hp on an express265

[islandhopper]

What is lowest HP you would put on a express 265 ? I've seen one with twin 150 four strokes. Not sure that would get up on plane ect. Thanks for any input.

 

[eppem]

I'd say that is grossly underpowered. Pretty standard was 250 two strokes and 225 fours (because of the weight).

Mine has the F225s and moves pretty good. 250s would fly!

 

[fishbust]

200 2 strokes, 225 4 strokes.

 

[fish_hunter]

I've had a boat rigged with minimum hp before and it wasn't enough with realistic load weight and also in heavy seas.
My 265 has twin 250 optimax's and it is great. Plenty of power for big seas and cruises nice. I wouldn't want less than 225's on a big 265 express. My .02$

 

[Salinity Now]

I looked hard at the Suzuki 175's, but couldn't bring myself to experiment with $25,000+.....

You gotta figure Grady has been doing this for a while, if lower HP options would have been good for that hull, we would have seen it already.

There's nothing wrong with thinking out of the box.....I'd love to get awesome 2.5mpg on my boat.....but running 52mph this past Monday out at the lake testing my new ETECs.....going from 0-40+ mph and on plane in a matter of 2 - 3 seconds.......provided an un-removable smile on my face for the rest of the afternoon.

 

[captain swag]

Repowered my 2001 265 with new 225 Optis and cruise at 30 to 32 getting 2.0 to 2.02 mpg with four onboard and about 125 gallons of fuel. Skyrockets on plane. WOT is about 48mph. Needless to say I am happy. I have always abided by the 80% rule. Anything less than 80% of max hp rating was approaching underpower. This may or may not apply though as applied to todays modern and more efficient outboards.