The difference in Outdrives
 

Bravo One,Bravo 111,X drives, XR drives??Drive showers??I'm sorry Guys I'm totally new to all this and I want to know as much about this stuff when I buy a boat..Thanks

Most GO-Fast boats are going to have either Bravo Ones or Bravo XR's.

The XR's are supposedly a little tougher than the Bravo 1's but the guys on here still manage to break anything Mercury throws at them.

All Bravo Variants will not have transmissions inside the boat, they will be in the drive itself.

Bravo III's are dual props, but you rarely see them on Go-Fast boats - they are usually on cruisers.

Alpha's are weaker drives that you will usually see behind Small Blocks.

TRS are tougher older drives that Mercury no longer makes. They have tranmissions inside the boat that attach to the back of the engine.

Drive Showers are nothing more than a little mechanism that shoots water up and drops it on top of the drive - they help cool the transmission that is in the top of Bravo and Alpha drives.

Ssm
 

That's actually a very good primer on outdrives. I'll add that big horsepower boats will usually have SSM (Superspeedmaster) drives. TRS, SSM 2, SSM 3, SSM 3A, SSM 4, and SSM 5 are no longer produced by Mercury Marine. SSM 6 are still in production but are expensive. Merc makes a newer mid-level drive (between Bravo and SSM 6) called the NXT. There are also aftermarket drives like IMCO (some of which are Bravo derivitives). There are also replacement drives like Konrads, which a lot of folks replace TRS's with. Arneson drives are surface drives (as are SSM 6's) but are a little more exotic.

And dont forget BMax drives which seem to work well in higher HP applications.

It all depends on what size and type of boat and how much HP. My Bravo X lasted 7 hours after my repower with the 525 in a 22 foot boat. The XR is on it's third season. The X was fine behind the 496 HO. Now in a larger boat with bigger HP I'd forget the Bravo entirely. That's my experience and about all I can add to this thread.

TRS vs TR
 

But where does the TR fit in? Compared to the TRS?

What would be a better choice to to replace the TR/TRS a Konrad or a Bravo (assuming you patch up the hole).

-BL

@dukhntr

Never heard of a Merc TR drive. The Bravo1 is rated to 500hp and the XR is rated to 600hp. If you buy a cat you can get away with a lower rated drive because less of the boat will be in the water at speeds higher than planing speed. V bottoms tend to be harder than cats on drives.

If a seller tells you his boat has the SSM 3 drive, ask him if it's the 3A which has stronger shafts and is more desirable.

Welcome to OSO and I hope this helps. :)

and also remember Arneson asd-7 is the remedy for all broken bravo's...

and ASD-8 can handle more power than #6's...

Konrad makes direct replacements for both TR and TRS drives. Bolt it on and go.

Feel free to shoot me an email for more info.

[email protected]