The 311 is 4 feet bigger and can take some bigger water but other than that very similar.

The kplanes are nice when running rough water, or for leveling the boat when running in a cross wind.

Is the engine compartment of the 311 larger? Easier to work on the engines? I'm spoiled with the room in my PC27 compartment with a pair of 350's ya could hold a dance down there.

The engine compartment on a 311 with trs drives is quite a bit bigger. 311 with bravo drives is way bigger.

I have owned a 272 with twin 320 EFI's and Alpha SS drives...outstanding performer in all respects.My friend Diego had a '89 272 SR1 with twin 454/Bravo I's and with K Planes it was terrific. I currently own a 255 Formula Liberator with strong SBC's and Bravo I's. The 255 is similar in size and weight to the 272 and with 23" Mirage props I rarely use the tabs to plane...power to weight ratio is such that the boat jumps on plane quickly.

All that being said...if you have the BBC/Bravo combo now keep it. If you are looking at an engine swap...strongly consider going to strong SBC's. You will save around 250# in the stern of the boat and Vortec/Roller Cam SBC's you will quickly match or exceed the power and torque of older 454's with the added bonus of having much more working room in the bilge for maintenance. Due to the weight savings I have found that the SBC versions of the 272 are "snappier" and better over all performers than the BBC versions and with today's technology, 400+ HP/400+ # TQ are fairly common while retaining good low speed and "dock manners".

What would be really sweet in a 272 would be a pair of warmed up LS motors !!! LOL

The LS platform is exactly what I would ultimately like to do, the biggest issue has been to find a SBC boat with Bravo's, all the ones I have seen so far have the Alpha 1's, so I feel going this route would have its limitations, another plus for going the BBC route as all boats I've seen are already equipped with Bravo 1's. Either way I would like to install a bolt on EFI for now.