Yanmar 310hp vs. Volvo D4-260hp in a 27" sports cruiser

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Granthsmith

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I'm now looking at getting a Monterey 270 sports cruiser and I've seen both Yanmar 315hp and penta D4-260hp diesel engines in these on drives. I'm not looking for all out speed as this is to be a family cruiser but are there any good/bad points I should be aware of with either of these engine options please?
 
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Yanmars

I've got two 6LP 315hp Yanmars in my Sealine and think they are fantastic engines. I've experienced many Volvo's and would not hesitate to recommend Yanmar's over them. Great torquey motors that are excellent starters, no cranking at all. Also, very little smoke. Downside's is spares are a bit pricey and maybe a bit heavier on fuel than a D4.
Best upside...NO ELECTRONICS to go wrong like a Volvo!!
 
I had a Monte 250 (updated model was a 275) with a Yanmar YHLA series 240 on a Bravo II drive. Always went and started OK. Produced very little smoke too. My only complaint was it was a bit noisey. Not too bad, but noisier than a D4-260 on the same boat. I think the D4-260 which was mated with a B III drive (duoprop) was a bit faster too. Both are good engines. the Volvo of course is common rail diesel technology - not sure if the 310 Yanmar is? - not that it matters really!! Would have thought that correctly prop'd they should both give you c30K+
 
Both good options to be honest. The weak point with the Yanmar is that they relied on Mercruiser Bravo legs - if it is a single prop Alpha or Bravo then they are pretty bullet proof, but the Bravo IIIs (Dual props) can be fragile when mated to the 315Hp engine (just ask Sealine) if they are not correctly set up with drive showers and regularly serviced.

The D4 is a much more modern engine, you get EVC (which I really like and is very useful, and in 3 years of running a similar sized boat with a 225Hp D4 I never experienced any of the EVC problems that others have reported), but the biggest boost will be fuel economy. in that size of boat, neither will be bad, but the D4 will be around 15% better if the Yanmar has the BIII duo prop, and at least 20% better if the Yanmar is mated to a single prop drive.

In terms of mechanics, neither engine pose any problems and both are reliable units. The D4 is a fair bit quiter purely due to the fact it is a more modern engine.

I ran my 225Hp D4 in a 25ft boat which topped out at 40knts and used less than 1lt per Nm at a sensible cruise of 25knts. Optimum speed it consumed about 0.8lt/nm whihc made for very effieicnt running.

Chas 25 of this parrish had a Monterey 250 (later the 275) with a 260Hp D4 and performance between the two boats always seemed comparible. he would be a good person to ask re: consumption figures as well. As far as I know, over 3 seasons he also had a trouble free time with the Volvo.

If its second hand boats you are looking at, the Yanmar was the cheaper option when the boat was new, with the VP D series carrying a premium, and this should be reflected in the asking price of both boats, all else being equal.

Hope that helps...
 
Don’t think the difference is big.
The yanmar have a power of 315hp at 3800rpm and can pullout continues 286hp at 3680revs!

Fuel consumption at 3680revs are 52 liters pr hour.

I don’t know the difference in efficiency on the drives but assuming a duo prop is a duo prop the numbers are like this!

To compare yanmar 315hp with the D4 260hp model you have to reduce speed down to 3515rpm (exp 2.5) to have the same power as the D4 260 Then the fuel consumption is 45liters pr hour on the yanmar!

The VP D4 260 has a fuel consumption of 52liters pr hour according to data sheet!This means that by the same speed the consumption of the Volvo is 15% higher than Yanmar!

But the VP D 4 can’t run here. It must be taken down 10% in speed! That means 24% in power! At cruising speed the VP D4 is using 38l/h.

To compare with the yanmar have to reduce 10% speed from the original 3515rpm to 3170rpm The fuel consumption is then 35l/h or 8% lower than VP again.

I don’t know if Volvo drives are so much better than mercruiser that it is cheaper to run even if the engine is using more!

And the moral: Buy a big engine and run it at 60-80% power!

This is according to makers brochures.

http://www.yanmar.com.au/marine/lpa_series/6LPA-STZP2 Brochure.PDF

http://www.volvopenta.com/volvopent...ines/c_diesel_sterndrive/Pages/d4_260_DP.aspx
 
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Maintence rather than make should probably be the deciding factor but more importantly as you were previously asking about Sealine 330's is space.

There is a vast difference between a 27' sports cruiser and a 34' flybridge. As you had identified probably the boat with the most accomodation in 34' are you sure that the monteray gives you enough space?

I think i remember you saying it is your first boat and it very much depends on your family's outlook as to whether they will be as enthusiastic as you about spending time on the smaller choice.
if they like camping you will be fine. If they are more likely to plumb for a static caravan then think carefully. My first boat, a 26' sports cruiser was nearly my last with SWMBO making all sorts of excuses as to why we couldn't go to the boat this weekend. All changed once we got the 310 and now it is her that says we can always sort the house out next week.
 
Thanks for the comments Ian, we have changed our outlook a little and decided to take a smaller step into boating rather than jumping for the 34ft Flybridge. Space is indeed very different but we've thought hard about it and most importantly the SWMBO is very keen on the sportscruiser. Basically, we've changed our view from an extended period cruiser to a weekend boat for now, if we really like the hobby then we will look to move to a larger flybridge in a few years.
 
Yanmars are proven as used on tens of thousands of toyota land cruisers, hence they cost a mere fraction of marine volvos to service and maintain, and parts are interchangeable with toyota and cost same as auto parts (ie filters, belts, timing belts, etc). Impellors and heat exchanger only real marine parts used but they cost a fraction of cost of volvo.
 
Have to agree with comments from Ian38 39. Our experience was the same, the few extra feet makes a world of difference. We had a Monte 250 (as said above) and that was fun as purely a day boat without too much clobber. But if you want to start using down below for anything but day boat picnics or storage, space became annoyingly tight. If day boating or an occasional ON (for two of you - any more and it really is nearly impossible!) is all you want then out of the US sports boats we looked at that time the Monetery was at the top of contenders.
 
D4 vs Yanmar LY

On the west coast and north of Norway there has been a lot of D4 and D6 braking down!About on percent each year! Damage indicates liquid entering combustion chamber and the whole engine has to be replaced!

A lot of trouble with nozzles that have to be replaced after some hundreds hour is also a problem. Seawater leaking from intercooler, bad sea water filter and dead brains is also quite common. They are sucking fuel thru 2 micron filters so it very often shut down because no fuel pressure!

The yanmar has a better reputation. The smaller bore should give a disadvantage on fuel consumption but the maker’s curves indicate something else! In some tests the D4 210hp engine has a similar consumption as the 200hp 2.8liter mercruser in the same boat!Yanmar uses a well proven fuel system wich is less flexible but more stable and robust!The maximum cruising speed is also 16% higher with the yanmar engine.A 6 cylinder engine has less vibrations and nicer sound than a 4 cylinder!
 
Whitelighter said:
Both good options to be honest. The weak point with the Yanmar is that they relied on Mercruiser Bravo legs - if it is a single prop Alpha or Bravo then they are pretty bullet proof, but the Bravo IIIs (Dual props) can be fragile when mated to the 315Hp engine (just ask Sealine) if they are not correctly set up with drive showers and regularly serviced.
Click to expand...

yes and........

the yanmar needs more cooling water than a B111 can suck up through the leg.

Mercruser sell a blanking kit for the leg, and you cool the engine via a skin fitting.

But

this means a source of cooling is not longer flowing through the leg. Daft.

So make sure it's been done properly, ie water through the leg AND through a skin fitting, Y'd before the engine. This does not negate the need for a drive shower you need both.

When I did mine I fitted 2 strainers so you could see if either intake had become blocked - put a ping pong ball in the strainer for insatant visual flow indication.
 
cooling

Yanmar actually made the system so it came through the drive and through the hull at the same time.

The 2 pipes came into a mixer then to a strainer so both water intakes were strained.

Some boat builders installed them correctly or you could install it with a water intake just through the drive. It can cause cooling issues with not enough supply.

Or just through the hull and fitting the blanking kit on the transom. If this way was installed the water pick up pipe in the transom housing has to be cut with a 3" section of hose removed. This allowed water to flow up through the water intake of the drive and up through the water channels of the drive so it could still cool.
 
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