RZ2 engine choice 343 vs 409

[2thdoc01]

343 with the 1235. Never needed more...but if you have the cash...HP is king.

[barry1me]

tige told me they sell 90% of RZ2s with the 343....how is it that Tige can put smaller motors in there boats where as MC, Nautique and Bu require the larger motors?

[WakerideN]

tige told me they sell 90% of RZ2s with the 343....how is it that Tige can put smaller motors in there boats where as MC, Nautique and Bu require the larger motors?

require? or opt to put in bigger?

[What she said]

The only boat i have to compare is my 2008 VLX indmar 320hp with Acme537 -VS- my 2011 RZ2 343hp PCM with Acme 537. With that said my VLX was a pig, and would not plain out with full ballast, and a few adults in the back. My RZ2 with the 343 has been great, and doesnt seem to strugle.
Malibu surf ballast= LR 800lbs, FT 450lbs if you had more that 5-6 adults in the boat it was at full throtle to get to 10.5MPH (did not hold speed very well)
RZ2 surf ballast= LR 1050LBS, RR 200lbs, FT 400lbs, and 5-6 adults and 343 has no issue's holding speed for surfing.
I have thought about putting getting Acme1235, but i didnt wanna kill my cruse RPM.
Unless you live in high altitude, or plan on running alot of ballast the 343 is up for the task! That being said if i had the money would i have a 409, or 550...........Hell yeah!

[WakerideN]

The only boat i have to compare is my 2008 VLX indmar 320hp with Acme537 -VS- my 2011 RZ2 343hp PCM with Acme 537. With that said my VLX was a pig, and would not plain out with full ballast, and a few adults in the back. My RZ2 with the 343 has been great, and doesnt seem to strugle.
Malibu surf ballast= LR 800lbs, FT 450lbs if you had more that 5-6 adults in the boat it was at full throtle to get to 10.5MPH (did not hold speed very well)
RZ2 surf ballast= LR 1050LBS, RR 200lbs, FT 400lbs, and 5-6 adults and 343 has no issue's holding speed for surfing.
I have thought about putting getting Acme1235, but i didnt wanna kill my cruse RPM.
Unless you live in high altitude, or plan on running alot of ballast the 343 is up for the task! That being said if i had the money would i have a 409, or 550...........Hell yeah!

your right on the altitude and the 1235.. but with that said... I dont see any rpm issues with mine in case your thinking of changing... maybe top end around 38 mph and up.. but maybe I am just lame.. I dont usually go over 32.. lol just never seem to be in a rush on the lake.. lol

[Duncan]

tige told me they sell 90% of RZ2s with the 343....how is it that Tige can put smaller motors in there boats where as MC, Nautique and Bu require the larger motors?

There is something to be said for the fact I have never seen comments on TO that an RZ2 with a 343 PCM struggled under normal conditions. Most everyone agrees the 409 is a nice upgrade if you have the cash and desire.

Tige V hull design seems to be more efficient than other wb boats. Notice the boat is "tippier" because of the V. The bad is the tippiness can make it harder to tweak a wakeboard wake. The good is you can get a better list with less weight for a surf wake. Again, the V hull design is probably more efficient with respect to the amount of power required for a hole shot and to get on plan. Add to that the TAPS plate (TAPS 1 is a lot more efficient to plane) and the power requirements are even less.

[barry1me]

This is interesting when boattest.com did a test on the RZ2 with a 343 and a RZ2 with a 409.

2010 343 RZ2 time to plane 3.7 seconds and 0-30 at 6.7 seconds
2011 409 RZ2 time to plane 2.6 seconds and 0-30 at 7.3 seconds

So the 409 deffinatley gets up to plane much quicker then the 343 but from 0-30 the 343 is faster....this doesnt make sense to me. How can the 409 be 1.1 seconds faster from 0-15mph and then lose .7 seconds from 15mph to 30mph.

[2thdoc01]

Which props did those boats have? I wonder if the 409 came with the 1235?

[tommy1005]

I can't answer that.....I did drive a RZ4 with the 409 and it was on plane in a hurry. That test drive made me realize I would be spending the extra $5000 to upgrade to the 409

[rensink]

For some reason I feel that the stock prop on the 409 is an ACME 1161 and on the 343 it is still the 537...but I can't remember 100% or not.

[tommy1005]

boating worlds rz2 test with the 409 showed 3.6 to plane and 6.5 to 30mph, so a little faster on both accounts. They also hit 51 for a top speed instead of 45 or so for the 343 motor.

[ironpeddler]

How is the 409 on fuel compared to the 343?

[Duncan]

For some reason I feel that the stock prop on the 409 is an ACME 1161 and on the 343 it is still the 537...but I can't remember 100% or not.

Our 2009 with a 409 PCM came with an Acme 537. One of the first upgrades was a 1235.

How is the 409 on fuel compared to the 343?

We consistently burn about 3-5 gallons an hour surfing (usually on lower end of that range). If you are really interested, over 4th July weekend, I can get a gph burn rate for speed/rpm while surfing. One of our best upgrades was a fuel flow meter.