Get the 4.3. You won't regret it later. You can always not use the
extra power when you don't need it by simply not pushing the throttle
as far. You can't add extra power that isn't there. It will also
improve the resale as some people avoid the 3.0.

The 3.0 will perform adequately but will struggle if you want to pull
up a skier with the full capacity of adults on board. Or if you ever
get one of those big tubes and put 3 or 4 people on it.


wrote:
I have a 19' openbow SeaRay with a 3.0. Two adults (incl. me @ 210) and
2 kids in the boat and I can still pull up a 175 lb skier no prob.

Max speed is about 42mph with only me and my wife in the boat so if you
want more speed than that, you'll need a bigger engine. It's enough for
me.

Can't beat the fuel consumption either. We have 4 kids and they all
love the boat. I pull the tube with two of them on it and they never
want to go more than 25mph.


Hi, I'm looking at purchasing an 18 ft ski boat along the lines of a
Sea-Ray, Four Winns, Maxum I'm not sure on which make yet but I can't
decide on which engine size.

The boat is for recreational use such as light duty water skiing and
wakeboarding of mostly kids with a few adults onboard.
I'm hearing various stories that the 3.0 inboard is underpowered and that I
should stay away from it. Some people I talk to say that that engine on an
18ft boat won't be able to even pull a 100 lb kid out of the water. Of
course these are people with the 4.3 liter engines. Is there anyone out
there that can tell me what kind of performance I could expect with a 3.0
liter inboard, can I pull a water skier out of the water?

Thanks in Advance for any input.