Not knocking the scx its a good drive. I already broke a sc lower taking an easy on it plus i put to many hours on the bravo gears in the sc will wear to fast. I also sold my complete broken sc drives instead of a $9000 dollfar Bandaid fix. Was about to buy scx then fell in love with the arneson. Almost saved enough just waiting for the new scx to make sure its not better....or cheaper. But 99% sure the arneson is a better choice.

Why do you see the tranny as being a PITA? It's in the box, so no need to move engine. Yes you might not loose speed with the SC's, but you won't gain anything either. Not sure what the ADS's weight in at, but I doubt they are heavier than a SCX setup, it is a pretty "simple" design. According to Rik, and others here who did it, about 10 mph. How much power do you need to add to the 575's to get 10 mph, and what will that cost? On top of that, you will have the extra fuel bill, running 700 hp + added reliability issues with the increased hp.

It was up earlier in the thread, about speed vs. cost and reliabllity. The ASD's seem very hard to beat.

You can either go with:
1: 700 hp + IMCO setup at a cost of xxx $
Or you can go with:
2:Stock power + ASD's at a cost of xxx $, and then most likely have the same speed or maybe even a mph or two more.
And of course the fun one:
3: 700hp + ASD's at a cost of xxx $.

What would the cost of option 1 be, if that should run as fast as option 3, not to mention the life of the drives, pushing about 875+ hp per side though the SCX with SC lowers?

It's all in how you look at it.

I ask a serious question. If the Arneson drive
is so good why is it not seen on new boats and why isn't it the only upgrade people do?

I agree totally with SkiDoc, Why aren't Dave's Customs coming standard with them? good Question!! They only run 130-150 out of the box??

I really ask objectively, not making a point. There must be a reason even if it's not a good one necessarily. Mercury dominance would be one, but why hasn't Merc. Produced a similar drive system?

It is seen on new boats, just not normally as a "bravo conversion kit". Arneson makes lots of other drives , some sharing some of the same parts as the bravo conversion minus the stand off box which houses the transmission. MOST newer, more expensive, faster, boats build them new with room under the hatch for a transmission. Arneson was super nice to build a conversion kit for us. WE as typical bravo owners are just to cheap to afford the kit even though its well worth it.

A lot of the new DCB boats have 1350's which merc sells packaged with the M8 SURFACE drive. Very similar to the arneson in what its acomplishing, it just looks different. Personal choice why they did not use the arneson, better package price using all merc. Obviously merc has a monopoly, it does not mean they are better though. The NXT, #6, Ilmor Indy, and BPM are all surface drives. Why, because they are better! IMCO's new drive based off the scx is a "surface drive" also. Why, becasuse they are better!

Why should they? Arneson already has it. BPM has a very similiar design. Mercury just has their own design. The NXT, #6, and M8 are all surface drives. Good drives just like the arneson they just look different.

THE ONLY SURFACE drive that bolts up to a bravo built boat is the arneson at this time. Thats what this thread is about. So if surface drives are the best choice (since every fast boat has them), and the only option for a bravo built boat for a easy bolt on kit is the arneson, then why are we having this conversation?

No hard feelings but people either have enough money for a fast boat/surface drives thats reliable, or we do not and are stuck with bravo based junk! Yes the SCX is better then other bravo based drives but not what everyone is looking for.

I think the fact boat has to be converted, the price tag being around 45000-50000 and set-up might be trial and error with expensive props stops a few people from making the jump. I'm not saying people shouldn't use them and some people will keep pouring money into bravos just to break them. I have seen magazine articles where boats have been built with big hp and sold with imco sc's or Merc Xr's where you just know the owner is going to be constantly breaking them, makes no sense other than the extra price tag to go bigger right off the bat, Smitty

Offshore check out the Scx on my boat it is sufacing. Why was Speed Racer converted from BPM's to 6's?