Newbie sez: Diff twixt 5.0 and 5.7? And how many hours?

[stevieb]

For the direct drives, base comes with a 5.0 putting out 270 hp. Next level and most common is 5.7 with 330 hp, right?

Anyone out there skiied/driven each one? How much difference between 'em?

Does the 5.0 have faults or seem wimpy? Or is just good to have for bragging rights at the dock?

Second topic: How many hours can a well-maintained direct drive get before rebuild time? Thousand? Two thousand? A bazillion?

Thanx.... :grin:

[DanielC]

RE: Newbie sez: Diff twixt 5.0 and 5.7? And how many hours?

Last question first. I have 1821 hours on my 1997 ski, with a Ford GT-40 motor. It is still running strong.
I have skied behind a 2002 Sport Nautique, with a 5.0. It was noticeably slower coming out of the hole, but free skied fine. I only run a slalom course occasionally. Top speed will be about the same, the top speed of a ski boat is controlled by the hull. Fuel consumption will be about the same, a 5.0 has to work harder than a 5.7 to maintain a given speed. If you weigh the boat down for wakeboarding, you may want the bigger motor. If you intend to use the boat for slalom course work, you may want the extra reserve power the bigger motor has. I doubt if there is more than a ten pound difference in the weight of the two motors
The big difference, is resale value.
If you can, do a through test drive with same boat with each motor in it, including skiing behind them.

[Rick]

RE: Newbie sez: Diff twixt 5.0 and 5.7? And how many hours?

PCM says you should get between 2000 to 2400 hours before you need to rebuild an engine. My 2000 has 1300 and pulls like new. i think a boat with aan average of 50-100 hours per year would be normal. Anything less or more I would look at the maintenence records. Mine was a club boat and the records show that they changed the oil almost every weekend i the summer.

[stevieb]

RE: Newbie sez: Diff twixt 5.0 and 5.7? And how many hours?

Thanks, gents. Very helpful...