Main difference between 370SS and 400SS?
 

Between the two boats where is the 3 feet of length taken away? Do they take a little here and there or is there an obvious difference?

After 2 years of deliberating my wife and I are now in agreement that one of these two hulls would be the best compromise for us considering how we use a boat. We had a big 44' Sea Ray and it was painfully slow. Had a center console and hated it. Nowhere to sit and with the daily monsoons at 3PM here in Florida an air conditioned cabin is really nice to have plus wifey and I can use the boat as a getaway when we have the time.

Both would be big enough for anywhere we would go and the cruise speed of around 40 would allow us to get somewhere reasonably quick.

I want to get your guys take on the differences between these two as anything we buy will have to come from freshwater and that means a bunch of travel for us to just go look. I'd like to know more about the differences before I start to go look.

Thanks, Ken

Following! If i recall much bigger fridge in the 40 and...??? Smaller or no bed under cockpit floor? I think the 40 was just a tad wider too... someone knowledgeable will chime in i am sure!

From the youtube videos I've seen the 400 does have a fridge that is at least 2 times larger and mounted at the companionway door. That explains about a foot or so.

Both have a queen bed in the mid cabin. The video says the 370 is tighter to enter.

It also looks like there is 3-4 inches more on the 400 between the cabinets and the table in the cabin but again I'm watching videos so I could be wrong.

The cockpit looks the same but again the videos can be deceiving.

I was shopping 370's a couple years ago and ended up with a 400. Absolutely love the boat and just last weekend made a trip circling the entire Chesapeake Bay (400 miles). The frig is a BIG difference if your staying on the boat (we spent over 60 nights on it last summer). We sleep in the aft cabin and leave the bow for sitting, etc. They are both tight entering but the 270 is much more-so. Cockpit/stern area might be a bit different but not enough to matter. I think the bulk of the length is in the cabin. And looking at the profile that appears where all the length comes from. Either way you can't go wrong!!!

Thanks T500HPS that clears it up. Nice to hear you got over 60 days of use!

I'm sure that the second my wife sees the 400 that's the one she will want. I tend to be the more conservative one when it comes to boats as I'm the guy that has to take care of, manage and operate them. I'm leaning to the 370 since it's a bit smaller in every direction.

Thanks again.

IMO the 400ss is the only one of that series to buy. It’s a lot more boat than than a 370. It’ rides a lot better and has a ton of room and is easy to get around on. They made a lot more of them so they are normally ( not rona era) much easier to find and the price isn’t really any different used. I boat at loto and I personally think a 370 feels more like a 330 than a 400.

Flat Rate, I was unaware they made more 400's and you are right. Wifey and I are planning to go look at a local 370 this week even though I swore I'd never buy another saltwater boat. Supposedly it came from freshwater two years ago and is rack stored. We will see. Since we will be in Lauderdale I might leverage checking out a 400 since they are plentiful.

I know what will happen when she sees the 400. In fact her and my daughter were working on me yesterday after dinner. My main argument for the 370 was it being slightly easier to tow but they snapped me back to reality and that I really don't want to have to deal with towing anyhow so just get the bigger one and be done.

If you see a sweet 370 or 400 pop up for sale in LOTO let me know. Thanks.

What power are you guys running?
See many out there with 496 HOs & would like to know the performance & fuel consumption differences in the 37 & 40...
Thanks

The 370 is a hot rod and probably easier on drives. No other advantages imo.

That's what I've heard from a few around the Lake Of The Ozarks.
If you want to still sport boat & not just cruise, the 37SS has a sportier boat feel & performance without burning tons more fuel & feel'n like you're under powered in the 40SS.
Still can haul a group of people comfortably without giving up the fun factor...

My 330ss has lowly 330 MPIs and it feels very sporty, zips around the lake and hits nearly 60.

The 370 is as fast as a 330 with the same power due to the stepped hull. A 496/425 370 should be an easy 60+ ride. And the engines and drives should last. 500 and 525 400s could run those speeds but with compromised life.

400 over the 370 hands down if you’re coming from the Sea Ray. The aft cabin is a pain in the ass to crawl into to sleep. Most of the 3’ length is given in the cabin as stated above. The width is only 6” more on the 400 for your tow worries, but that’s huge when it come to moving around in the boat. I’ve used both the 370 and 400 extensively and own my second 400 currently. The fridge is much larger and the couch/dining area. For only 3’ length and 6”s of width it seems like double that honestly. Happy to answer any questions you might have specifically.

Fast Daddy, Is your 40 a HO boat or more power?
How many gallons of fuel can you burn in a full day of boating, like 100 miles or so???
What's your top speed in normal conditions?
Thanks!

Gas boats are listed at about .8-.9 mpg at cruise and diesel boats are listed at 1.6 mpg at cruise. I have a diesel 400ss and run a bit heavy and higher RPM than their tests. I usually see 1.35-1.45 mpg. Assuming the same math for gas versions at 100 miles it would burn about 115-125 gallons.....cruise speed of gas vs diesel is nearly identical. Top speed of the 496 boats is higher and listed in the low-mid 50's whereas I see 49 at best.

I've definitely purged the idea of towing from my head.

While the 370 we looked at would work your comment about crawling to get into the Berth is spot on and wifey and I agreed to take a look at the 400's next.

Try to find one w the extended swim platform if possible. You will thank me later

YES... They are very Nice!

I’ve had the 500’s and currently have 525’s. I come from the go fast world, so I at least have to have the sound lol. I’m always heavy on fuel, ice chests and our kids and their friends. The boat will run 62-63 in perfect conditions and holding my mouth just right. I had it up to 58 with 3/4 fuel and 8 of us with all our crap last weekend. That wasn’t even trying to “max” out or trim just right either, just what my son saw as we were running. The 525’s they say burn 40gph at like 3,500, whereas the diesel is like 18gph. The 496 boats burn quite a bit less too, but I’m not willing to give up the power. We run on a lake and very seldom run more than 10-20 miles a day honestly, so can’t answer you really on the 100 mile question. Most I’ve run is about 80 actually on a couple poker runs and I don’t think it was terrible. I gripe more about how much fuel the generator burns than the engines lol.

Towing is not much of a issue. Just towed our 400SS from Florida back to California. I had Manning build a aluminum goose-neck a few years back. I tow it with a 2017 F-350 crew dually. It tows surprisingly pleasant. 69' long overall and 33,000 combined gross weight. It I had it to do over again I would have the trailer built a little shorter in the hitch area. I usually have the boat strap loaded and unloaded, although we have ramp launched many times. Not dipping the trailer in salt is, I think, easier on the springs, hubs, ect ect...You do need a non commercial CDL and permits in all states to be legit. I'm set up with electronic permits with each state. Fl is $10 Texas is $60. NM and AZ none required. The 525 boats are fast but the bravo 3 drives are the weak link in a 18K pound boat. The Volvo DPH drives are much more durable for that weight. I have a top speed of 48. Just repropped with stainless 7's. Picked up 3 mph!!

Not much of an issue. Lol.

I'm heading into retirement and plan to take it easier so towing is pretty much out of the question. I'll pay to have it transported if need be but we will pretty much use the boat up and down the intercoastal in Florida with an occasional trip to the Bahamas.

The extended platform was mentioned by a previous poster and that is a must have since I plan to dive and snorkel from the boat. I believe it's available in the aftermarket by Swimplatforms so if the boat does not have one it's not a deal breaker. I installed one of their platforms on my previous 44 Sea Ray and was happy with the product.

We have an appointment to go look at an older 400ss on Friday so I'll let you guys know how it goes at the end of next week.

Thanks for all of the great advice guys!

Hey Stitch King... Did you find a boat???

Not yet. Have physically been on both a 370 and 400. Thought for sure I got lucky and drove 3 hours to see a 400 that turned out to be pretty ratty. On top of that the broker showed us a completely different boat than advertised. Not even similar colors. We expected Red and the boat we saw was Blue. I could have looked past some of the issues but the boat had a fake plastic teak flooring in the cockpit and in Florida that stuff is miserable. Cannot walk on it in bare feet or you will fry. Yes I know it can be pulled up but not knowing the condition under it really turned me off. The worst part was in the cabin where the vinyl on the walls had holes in it. I'm guessing they kept bikes down there and they got bounced around, It was a mess.

Layout of the 400 cabin is just like everyone says and getting into the mid berth looks easier than the 370.

The nice thing about living in Florida is I have all year to do this.

We went through the same thing when looking. The great lakes is a good place to look as the boating season is shorter and most are winter stored in heated barns. The little advice i have is the 525/ bravo 3 setup is good for lakes but any ocean slop or big weather is tough on the drives. The early Volvo Penta 350's have 6 computers that need to all talk to each other....as we know salt and ocean makes that difficult even on a good day. The later 370's have one on each engine and the helm control chip. Way better communication and about 5 miles less cable....The volvo DPH drives are made for heavy. The gears are twice a big as a bravo 3

Yes, we're looking for a more base engine setup. I'm a former master mechanic and a mechanical engineer so I want a powertrain I can work on without complex electronics so the Volvo is out. Merc tools, diagnostic tools and parts are readily available so I'll be able to do most of the maintenance and repairs myself. The sweet spot for us will be a boat around 2009 (wife wants the sunpad instead of the trunk) and closer to stock power so I don't have to deal with headers in salt. Also anything that requires regular valve adjustments is out. I don't even want Joystick functions. If they are present it won't be a deal breaker but I could care less as I've been handling twin engine boats (without a thruster) for over 20 years.

Anybody know if the rear storage engine cover can be swap'd to the rear sunpad engine cover on these???

Someone did it awhile ago and I believe they said it was $15K back then. They support team at Formula can tell you, they are usually great to work with.

It looks to me like it could be modified by cutting out the upper structure and building a platform maybe out of starboard that extends past the transom a bit.

I agree, A black engine setup will be way easier on drives, without $20K worth of CMI to replace. Most of the diagnostics on my 370's is done through the on board evc...not the case with the 350's. We love our 400. We stayed on it in Goodland for a month and then in Marathon for 3 months. Hauled it home and were going back in the fall to Marathon for another 6 months. Great boat for 2 people full time.