Volvo Penta 4.3 V6

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Witchwood

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I'm considering looking over a Fairline with a couple of Volvo Penta 4.3 V6 190 horse sterndrives, and wondered if anyone could guide me on the likely fuel consumption, servicing costs and reputation of these units. Basically, I need to know the realistic running costs associated with potential ownership. Any observations much appreciated.
 
You will probably be talking 12 gallons per hour per engine at wide open throttle. Maintenance is not too bad, and the engines are pretty reliable. You will need to get the outdrives checked by someone who knows what they are doing, before you commit. These need more specialist attention, but will be fine if properly maintained.
 
12 gallons per hour per engine at full speed - so that's roughly 110 litres per hour in total, which equates to £154 per hour.

Does this sound right? You will gather that I am new to the motorboat world but am a little taken aback at these predicted running costs.

I gather that a more conservative/realistic cruising speed would probably halve the consumption, but that's still about £75 per hour.

Any opinions on this would be greatly accepted.
 
sounds about right depending on the model of boat - what model is it you are interested in? and where are you planning on using it?

Also bear in mind most people don't drive around at max power all the time by any means, and avoid comparing boat fuel burn with cars as you will have a heart attack. Think of it more in terms of enjoyment. Most people do fewer than 50 engine hours a year, but spend many many days onboard.
Are there any similar diesel engined boats that you could look at as they use @ 30% less.
 
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Really is difficult to give a good estimate to what you will use as it really depends how you use it. When I had a single V8 it would burn about 16gph at full throttle but at a sensible cruising speed it would be more like 9gph and when averaged out, which includes all the slow speed stuff, it became more like 6gph. This was old tech carb model.

Obviously a V6 will use a bit less, especially if it is modern fuel injection, but then you have to double it cos you have two.

My guesstimate would be somewhere around 8gph-10gph as an average and around 12 -14gph at a constant sensible cruising speed. (this is for both engines)
 
Thanks for the opininons so far. The boat in question is a 26' Fairline and would be used for jaunts along the south west coast. They are modern, fuel injected engines.

Still a bit suprised at the hourly cost, but maybe that's because I'm northern. And used to sailing!
 
In the 90's I had a Fairline Targa 27 with a pair of 431s (V6 205hp - horrible auto chokes, no fuel injection etc)

I reckoned fuel consumption was about 12 gallons per hour for the pair, at normal cruising speeds.
 
If they are the Mpi versions of the engines then expect about 9gph at about 3000rpm and considerably more than 12gph at WOT, more like 15 or 16.
That is per engine.

If they are the EFi versions then add about 15% to those figures.

If they are the good old turnkey versions you can add about 35% to the MPi figures.

All approximate, but will give you a fair indication.

If the boat punches along nicely with those engines then you can probably come down to about 7gph per engine and still maintain a fairly sensible cruising speed. Just resist the urge to push the levers forward.
 
Ive got one in a 93 sprint, 4.3GL-J fuel consumption 5 knots river speed 5 litres per hour, 8 /9 knots 10 litres per hour, full chat 30 knots approx 40/50 ltph, but havent confirmed this on a decent stretch ie for more than a couple of minutes, and im sure if you play about with the throttle you can find the best relation between cost and distance.
Its got a northstar fuel meter fitted that responds almost instantly so im confident the figures are somewhere near real usage.
65 hours in the last 4 months.



Lynall
 
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