I just came across this thread and realized I never responded with result. Turn’s out when I bought the boat the surveyor left one spark plug cap off. Reason I was having trouble get up on plane quickly was lack of power. We changed that plug put the cap on and it ran beautiful. I’ve had this boat for 3 years and I have to say it’s a great boat and we’ve had many great times on it. For me the 496 HO’s are plenty of power (80+ all day) and reliability of the 496HO was the main reason I wanted this engine package. If your in the market for a this size/type boat I give it 2 thumbs up 👍👍.