XR or Bravo One
 

Wich drive is better for a boat weighing in around 9K with say 500 horses? I thought XR's were suppose to be improved on the Bravo One. Now I keep hearing about XR's being destroyed.

xr
 

no comparisom between bravo one to xr in my opinnion , look at the cost , that will tell you the answer rob .

XR's are much better than a regular bravo 1......but they still break!

Find an X or an XZ, that would be enough.

Get XR's. My XR has grenaded 3 times in 4 years at 700 hp and I baby it.

The bravo1 is good to 700hp...it costs less than half of the xr...u could break 2(I doubt u will)and still be ahead...if u want bragging rights and have extra money to waste get the xr...I have bravo 1's on my 31 and 386 with 260hrs on the 31(525sc's pusing over 600hp) and 230 on the 386(trip.500's) with no problems...just my.02

I thought the Bravco 1 was only rated up to 500 hp. From what you guys have said it sounds like the Bravo 1 set up is good enough for my application. Thanks.

[QUOTE=sleek1;2050221]I thought the Bravco 1 was only rated up to 500 hp. From what you guys have said it sounds like the Bravo 1 set up is good enough for my application. Thanks.[/QUOTE

700hp will snap a bravo 1 like a twig. The XR is the best choice for 400-600HP, after that you must be gentle or upgrade.

xr
 

the torque is what breaks theese drives , thats why teague and boostpower are building theire big stuff with smaller cubic in , the bigger cubes build so much torque that they fry the drives . hope you got a rev limiter running bravo behind anything with some balls !

Get a Bravo X or at least a Bravo 1 with serial # OM or higher. The OM+ year is the year they made some improvements.

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:drink:

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.:eek:
Been There:rolleyes:

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. :rolleyes: 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.

Knock on wood............I've also just run Bravos. Had a single engine boat Fountain with dynoed 675 hp and ran a Bravo for 9 years - 325 hours. Now, a 35' with 700 hp - I'll probably run them until one breaks.

you might want to consiter KONRADS. i never herd of one ever braking . and they use transmisions, nice smooth shifting. no Clunking when putting it in gear. i have them and love them.

Just took apart 2 2003 Bravos with 250hrs. Propshafts are twisted like a pretzel, and lower gears badly pitted. These are X series drives with only 496HO power. Buy XR's or drive gently.

We Love Rpm And Big Cubes! Its All Good. Hi Rob