TRS - BRAVO-1 - ALPHA 1 Which of these three is the better outdrive? Looking for a boat and want to know what to look for and what to stay away from.

Bravo and Alpha drives do not have externally mounted transmissions. As a result the engines sit farther back in the boat.

Alpha's are the weakest and were rarely found in Big Block applications.

Bravo's are stronger and were put to use behind the Big Blocks. In general people on here seem to think they are pretty reliable under 4-500HP depending on who you ask and what their driving style is. HOWEVER, there are a LOT of people on here with a lot more power than that running bravos, treating them with respect and getting plenty of time out of them.

TRS drives have an externally mounted transmission on the back of the engine. They are certianly the toughest and heaviest of the 3 you mentioned. They have not been made by Mercury for quite a while. As a result "some" people say that parts are scarce.

If you are considering resale I would consider the fact that the TRS drives might be a turn-off for certain buyers. Personally I would go with a Bravo boat of those three.

You might also see other drives in your search including SSM3's, SSM4's SSM5's and SSM'6's. These are all up to the task of handling higher HP. Each was basically a succecessor to the one before it with the #6 still being produced today.

I have TRS's in my 88' 311 454/420's I love the way they shift but just found out that if u run with low ATF fluid you'll fry it. I'll let you know how much it will cost to fix it in a couple weeks.

I heard there good up to 650hp.

Question is what kind of boat-- how heavy, big, and how much power.

From there answer is much easier.

And forget the Alpha if your interested in a performance boat.