Formula 280 sun sport with twin Mercruiser 4.3 LX (petrol)

[fprins]

I have seen this boat for sale (1994) and am thinking of buying it. Does anyone have any experience with Formula boats? And with Mercruiser 4.3 LX petrol engines? How terrible is the fuel consumption?

Thank you all in advance. Any info would be a great help!

Frederik

 

[gjgm]

consumption discussions usually causes some disagreements, but id guess 7 galls per hour each engine as a very general average, and alot more if you keep throttle full open (but teeth falling out and a nasty fever as you see your bank balance perishes usually limit this!) You could try boattest.com and fiddle about for a similar size boat and engine, but thats probably going to be fuel injected. But there are so many variables such as sea state, how fast you like to drive etc theres no perfect answer.

 

[Nautorius]

I have a 29ft Sports Cruiser with Twin 4.3Gl Volvos. Similar weight to the formula so similar fuel consumption??? (although my hull is Stepped to help lift)

Allow 14GPH @2500Revs, 16GPH @3200 and at full throtle just throw twenties over the back (18+GPH) This is for both engines.

The boats are good and solid but often have been used as day boats so tend to have low engine hours but quite a lot of wear and tear onc Furnishings. It will not be a cheap boat to run so it depends on what you are going to do with it. If you want a fun day boat and have £200 a day for fuel buy it! If not think again.

At the right Price these Formulas are a decent buy, but price and condition is the key factor. How much is it?

Paul

 

[fprins]

The price is Euro 59000, but he'll let it go for 50000 (boat dealer's own boat - I checked, it's true). Condition seems good, but I'll have it surveyed anyway. After trade-in for my own boat (21 ft Fletcher one-off with a wooden deck and a 200 hp Mercury outboard incl. trailer; some work needs to be done on the deck) I can pick it up for euro 30000 or maybe a bit less if I move it our right away - he needs the box.

Frederik