I'm looking to buy a bigger boat and plan on running at least twin 1000hp, maybe more. What drives can I count on being reliable at that power level? IMCO SCX? Bravo Shop? #6? #8? X Power Drive? While I enjoy working on my boat, I prefer to do it when it's convenient for me, not in the middle of Lake Huron.

#6

alpha ss's

What boat?

SSM 6's or 8's for 1000hp+

Lots of guys running 1000 hp into SCX drives. At that power lever though I would recommend also using drive guardians. A full SCX package is going to run you $43k and another $4k for drive guardians. For comparison a full SSM 6 set up will run you around $45 for a wet sump set up, and $65k for dry sump. Even 6's need to rebuilt, so while the prices are close to that of a new SCX package, one is new, and the other not so much.

Saying all that, if I was you, I would look for a nice boat already set-up with 6s. It is going to be cheaper than buying a Bravo boat and adding SCXs to it.

I really like a staggered 39 or 41 Velocity. I'm looking for a V for really rough water and I want a cabin I can weekend in. My 280 really runs nice in fairly rough water but I need more length to reach across 2 wave tips at once. Clean fresh water has short wave periods vs the Ocean. I am really looking solid 100+mph performance, not so much to always run there, but it puts optimum cruise about 60mph. When you on a big lake it takes time to get anywhere.

It’s really a matter of how often you want to be rebuilding drives.

I would go number 6 only and buy a boat that already has them. You will be many $$$ ahead versus trying to convert a boat over