Repower 265 express
- Thread starter tilewave
- Start date
Sorry for the late response. I repowered our 2001 265 with 2011 merc 225 Opti's and love it. lots of power and great fuel economy. Rev 4 17's get close to 50mph wide open and around 2mpg.
Fowl Hooked
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- Jun 4, 2007
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- Location
- Southern Maryland
- Model
- Express 265
Went the other way and hung a pair of F250s on my '05 265 this spring after falling victim to an undiagnosed case of dry exhaust corrosion that had hit the power heads . The performance improvement over the original 225s is significant and if the reverse is similar I can't recommend the 200s, this boat is just too heavy and big.
The 225s weren't bad but with the same props and the same painted hull that really needs to be redone the 250s get me up on plane much quicker, even fully loaded, and while top end isn't really changed (have seen 49.8 mph) my efficiency has improved and I've seen 2.0 mpg for the first time since I've owned the boat. It just seems like the engines aren't working as hard, they also recover well and maintain speed better. This off-season will bring a blasted and cleanly painted hull and I can only expect performance to improve. May even investigate new props but I'm honestly very happy with the current setup.
The 225s weren't bad but with the same props and the same painted hull that really needs to be redone the 250s get me up on plane much quicker, even fully loaded, and while top end isn't really changed (have seen 49.8 mph) my efficiency has improved and I've seen 2.0 mpg for the first time since I've owned the boat. It just seems like the engines aren't working as hard, they also recover well and maintain speed better. This off-season will bring a blasted and cleanly painted hull and I can only expect performance to improve. May even investigate new props but I'm honestly very happy with the current setup.
thanks for the replies. the 2000-2001 (2002?)models cannot accommodate those larger/ heavier motors without raising the scuppers and some other modifications. the f200xb inline 4 would be a good matchup if I were to get the same results as the 200 hpdi which I was content with.