I'm looking to purchase one of these boats, and I know it does not fit in to this forum 100%, but I can't seem to get this info elsewhere. There are two engines available, twin 5.7's or twin 6.2's which is a strocked 5.7. Horsepower is 300 vs 320 which is not much but I am assuming torque must be better. The question is whether it is woth paying the difference or hunting for a used boat with the 6.2's. The only big block is a single engine 496HO, but I only saw one of those for sale so I don't think it was very popular. Any thought's? Thanks

I like the twin small blocks over the single big block.

the HP is not much more on the 6.2's because the compression is lower. So, in theory, the 6.2's make more HP and should be more reliable. I'd take the boat either way though. both are solid engines and run well in the 280.

Please also note there were different 5.7's, there is a 350 Mag (300hp) and a 5.7 mpi (260 HP). Merc phased out the old 260hp version but just beware of that while looking used. The 5.7's run great in that boat too, just a bit slower.

Thanks for that explanation. The 5.7 is the 350 Mag version. Some I see are Horizon closed cooling . I am in salt water so I have to assume that is the way to go if I can find one with Horizons. I could swear I read that there were problems around 2003 with water ingestion. One of the boats I am looking at is a 2004 with 6.2 Horizons.

I have two 6.2's and love them so far, great cruise speed and the top end is not too bad. I would go for the 6.2's and they seem to be easy to work on.

I had a 2001 280 with twin 5.7. And i think thats the way to go

I survey many Sea Rays with both small blocks and the 5.7 is about as trouble-free as I've seen. True these have been V-drive boats, but for some reason I've run into more 6.2s that have had problems.

Jim, did you have any experience in the ocean with that 280? Wondering how it handled the chop, or 3-4 foot seas.

More info would be nice. The engines are mostly the same so I'm curious if the problems are universal or specific to 6.2's.

Ditto...because those 6.2's are the engines I'm looking for.

I have 6.2's in my Donzi and have had no problems but they are still very low hour engines.

I did a ton of research before buying and compared the 6.2's to the 350 Mag in detail and found they are mostly the same. I wasn't going to turn down a good deal on a boat with 350 mags (almost bought one actually) but I did prefer the 6.2's if it was an option.