I heard of some people having better luck with the XZ's because of the helical cut gears opposed to the strait cut. Supposedly the Helical cut gears have better tooth contact compared to the XR.

Anyone hear the same?

XR's are stronger, XZ's are better than regular bravos and somewhere in the middle strength wise. The "problem" with XR's is that the gear shape takes more HP to turn, the general consensus is that XR's rob 20-30 prop HP when compared to the others.

Go for at least a 2006 XR. They are the best yet.

Thanks guys, I've really learned a lot from you. I'm on a budget (of course). The boats I'm looking at will probably have 500 horses if I'm lucky. Probably more like 415-425. I did see on the Merc. site that the Bravo 1 is only rated up to 400 horses.

Like a said previously,go with the bravo1...it will be fine...I have 5 total with no problems...if it fails u can call me every name in the book...everyone else has

Bravo 1 is great for small blocks, but once you step up to a Big Block with 400-600HP you'll be glad its an XR. Remember when it breaks, no one here is paying your bill.
Been There

Is that why the 525sc is backed by a bravo1 and was from '97-2001 and no one broke them unless they trimmed too high or took the thing out of the water wide open???I have the 525sc's with the boost turned up to 7.5 #'s and never had a problem...u must have the xr's (bragging rights?)

Not me. I broke four in four years and each time is was an upper gear set failure.

The XZ is a mile or two faster then the XR, but not nearly as strong.

I just installed to new XR's with cryo treated gears AND SURE HOPE FOR BETTER RESULTS.

Merc is in business to sell. If you think there always looking out for the consumer. Take a 525 with a bravo1 in a 5K boat and nail the throttle out of the hole regularly. BANG!!!

This is also the same company that paired the 454 in 1987 with an alpha. Its all about $$$

BTW, XR's cant handle my setup, so I have Bmax, and it still breaks. It's all about reliabilty. No one likes getting towed in.
I'm pretty sure he gets it.

I must say, I had a 26 Sleekcraft with a 502 (415 h.p.). I put 190 hours on it before I sold it and never had any problems with my Bravo 1. I was pretty hard on the hole shots and got some air a few times at poker runs. If my next boat has 500s I will try to go with xr's just to be safe. If it comes with B1's I'll probably just run them til one breaks and then maybe upgrade.