B S on planing, my Glastron will plane in four seconds and I never lose sight of the water. The only reason that your front would lift up this much is if your not properly trimmed.
O/D is easier to launch, easier to control turns when docking etc., will run in shallow areas, and much easier to replace a damaged prop. Also it is less susceptible to prop damage when hitting a sunken object.......floating debris etc.
Yeah, he lost me as soon as he compared the outdrive boat without a swim platform, to the direct drive boat with one. Heck I would probably prefer a direct drive, but the used market is few and far between.
I/O Performs better in choppy waters and you can go into shallow water when you Trim up the stern. Bottom line the I/O can do everything the V-Drive can but the V-drive cant do everything the I/O can!
Sorry but the I/O does more like ugly cavitation in and out of corners and prop blow out , just upgraded from a bravo 3 to a V drive and I will never go back to that horrible I/O handling again
Sounds like you don't keep your thumb on the trim button when maneuvering. The aft prop comes closer to the surface when turning, so you have to be on your game with the trim. I have 32 years of working on boats of all makes and drives. Yeah, I hate working on I/O's, but, inboards are the worst to work on. I will never own a v drive cause I don't like to bleed.lol
You just have to get used to it and use it to your advantage instead of fighting it. I learned how to drive an inboard on a 26' Navy double ender and I would take a straight inboard over an I/O any day!!!
Same here, I had more issues with my stern drive than my direct drive docking. If you click it just a bit in and out of forward you regain steering. Then we lost reverse and still are going to run it for the season with no issues so far.
@@dailystupidandinterestingv7794 Well, my best friend had one, and I've got the other, and I can tell you, hands down, no comparison, even he agreed, IO is way better!
Egg beaters weren't invited into this conversation but I'd like to make a point about outboard power as opposed to V-drive, in the nineties I went through my V-drive phase small block Chevy headers loud and fast, until a very modest looking bass boat blew right by me and I thought to myself maybe there's something to this, there is something to it, my current rig is a 21-foot low-profile pleasure boat powered by Yamaha 250hp outboard hung off the back jacked and trimmed to find The Sweet Spot, a well-engineered set up but very few modifications running 75 miles an hour, the new normal for these type of boats with a bit of modification is over a hundred miles an hour, it's all about where the water breaks finding The Sweet Spot by hanging the weight of the outboard off the back of the boat to achieve minimal drag, the competition tow boats that were used in this illustration typically run about 38 mph in some cases a little faster, oh don't get me wrong the competition towboats are sexy and very well refined they certainly have their purpose from what I can tell that purpose is they tear up all the perfectly clean water and destroy the shoreline and make everybody's ears bleed with hip hop at the boat ramp, I'm just saying it's amazing to me how engineering your motor to hang off the back you're able to achieve unbelievable top end speed in addition to a well-rounded boat that's quiet and does not draw the attention of the local five O, it's kind of fun to pass tow boats you're an easy mark. Not to mention cost, there are a lot of perfectly good high horsepower well-engineered Factory race motors packaged in an outboard configuration, Boat and Motor used but well-maintained selling for less than $10,000 compared to the competition tow boats that were looking at in the new Marketplace getting close to $100,000 would be my guess.
I was going to say the same thing. My friend has a IO with probably a 2 ft swim platform off the back. I don't think I have EVER once accidentally kicked the prop. This guy in the video lost all his credibility IMO as soon as he made that ridiculous argument.
Agreed. I have an IO with an extra swim platform. You've got to get under the boat the boat to reach the stern drive. I had a straight inboard. Bent the rudder while on the trailer pulling up into a gas station.
@@chad1755 almost all my boating experience was in an Arriva, stern drive 7.4 merc (454 big block chev) from when i was a kid, never have i ever cut myself on the prop....small platform as well, the guy is spit polishing his toes in the video lol
I have had all 3 and I agree with alot of what he said. Like some say shallow water can be a problem. My biggest problem with the inboard is it don't turn near as good when backing.
Different applications need different solutions. We had a 30' Tollycraft Sport with V-drives and it worked extremely well. Stern drives (I/O) would have had the engines too far to the rear and the robust Warner Velvet Drive transmissions require much less maintenance and are much more reliable. Outboards are excellent options in a variety of hull types and, with direct injection, are very efficient. I/O's also have their place in many situations, but do seem to have more maintenance and reliability issues than v-drives or outboards.
Forgot to mention that an IO can go into really shallow water while the sticking fixed prop of a V-drive would make it aground. Directional control in low speed is a must and so does docking when you can steer the prop, specially in a single engine...
V drives are a pain in the ass to work on... plus when they went to out the boat on plane they never trimmed out the outdrive.... there a bunch of rookies when it comes to boating
Exactly what Grendelroy said. My I/O Four Winns can get many many many places on my lake that a V Drive would get once, and leave its' prop and rudder. What about the cost, in my experience V-Drive boats cost more and have more damage potential with bent shafts, shaft supports and rudders. The safety aspect is a red herring if you have swim platform. I have never had anyone kick or be injured by my lower unit in over a decade of use by experienced and noob passengers. I find launching and I/O much less problematic as I can trim up and not worry about cleaning off expensive underwater bits. I don't need a fat sack to trim up and get a better wake for wakeboarding as the boat is all purpose from grandparent fishing to airchair use. Neither is a "better" boat. I find it to be the best for my purposes. When it comes to your cash, that is what you should spend it on in my myopic opinion.
More of the boat in the water means less speed and higher fuel consumption. The flatter the under water profile the more the hull will slam in rough seas too. The outdrive also has the advantage of lifting in shallow water. Steering is better with a rudder and prop as an outdrive only steers efficiently when there is power from the prop. A rudder only needs water flow over it. Where it is disadvantaged is in mechanical efficiency and reliability over a conventional prop shaft. However the v-drive is not a conventional prop shaft as you have a drop box to position the shaft forward and below the engine. Safety can be increased on an outdrive leg with the addition of a prop guard cage. The sensible thing to do for ski boats is to ignore both these systems and fit a waterjet.
Go over an oyster bed and let me know how it works out with a V-Drive? I/O for the last 15 years and no problems and I have gone over a few oyster beds.
In my opinion your pro's and con's are only in advantage of the v-drive. It's clear you don't like IO's! I just want to let you know i'm not convinced by this video. PS: my IO planes in 3.5 seconds, you should just use the ladder to get on the swimplatform, it manouvers perfectly at high or low speed, etc... maybe i can only be convinced by driving it myself. Never done that before 😉
You missed a very important factor that m,akes I/O's more practical then V-Drives is the maneuverability. When you're out on the water going over like 10 knots, it doesn't matter. However when you are close quarters maneuvering, there isn't enough water going through that rudder for it to have a big effect when docking, so it makes it difficult to dock. With I/O's, you can direct the thrust without the use of a rudder, making maneuvering easier then with a V-Drive. By the way, this is in the case that you have ONE engine on your boat. If you have two engines on your boat, get twin v-drives, conventional shaft drives, or outboards. I personally don't like I/O's because of the maintenance and how hard it is to maintain, but yeah this is my personal opinion. I think your video is misleading though.
If you buy a boat for strictly water sports yes the v dive is best. For other boat uses being able to trim the prob and steer in reverse are great abilities to have. There’s a boat for every person and they a designed accordingly.
I like my v drive ski boat, but I'd be the first to admit that a stern drive/ outboard is so much more practical, and no slower either. Outboards and stern drives give you heaps more room in a boat, even a stern drive you get more room just by not having the driveshaft and v drive in front of the engine. stern drives and outboards let you launch/motor in way shallower water, and as others have said, if you're worried about hitting your feet on the prop, get a platform. Otherwise the leg makes a very handy step in my opinion. And a leg gearbox is quieter than a v drive. Outboards are a massive weight saving for similar horsepower. I have a fishing boat with a outboard and bought the ski boat after, and whilst i love it, i can really see why outboards are so much more popular.
I have just upgraded from a bravo 3 to a V drive, (fourwinns sl242 to a air nautique G23) both boats were 23 foot and I can honestly say the only advantage the I/O has is slow maneuvering, the V drives is a pig to reverse and turn when driving slowly but as soon as there's a bit of speed there is no comparison! The V drives kills it in every way, I can't believe it took me this long to change and now the servicing is nearly half the price aswell being no ugly leg to service on top of the engine
XCROSSYX great footage, thank you. I am thinking of moving from jet to V because of polluted river where the intake and exhaust gets clogged once in a while. What is your educated guess on this circumstances. Cheers
The back door of an IO is you have to change out your bellows and your gimbal bearing once every say 10 seasons you could even get more than that most likely. I just changed mine after 20 seasons. My Marina charged me $800 to do it that's a very very good price.
He left out one very important issue involving a v drive! Many accidents with larger cabin cruisers, say 35 ft on up. Are by not being able to control the boat while in close quarters to docking, or navigating at slow idle speeds, due to the rudder requires a certain amount of volume of water to pass by, to actually control direction of boat!
Our first boat was a 2004 Caravelle Interceptor 212. It had a 350 MagMPI with Captain's call exhaust. It looked good, sounded good when you wanted it too and it was a lot of fun. But.....it didn't take long for me to figure out that I had made a serious mistake not doing more research into jet boats. We just sold our Caravelle and we will be picking up our AR240 in about 2 weeks. All the benefits of v-drives (minus the ballast system that we have no use for) plus many more with non of the many, many v-drive cons.
@Grant3758 Our Caravelle was I/O and we sold it to get a jet boat. It was a great boat but our lake has some shallow water. If you do any boating at all in lakes with shallow water jet drive is the way to go.
@Grant3758 I haven't really noticed. It may use a little more fuel but not so much that grabbed my attention. We went from a 300hp I/O to a 360hp jet drive. I like to say HP isn't free. At wide open throttle, if you're making 25% more power than the other guy you're also burning 25% more fuel than the other guy to do it.😂
Operates like an inboard - clean transom for fishing - shouldn't need trim tabs - better center of gravity - prefer straight inboard or outboard. Why not a vee drive jet? Only the water needs to reverse.
Need to get a rope out of a prop or change a prop I/O. Fuel efficiency and top speed I/O. Want to beach in shallow water I/0. Trim down to cut chop I/O. Trim up so not to harpoon a large wake I/O. Quiet at idle and speed I/O. Less chance of hydro lock I/O. Ultimate water skiing experience V drive.
Yes, I have had to replace the prop on my I/O many times. Carried a spare prop like a spare tire. Tip up the drive, lean over the back, done in minutes without entering the water. Try that with a V drive.
Yup, no fun for a V drive. Unless you have dive, gear puller and ropes, you’re SOL getting those twin 18” four blade heavy (in the water) bronze monsters off the boat I had. They were pretty strong, they made mulch out of some logs and didn’t have vibration or loose speed. At haul out they look unharmed.
LMAO exactly, v drives are only better in that they can surf. I/O is much cheaper, easier to use, easier to reverse, easier to dock/ put on trailer, maintenance is much easier. And with a hydrofoil surfboard you can surf the second wave of an I/O or go steal the v drives waves lol
The difference? I/O's are for cruising, fishing, and casual watersports. V-drives (and direct drives) are for serious surfing, wakeboarding and skiing. Their disadvantages and higher cost are more than worth the tradeoffs if you're serious about tow sports and want to improve at same. They're boats designed and built for completely different purposes, and really shouldn't be compared at all. After you're skied behind a direct drive or boarded behind a V-drive, you'll never go back. If you're not serious about those sports, there's no absolutely reason to spend the extra money or put up with the hassles of an inboard boat.
True, true. From a maintenance point of view, I hate IO's. The engine is slammed right up against the transom and everything is ridiculously cramped with very little room for a person to get in there. I've had 2 boats with direct drives. And sure, the engine is more forward, possibly cramping your style somewhat. But maintenance items aren't overlooked or put off till later due to inaccessibility.
@freshroasted coffee So you would choose to be cramped and inconvenienced all the time with the engine so far forward in a V Drive rather than being inconvenienced while doing maintenance once a season! you said that the engine is too close to the transom, How much maintenance did you actually perform between the engine and the transom? Just like everyone else who makes these videos you’re talking points are Cherry picked!
@NeverEnoughPyro40 I should back up 2 steps. If you are talking about trailered boats, then that's another topic. I have a 40' boat that sits in the water 24/7. No V-drive, no outdrives. It's direct drive. There's the engine, transmission and then the prop shaft that goes through the boot log. For boats that sit in water all the time. And for these boats, maintenance is year round, not once a year.
LOL, that sterndrive looked like it took 8 seconds to get on-plane! Our old 28' cruiser back in the day was quicker to plane than that! This guy.... I hate when people missleading, 'best handling, acceleration and no bowrise' are found in many boats other than V-Drives.. IF V-drives actually drove smoother and performed better for families than a sterndrive then we would still have ours, but we traded it for a much better sterndrive boat that rides so much better than our old mastercraft, plus docking and especially backing up are next to impossible on v-drives and they dont seem to be as intuitive in the marina and are not as responve when whipping a tube around. Thats my take.
I would not swap to an inboard v drive. I've had a 16 degree hull, they are not fun in the ocean, I can assure you, my 23 degree dead rise and out boards will give you a faster and more comfortable ride in seas that are getting up there. 16 degree boats at speed in rough water skip from one bash to the next. With the extra water needed for launching and no shallow water, I would never be held to the tide by my boats limitations, I've been through that in the seventies. That's why outboards and stern drives were invented. Bow rise in an off shore fiss boat is an advantage at a certain low speed where you might need bow lift in shitty water. 8 degree's bow lift sounds about right to me. In big seas fishing lures, using natural bow lift and trim tabs down half and the motor set to slight lift, makes for an incredibly stable boat at low speed in rough water fishing. There is also the matter of low speed maneuverabilty, outboards, jet boats, and pod drives rule in the single engine class. Sorry, to limited.
Really biased review. The sterndrive in my cobalt is way up under the swim platform, you would have to try really hard to kick the prop. I/O rides better, steers better, you can control it in reverse better, control at docking speeds better. Also, I/O gets better fuel economy and higher speeds. You can also draft way less when you have the lower unit trimed up. I've bounced my lower unit off of logs and stumps at high speeds with no damage, try this with a expensive brass prop, and rudder of an inboard. Direct drive, and V drive are one trick ponies.
+TheStephenspann27 Your right, the only people who want v-drives are people who care about IMPORTANT THINGS LIKE SURFING, GOOD WAKEBOARDING, SLOW SPEED HANDLING, AND CONFORT
@@lonniestevens7963 great choice!! 351 ford is a good solid performer.....my v-drive is a 83 17'10" Hondo xh511tdeck runner bottom pump gas BBC 680ish hp and a glide Casale v-drive started the rebuild took 3.5 years 2 of which was spent finding a great engine builder long story launched in March of 97. I've had almost every kind of boat and propulsion except sail and I got tired of the fuel bills from big 2stroke outboard motors went and built my setup it's fairly useless except for going fast....I was amazed at the fuel burn.I had 2 custom 14 gallon tanks built one on each side. Had a 21' Hawian Berkley and a bbc that had a 15 gallon tank and would go through that in a couple hours. With my v-drive I go all weekend 3-5hours run time per day if I don't do 110 everywhere lol but Nautique's are great family boat's that you can do allot of different things mine's 2 seats and a trigger..lol.....from Wyoming USA 🔫🤠
We currently own a V Drive after owning a I/O for 23 years, and we won't be going back. The V Drive is miles ahead in the watersports category, end of discussion. I actually find the rough water ride to be better than my I/O as well. A topic frequently brought up is backing- in the nicest way possible, y'all don't know what your talking about. Yes, the I/O is easy, but a V Drive is just as easy with some practice. You learn to work with the boat and use little inputs and they behave. Same story when backing. You can't make an actual meaningful comment unless you have experience with both.
I like the rugged build on the larger Mercuiser stern dives, but hate their marinizing, Volvo engines are nice but It seem like their stern drives are fragile.
Volvo drives are practically bulletproof. Expensive on parts, but you hardly ever need any. Been running Volvo drives for decades and have never been let down. Proper maintenance is all you need.
Volvo outdrives might LOOK more fragile but I've had both Merc and Volvo. I liked how the Merc drives looked but they were WAY more maintenance. I'm not kidding, the maintenance on the Volvo (nothing but gear lube R&R) in 10 years was less than 2 with the mercs constant u joint and seal issues. Both were in salt water 24/7. The Merc wasn't up to it.
Can you beach a v drive boat with out doing any damage to it I go to lake powell a lot and love beaching my boat to go explore cyn and let the kids play in the sand
Dated video but I'll comment anyways. This video is biased for obvious reasons. There are pros and cons to every drive but in my opinion an I/O or OB drive offers more pros. Proper propeller diameter and pitch are crucial elements for I/O motors and can have a huge effect on getting up on plane. My I/O gets up on plane very quickly and will do 50MPH while offering a pretty smooth ride. The propeller is easy to change out and the boat can operate in about 2' of water with the O/D trimmed up a little. This means I can get into more areas for fishing or closer to beaches if we want to swim ashore. O/B motors are even better because they eliminate the bellows and other components that require additional maintenance. Someday I'll drive a V drive just to experience it but it would have to blow me away to pull me away from an I/O or O/B drive boat.
It has to do with prop pitch, also the flukes though small have a huge effect, raising the boat out of the water creates less drag, trim tabs can only force the bow lower, creating more drag.
Ive owned boats for 30 years and have NEVER had anyone go near the I/O to get on board the boat. I ve had v drive and they are difficult to back up. You are stating your opinion. Not facts
You're "safety" difference is that your inboard has a swim platform and the I/O doesn't. That's why you have a hard time touching the prop. You're not comparing apples to apples. And I/O's are 20 to 1 over v-drives in the pleasure boat category in popularity. So, that says what's better.
This is propaganda, direct drive boats can’t beat stern drive costs, you should NEVER have the motor on with anyone swimming around the back with either boat. Stern drives actually make better wakes than surf boats, with the motor trimmed up partially it steepens and cleans up the wake giving it an amazing wake for not having any weight in it, and when you do put weight in it, it still gives you more wake for the same amount of weight. The only advantage to v drives and direct drives is being able to safely surf behind it, and the teeny tiny wake with no weight in the boat for waterskiing. Also you have to consider the ability to be able to raise the prop up and down for shallower water and for getting it on a trailer.
LOL put a whale tail and trim tabs on a sterndrive / IO and all the negative downsides you spoke of compared to the V Drive have been solved. Only thing that won't change the size of the wake, but if you're not doing just water sports, there's still a greater advantage to have the stern drive in other areas. Also, add a swim platform to the stern drive and the whole safety hazard thing becomes much less of an issue. Personally, I like the idea of a jet boat a lot better regardless. But the only actual boating experience I have is an outboard and that was as a 5 year old. Kek
I have an I/O, they are lots of maintenance and have many issues for mercs anyway i.e. swivel pin and corrosion and seals and boots etc etc twins I'd take V drives over twin I/O's
I know you're trying to sell the V-drive but it absolutely is not better than the io. You sometimes when I dock my boat I live on Lake Ontario my boat's in my backyard the water is between 12 and 16 in deep on my floating dock. I can bring my boat in and raise my prop where it's still underwater high enough that I do not bottom out on the prop and I can actually get my 20-foot Sea Ray boat to Dock and Float perfectly in less than 16 inches of water. Can your V Drive do that?.
This guy wants you to buy a much more expensive boat with more maintenance. Add a swim platform and an issue is fixed. Use your trim in an i/o to fix your plane.
Motor should be off when swimmers near back of either boat... can climb into boat using the outdrive... V-drive is inefficient since the thrust is up in the air instead of forward...
Dax Pennington you should never be in that depth of water in a big boat. Plus many inboards draft under 2 feet unlike I/o’s have the outdrive stuck way further down.
@@jimmygrant3212 You're very mistaken. I grew up on a 220,000 acre lake. Large lake, but has many shallow areas. A couple of sand bars serve as gathering spots. The boats equipped with an I/O, or an outboard, simply raise their props up and beach their hull on the sandbar. Then, they enjoy the festivities.
You cant be sayin one is better than the other- they are two different animals and serve different purposes. Each have advantages for their application.
i see a lot of comments here, thats awesome, most of them looks like in favor of the io. i have a question if you may educate me, the volvo ips system, how does it compare? they have from what i gather penta ips, aquamatic sterndrive (i/o i guess), penta forward drive and inboard shaft. which one is best lets say for a 25-50ft boat? Thank you. or at least pro/cons type of thing
For maneuverability, fuel efficiency and speed you cannot beat IPS on the range given, it steers like on rails, quieter, less vibration and joystick maneuvers are like dream and interestingly not much more to maintain than sterndrive. That is of course more on the top end of your given range like 40-50 feet. But make sure the engine space is accessible for easy maintenance if you want to do most yourself.
"V-drive" is just whipped cream on dogsh!t. Trying to rename what's been called an inboard for a century. It's a marketing ploy to make something old fashioned suddenly sound new. Inboards are notorious for having poor maneuverability at slow speeds due to ZERO vectored thrust. The engine also takes up HUGE amounts of deck space of smaller runabout sized boats. Lmao.
v drive cannot be used in shallow water. does not perform in reverse. does not steer well at all without applying power. has a hole in the bottom of the hull. noting also the i/o in question has no swim platform attached. the i/o has horribly expensive ex manifolds and the universal drive does not like sharp angles.
sure an I/O can be trimmed for better hole-shot, top speed and get you through really shallow water, an inboard though a narrower band width does within that band better than any i/o ever will. I've owned several dozen boats, most were inboards however the current unit is an I/O and I miss the inboards. And then there's the cost of running gear wreckage....... outdrive $5k - 8K, inboard maybe $1,500 if I wipe it all out(Shaft, prop, strut and rudder) replacement Bravo 3 is $7500. Big water I'll take a deep deadrise with twins, Lake water get what your wife likes and deal with it.
B S on planing, my Glastron will plane in four seconds and I never lose sight of the water. The only reason that your front would lift up this much is if your not properly trimmed.
Let’s see your V Dr. in shallow water. I prefer an I/O because I can trim it up to go through shallow water not to at my prop.
yea but do you do any water sports? surfing in particular?
V drive is superior to any i/o, just saying
Can you beach your v drive on a sandy beach at lakepowell with out damage
So lets talk about how well they back up, or how well they turn going forward without power on.
The real differance between a v drive and a stern drive is about 100k
Seems like most people aren't fooled by this nonsense video, thank goodness
We all know I/Os are much faster, better on fuel mileage and with the new Volvo forward drive they can do everything a v drive can do
Sterndrives are better at everything
@@jshoop30 except saving you money when you have to seal the drives every two years, because you slip in saltwater! No thanks
No one mentioned clearance
A V-drive can operate not sit operate in shallower water because it's higher up than the stern drive at it's lowest point
O/D is easier to launch, easier to control turns when docking etc., will run in shallow areas, and much easier to replace a damaged prop. Also it is less susceptible to prop damage when hitting a sunken object.......floating debris etc.
This guy sounds desperate to sell a v drive. Most of what he said is misleading at best.
You forgot to install a swim platform on the I/O to make things even!
Yeah, he lost me as soon as he compared the outdrive boat without a swim platform, to the direct drive boat with one. Heck I would probably prefer a direct drive, but the used market is few and far between.
I/O Performs better in choppy waters and you can go into shallow water when you Trim up the stern. Bottom line the I/O can do everything the V-Drive can but the V-drive cant do everything the I/O can!
There is one thing v-drives are good for, which is wake surfing. I/O's put you too close to the prop if you fall.
Sorry but the I/O does more like ugly cavitation in and out of corners and prop blow out , just upgraded from a bravo 3 to a V drive and I will never go back to that horrible I/O handling again
Sounds like you don't keep your thumb on the trim button when maneuvering. The aft prop comes closer to the surface when turning, so you have to be on your game with the trim. I have 32 years of working on boats of all makes and drives. Yeah, I hate working on I/O's, but, inboards are the worst to work on. I will never own a v drive cause I don't like to bleed.lol
The V drive can run not sit in water but run in shallower water because the v drive prop is higher up than the stern at its lowest point
@@aaron-fauth i wouldnt use i/o or v drive for shallow waters, a jet drive or kayak is a better choice for shallow waters.
He forgot to mention steering in reverse... v-drive nightmare!
You just have to get used to it and use it to your advantage instead of fighting it. I learned how to drive an inboard on a 26' Navy double ender and I would take a straight inboard over an I/O any day!!!
Same here, I had more issues with my stern drive than my direct drive docking. If you click it just a bit in and out of forward you regain steering. Then we lost reverse and still are going to run it for the season with no issues so far.
@@dailystupidandinterestingv7794 Well, my best friend had one, and I've got the other, and I can tell you, hands down, no comparison, even he agreed, IO is way better!
Maybe so, personal preference, i'm happy with my direct drive
Great sounding and convincing arguments provided you have no experience with drive systems for power boats.
No one wants to talk about the way this guy is dressed...lol.
Egg beaters weren't invited into this conversation but I'd like to make a point about outboard power as opposed to V-drive, in the nineties I went through my V-drive phase small block Chevy headers loud and fast, until a very modest looking bass boat blew right by me and I thought to myself maybe there's something to this, there is something to it, my current rig is a 21-foot low-profile pleasure boat powered by Yamaha 250hp outboard hung off the back jacked and trimmed to find The Sweet Spot, a well-engineered set up but very few modifications running 75 miles an hour, the new normal for these type of boats with a bit of modification is over a hundred miles an hour, it's all about where the water breaks finding The Sweet Spot by hanging the weight of the outboard off the back of the boat to achieve minimal drag, the competition tow boats that were used in this illustration typically run about 38 mph in some cases a little faster, oh don't get me wrong the competition towboats are sexy and very well refined they certainly have their purpose from what I can tell that purpose is they tear up all the perfectly clean water and destroy the shoreline and make everybody's ears bleed with hip hop at the boat ramp, I'm just saying it's amazing to me how engineering your motor to hang off the back you're able to achieve unbelievable top end speed in addition to a well-rounded boat that's quiet and does not draw the attention of the local five O, it's kind of fun to pass tow boats you're an easy mark. Not to mention cost, there are a lot of perfectly good high horsepower well-engineered Factory race motors packaged in an outboard configuration, Boat and Motor used but well-maintained selling for less than $10,000 compared to the competition tow boats that were looking at in the new Marketplace getting close to $100,000 would be my guess.
Bobby Quinn bass boats are going that fast because they are flat bottomed boats and have very little of the hull in the water.
Neither are bad but, you want your water to break at the end of the boat which equals less drag and more speed.
Yup and fuel burn
Opinions are like assholes, everybody has one. This guy IS one.
Duh ...Do you think the I/O might be a little "safer" if you stuck a 4 foot swim platform on the back of it . ??????
I was going to say the same thing. My friend has a IO with probably a 2 ft swim platform off the back. I don't think I have EVER once accidentally kicked the prop. This guy in the video lost all his credibility IMO as soon as he made that ridiculous argument.
Agreed. I have an IO with an extra swim platform. You've got to get under the boat the boat to reach the stern drive. I had a straight inboard. Bent the rudder while on the trailer pulling up into a gas station.
@@chad1755 almost all my boating experience was in an Arriva, stern drive 7.4 merc (454 big block chev) from when i was a kid, never have i ever cut myself on the prop....small platform as well, the guy is spit polishing his toes in the video lol
Rather have an I/O than v drive anyday
I have had all 3 and I agree with alot of what he said. Like some say shallow water can be a problem. My biggest problem with the inboard is it don't turn near as good when backing.
Different applications need different solutions. We had a 30' Tollycraft Sport with V-drives and it worked extremely well. Stern drives (I/O) would have had the engines too far to the rear and the robust Warner Velvet Drive transmissions require much less maintenance and are much more reliable.
Outboards are excellent options in a variety of hull types and, with direct injection, are very efficient. I/O's also have their place in many situations, but do seem to have more maintenance and reliability issues than v-drives or outboards.
Forgot to mention that an IO can go into really shallow water while the sticking fixed prop of a V-drive would make it aground. Directional control in low speed is a must and so does docking when you can steer the prop, specially in a single engine...
+Cesar Bartz V drives have better directional control at slow speeds
Bob James One problem... You can't control them in reverse
Right
V drives are a pain in the ass to work on... plus when they went to out the boat on plane they never trimmed out the outdrive.... there a bunch of rookies when it comes to boating
Sean Stahl most everything he said is salesmanship bullshit anyway
I’ll take my I/O all day
Excellent overview. Love to have a beer with this guy
An Outboard/Stern drive has a HUGE advantage over a V drive in slow speed maneuvering around a dock.
Outboards beat both of them because they're reliable and very accessible for ease of maintenance.
I got lost looking for the video about outboards being the best and ended up here!
Exactly what Grendelroy said. My I/O Four Winns can get many many many places on my lake that a V Drive would get once, and leave its' prop and rudder. What about the cost, in my experience V-Drive boats cost more and have more damage potential with bent shafts, shaft supports and rudders. The safety aspect is a red herring if you have swim platform. I have never had anyone kick or be injured by my lower unit in over a decade of use by experienced and noob passengers. I find launching and I/O much less problematic as I can trim up and not worry about cleaning off expensive underwater bits. I don't need a fat sack to trim up and get a better wake for wakeboarding as the boat is all purpose from grandparent fishing to airchair use. Neither is a "better" boat. I find it to be the best for my purposes. When it comes to your cash, that is what you should spend it on in my myopic opinion.
Pretty weak arguments for a fixed V drive.
More of the boat in the water means less speed and higher fuel consumption. The flatter the under water profile the more the hull will slam in rough seas too. The outdrive also has the advantage of lifting in shallow water. Steering is better with a rudder and prop as an outdrive only steers efficiently when there is power from the prop. A rudder only needs water flow over it. Where it is disadvantaged is in mechanical efficiency and reliability over a conventional prop shaft. However the v-drive is not a conventional prop shaft as you have a drop box to position the shaft forward and below the engine. Safety can be increased on an outdrive leg with the addition of a prop guard cage.
The sensible thing to do for ski boats is to ignore both these systems and fit a waterjet.
The video is 8 years old. Why did it surface now?
Tetelestai I was thinking the same thing
Go over an oyster bed and let me know how it works out with a V-Drive? I/O for the last 15 years and no problems and I have gone over a few oyster beds.
In my opinion your pro's and con's are only in advantage of the v-drive. It's clear you don't like IO's! I just want to let you know i'm not convinced by this video. PS: my IO planes in 3.5 seconds, you should just use the ladder to get on the swimplatform, it manouvers perfectly at high or low speed, etc... maybe i can only be convinced by driving it myself. Never done that before 😉
You missed a very important factor that m,akes I/O's more practical then V-Drives is the maneuverability. When you're out on the water going over like 10 knots, it doesn't matter. However when you are close quarters maneuvering, there isn't enough water going through that rudder for it to have a big effect when docking, so it makes it difficult to dock. With I/O's, you can direct the thrust without the use of a rudder, making maneuvering easier then with a V-Drive.
By the way, this is in the case that you have ONE engine on your boat. If you have two engines on your boat, get twin v-drives, conventional shaft drives, or outboards. I personally don't like I/O's because of the maintenance and how hard it is to maintain, but yeah this is my personal opinion. I think your video is misleading though.
If you buy a boat for strictly water sports yes the v dive is best. For other boat uses being able to trim the prob and steer in reverse are great abilities to have. There’s a boat for every person and they a designed accordingly.
If you use your outboard as a ladder, then you deserve any injury you get. That's an idiot move.
I like my v drive ski boat, but I'd be the first to admit that a stern drive/ outboard is so much more practical, and no slower either. Outboards and stern drives give you heaps more room in a boat, even a stern drive you get more room just by not having the driveshaft and v drive in front of the engine. stern drives and outboards let you launch/motor in way shallower water, and as others have said, if you're worried about hitting your feet on the prop, get a platform. Otherwise the leg makes a very handy step in my opinion. And a leg gearbox is quieter than a v drive. Outboards are a massive weight saving for similar horsepower. I have a fishing boat with a outboard and bought the ski boat after, and whilst i love it, i can really see why outboards are so much more popular.
I have just upgraded from a bravo 3 to a V drive, (fourwinns sl242 to a air nautique G23) both boats were 23 foot and I can honestly say the only advantage the I/O has is slow maneuvering, the V drives is a pig to reverse and turn when driving slowly but as soon as there's a bit of speed there is no comparison! The V drives kills it in every way, I can't believe it took me this long to change and now the servicing is nearly half the price aswell being no ugly leg to service on top of the engine
XCROSSYX great footage, thank you. I am thinking of moving from jet to V because of polluted river where the intake and exhaust gets clogged once in a while. What is your educated guess on this circumstances. Cheers
Why can't a V-Drive be sold at the same PRICE-POINT as an I/O ??
cuz they’re way better for water sports, most people buy v drives because of surfing and that makes it worth every penny more
The back door of an IO is you have to change out your bellows and your gimbal bearing once every say 10 seasons you could even get more than that most likely. I just changed mine after 20 seasons. My Marina charged me $800 to do it that's a very very good price.
He left out one very important issue involving a v drive! Many accidents with larger cabin cruisers, say 35 ft on up. Are by not being able to control the boat while in close quarters to docking, or navigating at slow idle speeds, due to the rudder requires a certain amount of volume of water to pass by, to actually control direction of boat!
Our first boat was a 2004 Caravelle Interceptor 212. It had a 350 MagMPI with Captain's call exhaust. It looked good, sounded good when you wanted it too and it was a lot of fun. But.....it didn't take long for me to figure out that I had made a serious mistake not doing more research into jet boats. We just sold our Caravelle and we will be picking up our AR240 in about 2 weeks. All the benefits of v-drives (minus the ballast system that we have no use for) plus many more with non of the many, many v-drive cons.
So your intercepter was a jet drive and you didn't like it?
@Grant3758 Our Caravelle was I/O and we sold it to get a jet boat. It was a great boat but our lake has some shallow water. If you do any boating at all in lakes with shallow water jet drive is the way to go.
@gusalmighty5098 oh yeah our lake is shallow too. Now i read that jet drive uses more fuel did you notice that or no?
@Grant3758 I haven't really noticed. It may use a little more fuel but not so much that grabbed my attention. We went from a 300hp I/O to a 360hp jet drive. I like to say HP isn't free. At wide open throttle, if you're making 25% more power than the other guy you're also burning 25% more fuel than the other guy to do it.😂
Operates like an inboard - clean transom for fishing - shouldn't need trim tabs - better center of gravity - prefer straight inboard or outboard. Why not a vee drive jet? Only the water needs to reverse.
You’re watching CNN.
Need to get a rope out of a prop or change a prop I/O. Fuel efficiency and top speed I/O. Want to beach in shallow water I/0. Trim down to cut chop I/O. Trim up so not to harpoon a large wake I/O. Quiet at idle and speed I/O. Less chance of hydro lock I/O. Ultimate water skiing experience V drive.
Yes, I have had to replace the prop on my I/O many times. Carried a spare prop like a spare tire. Tip up the drive, lean over the back, done in minutes without entering the water. Try that with a V drive.
Yup, no fun for a V drive. Unless you have dive, gear puller and ropes, you’re SOL getting those twin 18” four blade heavy (in the water) bronze monsters off the boat I had. They were pretty strong, they made mulch out of some logs and didn’t have vibration or loose speed. At haul out they look unharmed.
Been into boats for many years. This is mostly BS
LMAO exactly, v drives are only better in that they can surf. I/O is much cheaper, easier to use, easier to reverse, easier to dock/ put on trailer, maintenance is much easier. And with a hydrofoil surfboard you can surf the second wave of an I/O or go steal the v drives waves lol
The difference? I/O's are for cruising, fishing, and casual watersports. V-drives (and direct drives) are for serious surfing, wakeboarding and skiing. Their disadvantages and higher cost are more than worth the tradeoffs if you're serious about tow sports and want to improve at same. They're boats designed and built for completely different purposes, and really shouldn't be compared at all. After you're skied behind a direct drive or boarded behind a V-drive, you'll never go back. If you're not serious about those sports, there's no absolutely reason to spend the extra money or put up with the hassles of an inboard boat.
Any type of engine system is better than an IO. I would get an outboard to go fishing because I don’t ski or horse around on the lake.
As a V-Drive owner, You're pretty much a god among men, until you have to dock.
I can’t imagine trying to put a v drive on a trailer/dolly/lift on a day where there are big waves
But you can adjust the prop angle of an outdrive.
An inboard can't back up to the left. 🤣
But the cruising feel is unbeatable.
What about the horrendous price difference?
True, true. From a maintenance point of view, I hate IO's. The engine is slammed right up against the transom and everything is ridiculously cramped with very little room for a person to get in there. I've had 2 boats with direct drives. And sure, the engine is more forward, possibly cramping your style somewhat. But maintenance items aren't overlooked or put off till later due to inaccessibility.
@freshroasted coffee So you would choose to be cramped and inconvenienced all the time with the engine so far forward in a V Drive rather than being inconvenienced while doing maintenance once a season! you said that the engine is too close to the transom, How much maintenance did you actually perform between the engine and the transom? Just like everyone else who makes these videos you’re talking points are Cherry picked!
@NeverEnoughPyro40 I should back up 2 steps. If you are talking about trailered boats, then that's another topic. I have a 40' boat that sits in the water 24/7. No V-drive, no outdrives. It's direct drive. There's the engine, transmission and then the prop shaft that goes through the boot log. For boats that sit in water all the time. And for these boats, maintenance is year round, not once a year.
Service shops are limited with the V drives. Mercruiser repair shops are almost everywhere compare to Volvo penta and others.
PUT TRIM TABS ON I/O AND IT WILL PERFORM BETTER AND BE WAY MORE VERSATILE THAN A V-DRIVE
Or a whale tail.
LOL, that sterndrive looked like it took 8 seconds to get on-plane! Our old 28' cruiser back in the day was quicker to plane than that! This guy.... I hate when people missleading, 'best handling, acceleration and no bowrise' are found in many boats other than V-Drives.. IF V-drives actually drove smoother and performed better for families than a sterndrive then we would still have ours, but we traded it for a much better sterndrive boat that rides so much better than our old mastercraft, plus docking and especially backing up are next to impossible on v-drives and they dont seem to be as intuitive in the marina and are not as responve when whipping a tube around. Thats my take.
How well does the V drive work in reverse????
Self serving I/O much more practical unless you only boat in one deep lake. Easily to launch he leaves out the whole ability to trim the drive
I would not swap to an inboard v drive. I've had a 16 degree hull, they are not fun in the ocean, I can assure you, my 23 degree dead rise and out boards will give you a faster and more comfortable ride in seas that are getting up there. 16 degree boats at speed in rough water skip from one bash to the next. With the extra water needed for launching and no shallow water, I would never be held to the tide by my boats limitations, I've been through that in the seventies. That's why outboards and stern drives were invented. Bow rise in an off shore fiss boat is an advantage at a certain low speed where you might need bow lift in shitty water. 8 degree's bow lift sounds about right to me. In big seas fishing lures, using natural bow lift and trim tabs down half and the motor set to slight lift, makes for an incredibly stable boat at low speed in rough water fishing. There is also the matter of low speed maneuverabilty, outboards, jet boats, and pod drives rule in the single engine class. Sorry, to limited.
Really biased review. The sterndrive in my cobalt is way up under the swim platform, you would have to try really hard to kick the prop. I/O rides better, steers better, you can control it in reverse better, control at docking speeds better. Also, I/O gets better fuel economy and higher speeds. You can also draft way less when you have the lower unit trimed up. I've bounced my lower unit off of logs and stumps at high speeds with no damage, try this with a expensive brass prop, and rudder of an inboard. Direct drive, and V drive are one trick ponies.
+TheStephenspann27 Your right, the only people who want v-drives are people who care about IMPORTANT THINGS LIKE SURFING, GOOD WAKEBOARDING, SLOW SPEED HANDLING, AND CONFORT
Just bought one learning everything you described. The hard way.
Lonnie Stevens what did you buy?
@@alexg8460 85 Ski Nautique. 351 engine about 1000hrs. I really dont know much about them.
@@lonniestevens7963 great choice!! 351 ford is a good solid performer.....my v-drive is a 83 17'10" Hondo xh511tdeck runner bottom pump gas BBC 680ish hp and a glide Casale v-drive started the rebuild took 3.5 years 2 of which was spent finding a great engine builder long story launched in March of 97. I've had almost every kind of boat and propulsion except sail and I got tired of the fuel bills from big 2stroke outboard motors went and built my setup it's fairly useless except for going fast....I was amazed at the fuel burn.I had 2 custom 14 gallon tanks built one on each side. Had a 21' Hawian Berkley and a bbc that had a 15 gallon tank and would go through that in a couple hours. With my v-drive I go all weekend 3-5hours run time per day if I don't do 110 everywhere lol but Nautique's are great family boat's that you can do allot of different things mine's 2 seats and a trigger..lol.....from Wyoming USA 🔫🤠
so glad I came across this information. I always thought the ability to trim an inboard / outboard was a great concept until now
With the new outboard motors why have either one of these
That is the worst comparison I have ever heard. Comparing two completly different boats, different hulls makes no sense.
Great post but where I live is shallow intercoastal waterways and stumps . But yes they make great ski boats and off shore boating
We currently own a V Drive after owning a I/O for 23 years, and we won't be going back. The V Drive is miles ahead in the watersports category, end of discussion. I actually find the rough water ride to be better than my I/O as well. A topic frequently brought up is backing- in the nicest way possible, y'all don't know what your talking about. Yes, the I/O is easy, but a V Drive is just as easy with some practice. You learn to work with the boat and use little inputs and they behave. Same story when backing. You can't make an actual meaningful comment unless you have experience with both.
I like the rugged build on the larger Mercuiser stern dives, but hate their marinizing, Volvo engines are nice but It seem like their stern drives are fragile.
Volvo drives are practically bulletproof. Expensive on parts, but you hardly ever need any. Been running Volvo drives for decades and have never been let down. Proper maintenance is all you need.
Volvo outdrives might LOOK more fragile but I've had both Merc and Volvo. I liked how the Merc drives looked but they were WAY more maintenance. I'm not kidding, the maintenance on the Volvo (nothing but gear lube R&R) in 10 years was less than 2 with the mercs constant u joint and seal issues. Both were in salt water 24/7. The Merc wasn't up to it.
Can you beach a v drive boat with out doing any damage to it I go to lake powell a lot and love beaching my boat to go explore cyn and let the kids play in the sand
Till you hit a submerged object?
Dated video but I'll comment anyways. This video is biased for obvious reasons. There are pros and cons to every drive but in my opinion an I/O or OB drive offers more pros. Proper propeller diameter and pitch are crucial elements for I/O motors and can have a huge effect on getting up on plane. My I/O gets up on plane very quickly and will do 50MPH while offering a pretty smooth ride. The propeller is easy to change out and the boat can operate in about 2' of water with the O/D trimmed up a little. This means I can get into more areas for fishing or closer to beaches if we want to swim ashore. O/B motors are even better because they eliminate the bellows and other components that require additional maintenance. Someday I'll drive a V drive just to experience it but it would have to blow me away to pull me away from an I/O or O/B drive boat.
Man that was not fair
V-Drives Are highly recommended by not enough 10 people trying to sell you a V-Drives
Wow! A very cherry-picked recitation of inconsequential attributes.
Can you not put trim tabs on a v drive to get more speed ?
It has to do with prop pitch, also the flukes though small have a huge effect, raising the boat out of the water creates less drag, trim tabs can only force the bow lower, creating more drag.
Ive owned boats for 30 years and have NEVER had anyone go near the I/O to get on board the boat. I ve had v drive and they are difficult to back up. You are stating your opinion. Not facts
Why doesn't the outdrive boat have a swim step,bad comparison
For a gawd damn v drive u need to pay more for the boat than a house in Texas so it’s not worth it for me
You're "safety" difference is that your inboard has a swim platform and the I/O doesn't. That's why you have a hard time touching the prop. You're not comparing apples to apples. And I/O's are 20 to 1 over v-drives in the pleasure boat category in popularity. So, that says what's better.
It must be really hard to flog those 'V-drives". The clip is all BS.
I've had several v-drives and several I/O's. V-Drives are superior in many respects.
This is propaganda, direct drive boats can’t beat stern drive costs, you should NEVER have the motor on with anyone swimming around the back with either boat. Stern drives actually make better wakes than surf boats, with the motor trimmed up partially it steepens and cleans up the wake giving it an amazing wake for not having any weight in it, and when you do put weight in it, it still gives you more wake for the same amount of weight. The only advantage to v drives and direct drives is being able to safely surf behind it, and the teeny tiny wake with no weight in the boat for waterskiing. Also you have to consider the ability to be able to raise the prop up and down for shallower water and for getting it on a trailer.
There is nothing better or worse with boats its all about compromise , I would not want v drive
LOL put a whale tail and trim tabs on a sterndrive / IO and all the negative downsides you spoke of compared to the V Drive have been solved. Only thing that won't change the size of the wake, but if you're not doing just water sports, there's still a greater advantage to have the stern drive in other areas. Also, add a swim platform to the stern drive and the whole safety hazard thing becomes much less of an issue.
Personally, I like the idea of a jet boat a lot better regardless. But the only actual boating experience I have is an outboard and that was as a 5 year old. Kek
I have an I/O, they are lots of maintenance and have many issues for mercs anyway i.e. swivel pin and corrosion and seals and boots etc etc twins I'd take V drives over twin I/O's
I know you're trying to sell the V-drive but it absolutely is not better than the io. You sometimes when I dock my boat I live on Lake Ontario my boat's in my backyard the water is between 12 and 16 in deep on my floating dock. I can bring my boat in and raise my prop where it's still underwater high enough that I do not bottom out on the prop and I can actually get my 20-foot Sea Ray boat to Dock and Float perfectly in less than 16 inches of water. Can your V Drive do that?.
get a jet boat and avoid props all together. best decision i ever made 15 years ago
How's your fuel consumption?
@@JedemPoKucama approx 7.5 GPH cruising. more or less based on # of passengers, conditions, etc.
@@VicFerrari3 which boat is it?
v-drive can do everything an io can do? How comfortable are you beaching a v-drive?
This guy wants you to buy a much more expensive boat with more maintenance. Add a swim platform and an issue is fixed. Use your trim in an i/o to fix your plane.
V drive has less maintenance
Motor should be off when swimmers near back of either boat... can climb into boat using the outdrive... V-drive is inefficient since the thrust is up in the air instead of forward...
What’s better on fuel
How can you compare safety and show you are much further away on V-drive..... when the I/O does not have a swim platform.
Nice justification bro
I'll keep my 350 I/O in my 20 ft ranger
I’d like to see that v drive set in shallow water 2ft deep.. . I think your just trying to sell master craft.
Dax Pennington you should never be in that depth of water in a big boat. Plus many inboards draft under 2 feet unlike I/o’s have the outdrive stuck way further down.
@@jimmygrant3212 You're very mistaken. I grew up on a 220,000 acre lake. Large lake, but has many shallow areas. A couple of sand bars serve as gathering spots. The boats equipped with an I/O, or an outboard, simply raise their props up and beach their hull on the sandbar. Then, they enjoy the festivities.
You cant be sayin one is better than the other- they are two different animals and serve different purposes. Each have advantages for their application.
Dude should be selling snake oil not boats.
Not a hard sales pitch when comparing Anything to an io
Cant beat O/B
i see a lot of comments here, thats awesome, most of them looks like in favor of the io. i have a question if you may educate me, the volvo ips system, how does it compare? they have from what i gather penta ips, aquamatic sterndrive (i/o i guess), penta forward drive and inboard shaft. which one is best lets say for a 25-50ft boat? Thank you. or at least pro/cons type of thing
For maneuverability, fuel efficiency and speed you cannot beat IPS on the range given, it steers like on rails, quieter, less vibration and joystick maneuvers are like dream and interestingly not much more to maintain than sterndrive. That is of course more on the top end of your given range like 40-50 feet. But make sure the engine space is accessible for easy maintenance if you want to do most yourself.
"V-drive" is just whipped cream on dogsh!t. Trying to rename what's been called an inboard for a century. It's a marketing ploy to make something old fashioned suddenly sound new. Inboards are notorious for having poor maneuverability at slow speeds due to ZERO vectored thrust. The engine also takes up HUGE amounts of deck space of smaller runabout sized boats. Lmao.
v drive cannot be used in shallow water. does not perform in reverse. does not steer well at all without applying power. has a hole in the bottom of the hull.
noting also the i/o in question has no swim platform attached.
the i/o has horribly expensive ex manifolds and the universal drive does not like sharp angles.
sure an I/O can be trimmed for better hole-shot, top speed and get you through really shallow water, an inboard though a narrower band width does within that band better than any i/o ever will. I've owned several dozen boats, most were inboards however the current unit is an I/O and I miss the inboards. And then there's the cost of running gear wreckage....... outdrive $5k - 8K, inboard maybe $1,500 if I wipe it all out(Shaft, prop, strut and rudder) replacement Bravo 3 is $7500. Big water I'll take a deep deadrise with twins, Lake water get what your wife likes and deal with it.
Not a fan of stern drives but I love them compared to v drives.