Spectre OB or IO
 

So , if you were to buy a Spectre in the 30-32 ft range , what would you prefer ? Running IO's or OB's ? I will be running in both salt and fresh water ..
Please post opinions , and why ..
Thanks
Donnie

Great question:

Ob's are less expensive with the initial cost and less expensive (with newer Opti's) to operate and maintain, especially when it come to fuel consumption considering that both applications are a pair of motors. Ob's are improving year after year with more Hp gains to weight ratio.
With Ob's you are limited to top speed, if your happy with 105-115mph then Ob's are probably right for you.

OD's are much more expensive with the initial cost and to operated and maintain, with several more moving parts. High 1000HP + motors kill Outdrives, that seams to be the weak link. Drives take a beating leaving the water and re-entering the surface of the water, there's a ton of stress imposed on the drives. Also hours of operation are less with high Hp motors, they will need to be rebuilt more often.
However if you feel the need for speed, there's no match for the OB's, OD's with enough Hp will walk away from the OB's and so will the Dollars from your bank account.

As far as Fresh and Salt water, IMO OB's are easier to maintain, there's no engine compartment rinse out and WD40 everything after each use.

I have had both applications and ended up with OB's on my 30' Spectre, i'm over 50 now and a bit more conservative with spending $$ and less time putting the Boat away, OB's are an easy clean-up.
It really comes down to what you can afford ;)

Thank you sir ..
I was thinking what you just confirmed ..looking at a Beautiful 30' OB ..ease of operation seams to lend itself to an OB boat , and when its time to go 120+ it will be IO time ..

Yup, just what he said. Not to mention if you need to pull a BBC, that is a pain in the ass if you don't have a shop. Pulling an outboard powerhead for a rebuild is a piece of cake in the driveway or home garage.

Thanks guys ..do have a hanger , but still

The 32 footer with twin 300XS motors would be awesome. Plenty fast enough. Although, these boats love to go real fast... Mine does 138mph and feels bloody awesome. It can handle rough at 100 mph.

I have often thought that an outboard would have been great too.

Outboards hands down. Unless your loaded $$$$ and enjoy tinkering with your engines.

The OB's are great but like mentioned above you are limited in potential top end. From what I've seen the 30's and 32's have about the same speed potential, doesn't sound right but the 32 seems to have a better bottom that the 30 makes up for in weight and size. The 32 will definitely handle rough water better and has the advantage of the wrap around windshield. The windshield is nice when you're cruising at 85 and want to talk to the person next to you.

If you go inboard I'd look closely at what outdrives it's got. I wouldn't have a cat with xr's the cat's work with high engine heights and the xr's weren't designed to run surface piercing, IMHO you'll either be replacing them with IMCO or something similar or going to #6's (which I believe are to heavy for the shorter Spectre's) or going to an arneson setup. Even if the XR's would handle the height they won't handle the HP you will eventually want...

Full disclosure I've got a 32 with outboards and LOVE it regardless of the job Frisini did on the boat, it's just been a long road fixing their crap.

Was not aware of the XR issue ...
Thanks

what was wrong with your boat ?
thank's

Flying Skunks, I shouldn't say XR's won't work on a cat but I don't think they will last long term if you run the boat hard or want big HP. That is one thing I find interesting on most Spectre's, most have XR's which I think is one of the main things that holds back the value on the 36's. All the Spectre's run very well compared to the other brands but once you decide to go inboard which is a must over 32 feet you really should have #6's or Arneson's in order to handle the power most will want to throw at them.

As for what was wrong with my boat the list from the beginning was long but I've just about got everything worked out now no thanks to them. The biggest issues were wiring and the rigging. The wiring had an issue where both motors were tied together through either the key switches, trim pumps, or aux systems, I never could identify exactly where the issue was so I ended up re-doing all the wiring in the boat and miraculously no more problem there. I'm not a professional rigger but have done a ton of wiring work and it's not rocket science, was just a PITA to redo myself after paying for a new boat.

As for the rigging they didn't have the motor's on the transom correctly, when I first got it I had to re tighten the jack plate bolts every time I went out, then realized the motors weren't even square on the transom. I gave them two or three chances to get it right then after realizing that they weren't going to get it right and I would never see the parts or money they owed me I cut my losses with them and fixed everything myself. I've actually got everything off the back ATM and am in the process of painting and re rigging the motors.

Bottom line I love the boat it's just taken longer than I'd hoped buying a new boat would have taken to get it here.

I have noticed that most of the mid-sized ( 32-36) cats run XR drives ..it seams rare to find one with 6's ...I would imagine the stand off boxes does the same for an IB as a Jackplate does for an OB ? I have been looking at many different brands , just seams that Spectre has a good hull design .

How does a Spectre compare to a Skater ?
I know there are fanboys of either , just don't want a brand war ..I want to make sure I make a good step , not a bad decision ..