alpha 1 vs bravo III

[torcano]

I am considering buying a 2004 Chaparral 290 signature series. The boat has twin 4.2 L Mercruisers with Alpha I sterndrives. My previous boat (Searay 240DA) had a single 5.0L Mercruiser with Bravo III. I was happy with the performance of that combination. Should I have any concerns about going to Alpha I sterndrives? Any concerns with the 4.2 L Mercruisers? The Chaparral has a 8500 lb dryweight so that I think the twin Mercrusers (220 HP each) should be enough power. Any comments would be appreciated.
RK

 

[Kev144]

Re: alpha 1 vs bravo III

I am considering buying a 2004 Chaparral 290 signature series. The boat has twin 4.2 L Mercruisers with Alpha I sterndrives. My previous boat (Searay 240DA) had a single 5.0L Mercruiser with Bravo III. I was happy with the performance of that combination. Should I have any concerns about going to Alpha I sterndrives? Any concerns with the 4.2 L Mercruisers? The Chaparral has a 8500 lb dryweight so that I think the twin Mercrusers (220 HP each) should be enough power. Any comments would be appreciated.
RK

The Alpha's are generally good to 300HP. The bravo is a more heavy duty type drive for higher HP. I dont think you'll see a 5.0L mercruiser with a bravo these days. I could be wrong though. The baja boats we sell that come with the 5.0L are now alpha drives.

 

[dvan1901]

Re: alpha 1 vs bravo III

I've got a 2007 5.0 MPI and it has a Bravo III drive on it.

 

[tommays]

Re: alpha 1 vs bravo III

IMHP the Alpha drive does NOT have enough prop area compared to a BIII to move a hull of this size


They also have issues with prop ventalition as the motors tend to be close to the Min width apart

The problem has come up here many times, If the boat with twin alphas had 14 X 17 props for example it will achieve the correct WOT and Speed BUT will suffer at lower speeds


When they do the same boat with BIII drives it has a lower gear ratio that allows the motor to use the extra prop surface area to move the load much better

 

[Kev144]

Re: alpha 1 vs bravo III

I've got a 2007 5.0 MPI and it has a Bravo III drive on it.

Strange. Haven't personally seen a 5.0L with a bravo in the past few years. Though I generally work with racing outdrives. I believe the 5.0L MPI is what? 260hp these days? We have a nice 2006 Baja Islander (20ft) at the marina on trade in. Nice little bow rider, 5.0L MPI, thru hull exhaust, etc.

 

[The Great Escape II]

Re: alpha 1 vs bravo III

I have 2 friends that have Sig290's with 4.3 and Alpha 1's. The boat does great and there have not been any issues with that set-up on the 290. My dock neighbor has a Sea Ray 280 with the same set-up and had to deal with corrosion issues on Alpha 1's, merc replaced them under warranty and they were in fresh water. Sea Ray failed to put any Mercathode system on the boat.

It's not as necessary to have BIII or duo-prop outdrives on a twin motor cruiser. By all means I hope you are testing driving the boat.

 

[acke61]

Re: alpha 1 vs bravo III

my uncle has a 2006 sig 290 that he bought brand new....last year they found a 5 inch pin that was so corroded there was only about 2 inches left....this year the whole drives are covered in corrosion...i guess the mercathode system pooped out and somehow he talked mercruiser into giving him 18,000 dollars worth of outdrives out of warranty...

long story short double check for any corrosion...

 

[torcano]

Re: alpha 1 vs bravo III

Thanks. I didn't see any corrosion on the outdrive and hopefully the mercathode system is working. The boat is priced right and in excellent condition. I will be having a full marine survey and sea trial to be certain. I liked my previous SeaRay but these Signature Series Chaparrals hold their own against them, in my opinion.

 

[The Great Escape II]

Re: alpha 1 vs bravo III

Thanks. I didn't see any corrosion on the outdrive and hopefully the mercathode system is working. The boat is priced right and in excellent condition. I will be having a full marine survey and sea trial to be certain. I liked my previous SeaRay but these Signature Series Chaparrals hold their own against them, in my opinion.

I agree, we are looking at a 2007 Sig310, love the teak floors!

 

[Limited-Time]

Re: alpha 1 vs bravo III

"It's not as necessary to have BIII or duo-prop outdrives on a twin motor cruiser. By all means I hope you are testing driving the boat."

Ditto that ^^^^