yeah that price didnt include mufflers either......., we looked at the 5in cmi switchables for our stainless marine gen 3s we got, but for 1600 each we dont need no stinkin mufflers im sure they are a great product, and the boat had cmis on it before, but we just dont have that kinda $$$ to spend

Cant blame ya. We are jsut gettin back to the avanti. Work got in the way.

Well I look at it this way every engine Merc produces that is a HP motor has the CMI's on it. Well except the 496HO and to me thats comparible to the 502Mag which didn't have CMI's either, but the HP500 ,HP525,SC600,etc. all have the CMI's on it. I went with em. Yea expensive, but for HP gains to equal my 496Mag to a 496HO which if woulda been ordered at the time of boat build was over 5k upgrade so I'm money ahead and if dyno sheets are correct have the same HP now as a HO motor. So now I have a extra $1,000 per engine to spend on other mods such as labbed props to get me another 2-3mph so in all I'm thinking theoretically I'll gain 5-8mph with propping and CMI's. Not bad IMO.

I did research on blueprinting the hull and starting cost for that was 3k and people will beat the door down to have that done. Or throw 5k at a whipplecharger that VOIDS all warranties. So I still think the CMI's are a good bang for the buck usually in marine application it costs around $1,000 for 10hp so theoretically this system is 2k below cost

The benchmark in my world has always been $1000 per MPH in that 65-80 MPH range, was a good buy (somewhat hull dependent of course).

In a single engine application they make the grade as a fair buy per mph (what +3 average?) it would appear but....

In a twin engine application 7-8K is a lot of coin for 4 MPH ?
That's right up there, at 2K per MPH. Too rich for my blood.

Quality product for sure. It has to be considered though that alot of owners are in 496 boats because of the price point not only of the boat, but insurance ect...

These just aren't hitting me as enough of a "bargain" in terms of additional performance (specifically twins), for a crowd that is "bargain conscious".

No offense to CMI or Fred, as he's the man to go to for these I have no doubt.

but you get what I'm saying right?.

What were the plumbing issues, having to drill and tap a spot for an exhaust probe? I've got a 454 that I want to change the exhaust on, but I want to be able to use it on a 496 when I swap in the near future.