - Nice, but you were paying more for the name than
the actual quality.
4. Crown Line, 4Winns - not bad, just not what I wanted.
5. Wellcraft, Bayliner - junk, which suprised me for the Wellcraft,
but not for the Bayliner :)
I got the 5.0LX Mercruiser and am glad I did (over the 4.3LX). My only real
complaint is that it is not a 'Deep-V'. The hull flattens out in the back.
This makes for better time-to-plane and fuel economy, but it tends to make
the boat wallow around in turns, especially with more than 3 or 4 people.
I hope this helps,
Keith
------------------------------------------------------------------
Keith Moore, P.E. Minerva Technology
ke...@kmoore.itg.ti.com 3102 Maple Ave, # 240
(214) 575-3460 Dallas, Tx 75201
------------------------------------------------------------------
Jim Godziela
For what it's worth, I had a 1990 Sea Ray 180 open bow. I would still have it
today, but my brother, who was half owner, moved to Texas and took it with
him. I really enjoyed the boat and was quite pleased with it.
The only problem I recall, was having part of the rear fishing platform
replaced (our's was the first year of the fish & ski model), because it
worped. SeaRay fixed it under warranty. Also, we would have to tighten up
the side interior trim every so often. That was not a big deal.
The main reason we went with the SeaRay was the fish & ski package, and
they offered the 150 Merc outboard. Within a couple of minutes, I could
convert the boat from a bass boat to a family boat. Also, for skiing, the
boat was excellent. It put out a real nice wake for a deep v boat. I believe
that this was mainly due to having the Mercury outboard instead of the I/O.
Also, what might be a lesser known fact (or fiction on my part), the outboard
was faster than the I/O.
If water skiing is a major concern, observe the wake the boat puts out at
speeds between 28 and 36 mph. These are the speeds that most people
ski at. In general, the flatter the wake, the better the ski boat. The 4.3L v6
and definitely the 302 v8 should easily pull up a skier. If skiing is a concern,
have the SeaRay salesmen arrange a test drive on the 180 outboard. Compare
the wake and performance to the I/O, you might be surprised.
Best of luck with your boat purchase
Jim
Grayson Walker
Number 1 is Riva.
Number 2 might be the Swiss copy of Riva, sold by Wolfgang Dietrich.
Then you jump to the volume production stuff. Just don't look at the
Riva first. You'll lose your lunch when you look at the rest.
A
> 1. Mariah (of course) Well built, best fit & finish
^ Chuckle, chuckle . . .
>
> 2. Cobalt - Probably the best built, but it was not quite what
> I wanted and was also quite a bit more expensive.
>
> 3. Sea Ray - Nice, but you were paying more for the name than
> the actual quality.
Th
--
FORZA!
GWA...@RTFM.MLB.FL.US "Big brown river. . ." Tuli Kupferberg, 1963
000200 Lynch
the brand I saw most was Sea Ray. In second place, but not by far was
Bayliner. :^)
--
Hal Lynch
US Mail: Utah State University Internet: H...@cache.declab.usu.edu
Office of Computer Services Phone: (801)797-2380
Logan, Utah 84322-4410 Fax: (801)797-2268
acss...@eku.acs.eku.edu
Yes, but don't confuse quality with popularity, affordability, or down
right cheapness. They aren't the same.