353 w/ Volvo Penta
 

A buddy of mine has a brother who is interested in a '01 353 Fastech w/ 500hp Volvo Pentas and duoprop drives. Did Formula build a lot of these packages? What are the pros and cons? I am sure the duoprop would eat a little top end but I've always heard good things about the reliabilty of the Volvo drives.

Comments? Thanks.

Only a few were built.I bought one and had a terrible time getting rid of it,not because they aren't good units,just the perception of them is bad.Good news is,you should be able to buy it really,really cheap. If not, pass on it. Bad news is it is very difficult to dock,they idle in gear at about 8 mph.I ran mine a lot,nice setup,except for the docking and re-sale issues. I believe parts are still available. Maybe C-Spray will chime in,he has lots of info.

I was wondering the same thing..I see a very cheap Fastech 271 on Ebay right now with the Volvo 500 and dual prop set-up. I was wondering how well the 271 comes on plane with the dual prop??? Anybody have one??? Thanks, Jeff

I think Volvo makes better equipment than Merc........but like Magicfloat said, it will be hard to re-sell. Perception mainly and aftermarket performance upgrades are not nearly as common.

and BTW: Top end might suffer a little, but mid range cruise speeds should be great.

We have one with 500hp and Volvos and I enjoy the way it runs mid range is awesome its a keeper in my books..........:cool:

Perception about this package hurts it, but if you drive it, it'll surprise the hell out of you. No thunder box and those 500 Marine Innovations really sound good. But, for the race minded boater, yes you'll lose a few mph on the top end, but the holeshot and especially the midrange pull are simply awesome.

What he said........and it never hurts to be dfferent most guys get mad if a volvo beats them at anything.............:cool:

I ordered my 2000 382 with the Volvo (Innovation) 600/DPX's and never regretted it. It saved me $37,000 over a set of 575SCi's. The drives are several mph slower than Bravos at absolute WFO, but who spends any real time there? WOT starts are no problem, you get fantastic cruise efficency, and I got used to the docking right away. (Think GRIP; neutral is your friend.) I ran 400 hours before pitting a pinion gear in one lower unit, but they never left me out on the water with only one drive!

Engines are Bowtie block/heads, JE, Crane, Holley EFI, etc. They start and run very, very nice. The shift interrupter makes it easy to get in and out of gear, and they're close-cooled to boot.

Yeah. I like mine. Search this forum for the "Project....382" thread.