Excalibur Engine vs. ZR6

[sean950054]

I wanted to find out what the opinions are on the Excalibur vs.the ZR6. I am going to be purchasing a 226 and have the choice of one with a zr6 and one with the excalubur. The one with the Excalibur is a 2004 in PERFECT shape and the other is a 2006 with the ZR6 in not quite as good of shape. There is about a $8000-$10000 difference in price between them.
With that being said I primarily will be using the boat to pull my kids tubing, cruising, some skiing, some wakeboarding/surfing. I won't be throwing a crazy amount of weight in the boat like some of the guys do...most likely stock ballast and maybe another bag in the center locker, possibly one on deck for surfing.

I notice that there are other 226's and 210's with the Excalibur in them...will this engine perform well enough vs the ZR6? Resale?

Thanks for the insight...........

[Paxdad]

I have the 343 in my 08 210 and could not be happier.

[dfoster]

I have the ZR6 in my SV211 and am worried now that I can't go back. But I haven't had a boat with a newer Excalibur, so should not be the test.

For what you describe, if you aren't going to be loading it up with weight, my bet is you will be wonderfully happy with the smaller motor. I wouldn't have paid the $8k difference you mention. It was a plus for me, but not something I would pay that much for.

[Nautiquehunter]

They are both great engines if propped correctly the only difference you will see with the ZR6 is a slight increase in top end and bragging rights. Deffendetly not worth the extra 8k.

[Neverenough]

I had a 03 226 with a ZR6 and now have a 220 with 343. Both perform great but the 226 I didn't need to re prop the 226 and the boat has plenty of power.. I love the ZR6 and provided it was the right deal I'd rather have a ZR6. Would I pay 8 to 10 k more for engine alone??? Nope. I love my 343 as well could little efficient power plant that we re propped due to added weight surfing. I do think the 343 is better on fuel but were talking two different hulls also. The deal your talking about I'd go test both and if they are not that different in power I'd buy the nicer boat for less money.

[sean950054]

Thanks for the feedback.....

[NCH2oSki]

The 04' with the Excalibur will be 330 hp and not 343, although I'm not to sure you would notice the difference without the decal telling you so. My 05' 206 has the excal, and I'm extremely pleased with it! I would pick the one that is in the best overall shape and enjoy!

[Mikeski]

Hi Sean,

Unfortunately the opinions from users with direct drives (very different transmission ratio) will have a very different experience than what you will experience in the V-drive. The opinions from folks that only wakeboard at speeds below 30mph will also be very different.

I have a 211 with the EX330 and I can tell you that I have been through 7-8 props trying to get the power optimized to cover my needs from surfing-boarding-skiing-barefooting. I am currently running a stock team prop 644/645 and it seems to cover the range of my needs best. I also have an Acme 856 in case I run the boat with a heavy load or at a higher altitude. Running the 644 it still does not pull me fast enough to do one-foot barefoot but it is strong enough to get the boat on plane with full ballast and a small crew. If I had the ZR6 it would open the boat up to providing adequate barefoot speeds so we could do additional tricks. If I were to do it over again I would pop for the ZR6. I also like the newer technology motors, the 350 blocks from GM are rumored to be coming to an end of production soon.

If the Excalibur boat is a nicer boat it is probably your better purchase if you are not an experienced barefooter with the need to go over 40mph.

[Kenv]

I had an 05 226 with the 330 and currently have a '10 226 with the 343 and don't regret one bit not going with the bigger engine. I use the boat exactly like you describe you will and have never needed the Zr6. I do wish my 343 went about 5mph faster for footing..which I still do occasionally..but from what I hear...the ZR6 is only 2 to 3 miles per hour faster than the 343...so I might STILL be a little soft for footing speed. I like about 45 when footing, and mine only seem to give about 42/43. I say get the cleaner boat and enjoy that 8000 bucks for gas/food/beer and get a new tube or two. Good luck. 226's Rock...lol

[shag]

I had a 09 230 with the 343... Weighted pretty decently and was happy with the 330. I also am not a fan of closed cooling (just my .02) more maintenance items. I could actually get 43-44 from my 230 with stock prop...

[DanielC]

You need to test drive, and ski both boats to decide.

Here is a dirty little secret about higher horsepower, from the same displacement. Peak horsepower occurs at peak RPM. Horsepower across the usable range of engine RPM is a function of the torque the engine is making at any RPM, times the RPM. There is a little more math, but that is basically it.

So, if you are comparing a 330 Excalibur to a 343 Excalibur, you need to realize you are giving up power that is available at lower RPM's on the 330 to get more power at the peak RPM of the 343. If you barefoot, a lot then the 343 would be the better engine, in the same boat. If you wakesurf, you probably would be better with a 330 HP Excalibur.

[aZ`]

An increase in max hp doesn't ALWAYS come at the cost of power at other rpm ranges, changing to a bigger camshaft almost certainly does this, but if they changed the cylinder head design/inlet manifold design possibly with the chance to run a more aggressive timing curve or more compression then you can increase power across the board. I would seriously doubt PCM (who manufacture engines specifically for tow boats) would sacrifice low rpm power for high.

[sean950054]

Thanks for all
Of the good insight!! It definitely allows me to make
A more informed decision.

The best engine I've ever driven in a nautique was when Walt let me drive the red
Nautique used at the Masters for ski flying....he had
An SVT lightning super charged engine put in it. Absolutely unreal and the sound of the supercharger was awesome. If you can imagine a direct drive boat almost jumping out of the water on full throttle acceleration....I wonder where that boat is now?

[DanielC]

I got to drive a 1999 Ski Nautique with the 502 python engine in it. That too was an impressive boat.

[Laptom]

Never too much hp... We now have a ZR6 230, but still like our spare boat much more on handling & engine --> 1988 Barefoot with the ho bigblock .