Posted: June 12 2006 at 00:00 | IP Logged

im in the process of looking at a 34pc it has the 6.2 mpi's in it

is this enough power for the 34 or should i look into the larger engine version if you have any experience with this please help

thanx  jb 

Posted: June 12 2006 at 00:00 | IP Logged

John,

It all depends on what you are trying to accomplish, for every option there is always a trade-off.  The 6.2’s will probably cost you less to purchase & will give you better fuel economy than the Big Block options.  

I have a 34pc with the Volvo 8.1’s and their duo-prop out drives.  So far I am not totally impressed with the top end performance, but I traded up from a much lighter 29’ boat with twin 350 mags.  I would guess that my top end at close to 5,000rpms is around or a little over 40mph.  This comes at a cost…  I am probably getting .75 miles per gallon when I run WOT.

Now with the 6.2’s your top end is going to take a hit, but your wallet will probably take less of one at the pump.  You need to ask yourself; what do I really want to do with this boat?  If you want to zoom around at 40+mph this is probably not the boat for you.  If you want to cruise around at about 20mph getting decent MPG in a comfortable high quality boat you may want to pursue it.

Hope this helps.

Posted: June 14 2006 at 00:00 | IP Logged

great response i will consider the trade off

my biggest worry is resale in future it seems a lot of 34pc's were sold with the big blocks  thanx  jb

Posted: June 14 2006 at 00:00 | IP Logged

I have the 6.2 on my 31PC and it works very well with it. However, from reading and research it seems that the big block will give very close MPG at cruise if not better because it does not work as hard. For the 34PC, I would think you need the big block and the 6.2 might be a bit underpowered. Compare the weight and specs between the 31 and 34 and you will see what I mean, I normally cruise at 3000RPM/27MPH and with a full load of 8 to 11 people.

Good luck.

Posted: June 15 2006 at 00:00 | IP Logged

thru my findings i noticed they dont offer the 6.2 engine they offer the 496   in the merc sterndrive  they were selling a lot more big blocks with this boat the  34pc  i would like to have specs on the  2 engines  6.2 and the 496  to see mph,  gph , and  range difference on the 2  i bet the range difference is substancial  

Posted: June 15 2006 at 00:00 | IP Logged

Below are Boattest.com results for 34PC, .98MPG is very impressive compared to a my 31PC with 1.1MPG with 6.2MX. I think you might get better range with the 496, you might burn more in hole shot but I think you'll make it at cruise.

Test Power: 2 x 375-hp MerCruiser 496 MAG

RPM	MPH	Knots	Total GPH	MPG	NMPG	Range	NM Range	dBa
650	3.7	3.2	2.7	1.38	1.2	256	223	68
1000	6.2	5.4	4.4	1.41	1.22	261	227	71
1500	8.9	7.7	6.8	1.31	1.14	243	211	74
2000	10.8	9.4	12	.9	.78	167	145	76
2500	16.3	14.1	17.2	.94	.82	175	152	77
3000	23.4	20.3	23.7	.98	.86	183	159	81
3500	30.5	26.5	32.1	.95	.83	176	153	82
4000	33.7	29.3	47	.72	.62	133	115	89
4500	44.8	38.9	55	.81	.71	151	131	91
5000	46.3	40.3	61.7	.75	.65	139	121	93

Posted: August 21 2006 at 23:48 | IP Logged

I have the 496s and really think they offer the best trade-off of fuel economy and performance.  I have hit a top-end of 49.8 MPH with the boat, though it certainly moved the fuel gauge.  Overall, I cruise at 3400 RPM at about 24.5 MPH.  Also, I have not yet had a problem with these engines in 3 years of service.

However, I agree with the post that mentions you need to decide what you want the boat to do.  Top-end speed is not very important to me, but resale value and just knowing that I could hit a higher top-end if I needed to are.