I loved the performance with Twin 496 mags on my Pantera 28. Though a little stern heavy with BBCs the boat will tear up rough water like you wouldn't believe and has awesome performance out of the hole, through the mids and especially the top end. More $$ to feed and maintain and a bit heavier but the performance and reliability are second to none. I wouldn't do it any other way. Never have ridden in a single Pantera 28 but IF I had to do it all over again with a heavy built boat I would certainly go with the torque of the Twin BBCs if performance was very important in my decision making process. No question and also my opinion. Now, outboard powered cats are super fast!

Recently I purchased a 29' CC boat with twin Merc 225 Optimaxs. I went with them for their low mantainence attributes. I think for diehard offshore performance big blocks are tough to beat and sound the best. ;)

Jim

But how much less weight are twin sbc's than twin bbc's?

The difference is 207 lbs/ engine as per merc's site comparing the 496 magnum with the 6.2 MPI

There were two 28 Panteras at the poker run this weekend. One had twin 502's and the other a single 700 horse BBC. The twin owner said if he had to do it again, he'd go with the single. Says it runs great, but is a bit tail heavy.

but I think if you go mega HP single on the pantera one would have thrown reliability out the window. I guess it all depends what is best for the type of boating the individual will do??:D

Single on a V Twins on a cat Sorry I'm just too picky on perfect drive location for clean water and if the V is too big then full stagger only will do. Ironman.

I agree, but with the pulse put the props wherever you want with the trim also with the pulse the engines are about 1' forward so its alittle better balanced.
Twin sbc, pulse drive w/trannys are = $$ to a 500efi with ext steering. :eureka:

Digging up an old thread...
 

I'm looking at exactly this question in a 28 Pantera (No egg beaters though)

650 hp whippled single/xz or twin 350 mags with pulse?

I'm an inland lake boater, may go to the ocean on vacation but not more than a mile out so the twins have less of the reliability argument for me.

Should fuel burn at cruise be similar? The 350 mags would likely get Whipples when the disposable income came my way.

at this point, I could literally go either way- can someone make a good case to sway me?

I've always owned singles with no docking or reliability issues. I won't be seeing a lot of airtime so the balance is less of an issue too.

Personally ,
I think anything under 30-32 ft (depending on boat) I would go with a single.
A 28 Pantera with a single BB would be awesome. Plenty of room in the bilge to work on it . I really don't think there would be much of an issue with prop torque or chine walk.

Outboards are girly, if in fact girly means driving by the same boat with twin sbc, which isn't very girly at all. The outboards give you a huge cockpit and the same or better reliability. You can still have 1 go bad and get back to the dock as well. OUTBOARDS!!!!!!!