Element 16 .....stick with 60hp or upgrade to 75/90 HP?

[jairid]

Ok so I bought this 2018 E16 thinking I would just go ahead and upgrade the engine to a 90HP. I had another member point out that i may void my insurance by overpowering the boat which has me second guessing my original plan. I feel a bit silly shelling out several thousand dollars to only upgrade to the 75hp and really wanted to go 90hp if possible.

Is there anyway i can make this standard (not bigfoot) model 60hp engine work? I am willing to put on smart tabs and a four blade prop to improve the situation but i don't want to throw good money after bad if it won't get me where I want to be. I guess I want to be able to plane fairly quickly with 800 lbs onboard.....is this possible with tabs and a new prop? I don't need to be the quickest boat out there, just planing comfortable between 20 and 25mph. I might want to drag a tube around with two in the boat as well.

[jairid]

I should mention that i bought this particular boat because it fits perfectly in my garage and I quite like it other than the power issue....i may be faced with upgrading to a 75hp which is essentially the same cost as the 90hp. If it wasn't for the insurance issue I would just go with the 90hp as i don't care about whatever warranty I may have with Bayliner.

[CparkerE16]

800 pounds is a lot for this boat. I have the 60hp. I can get on plane with 4 adults... probably close to that 800 pounds... but you need to understand weight distribution to do it. If everyone is in the back of the boat you'll never get on plane. It's a small boat and just like a small aircraft, weight and balance is pretty critical. People who complain about having to ask people to move to a different position in the boat don't understand how weight distribution works. With just me and the wife (about 400 pounds) we're up on plane and scooting along at about 32mph (GPS) wide open on good water. Anything over about a 1ft chop will force you to slow down and trim up or you'll take a real pounding. This is a result of the hull and no amount additional power is going to fix that.
All of this is on a stock E16, 60hp, with the stock 3-blade prop. No trim tabs... stock.
This year I'm going to swap to a 4-blade (13.8 x 13) for a little more punch. I know I'll lose a couple mph top end, but that's not real important to me.

[jimhalay]

I have a 2017 e16 with a 60 hp outboard that came with 4 blade 13.8 x 13 prop and it does fine with 800 pounds on board. 30 mph is the top end and I am satisfied with that. I did add the motor mounted hydrofoil, SR Sport SE300, and it "tamed the boat". I concider 1 foot chop no problem now and the boat plans quicker too. It was definately worth the $55. or so I paid for it.

[downsouth]

Smart tabs on these boats is the best single mod you can do

[efarstad]

I have this boat and put a 90HP on it...night and day difference with the extra torque. I called my insurance and had them change the HP motor and it did nothing, same coverage and no cost difference. Will it void Bayliner warranty, probably but worth it for the performance. In my opinion it should start with a 75 and offer up to the 115HP as an upgrade. If you can afford it, and not worry about the warranty...I say GO FOR IT!

[element385]

I have this boat and put a 90HP on it...night and day difference with the extra torque. I called my insurance and had them change the HP motor and it did nothing, same coverage and no cost difference. Will it void Bayliner warranty, probably but worth it for the performance. In my opinion it should start with a 75 and offer up to the 115HP as an upgrade. If you can afford it, and not worry about the warranty...I say GO FOR IT!

I had the E16 with a 60 on it. Glad the 90 is working for you - always wondered how they performed with a 90. I wanted to do the same thing, but decided that a new boat was in order, so traded up to the F18/115 the next year. I always thought the E16 should have a 90 as a standard engine, and a 115 as an upgrade. The F18 should have a 150 on it standard, instead of Merc's "modified" 90 115.

[jairid]

The placard in my boat says in my E16 says it is rated for 88HP is this common amongst all members with the E16? I know that none of the major outboard manufacturers build a motor between 75 and 90 HP so not sure why the placard didn't just state 75HP or 90HP vs the 88HP.

[element385]

The placard in my boat says in my E16 says it is rated for 88HP is this common amongst all members with the E16? I know that none of the major outboard manufacturers build a motor between 75 and 90 HP so not sure why the placard didn't just state 75HP or 90HP vs the 88HP.

Silly as it sounds, I don't think they want a 90 on the E16.

[efarstad]

The placard in my boat says in my E16 says it is rated for 88HP is this common amongst all members with the E16? I know that none of the major outboard manufacturers build a motor between 75 and 90 HP so not sure why the placard didn't just state 75HP or 90HP vs the 88HP.

I had a new placard made, so if anyone looks, like coastguard, I'm covered. :-) You can do a search on my posts to see where I had it made, super easy and cheap!

[jairid]

Thanks for the input everyone I have weighed the pros/cons and decided to go ahead and install the 90hp as its necessary for what i want to do with the boat.

[6104696]

Tim Allen would be proud. Looking forward to hearing some performance numbers.

[element385]

I'd be interested as well. I really liked the regular element, I thought it was laid out great, etc.

[jairid]

The engine has been installed and we took it for a test run yesterday. The boat was half full of fuel with two guys weighing about 400lbs. The boats time to plane was about 4.5 sec as timed by vessel view. The top speed was about 42mph with a top rpm of about 5400. I am thinking the rpms should be up nearer the 6000 mark but the mechanic said anywhere between 5 and 6000 is acceptable. He did say if i was going to have a full load nearer to 800lbs fairly regularly then i would want to pitch down to attain a higher rpm.

[6104696]

with a light load you should be closer to 6000 rpm so that the boat performs well with a heavier load. If you are turning 5400 at WOT with a light load you are wasting a lot of the 90 HP that you just paid for. You should probably go down in pitch 2".

My E18 with the factory black max 13.25x17 on our 115 would do 41 mph at 5700- 5800 rpm with a light load. I went to a 4 blade Powertech 13x16, and now it runs 38-39 mph at 6000 rpm, which is just what we expected. The holeshot is great even with a heavy load, and the engine is quite happy and economical in the 3000-4000 cruise range.....

[jairid]

Thanks for the advice I will see about getting a 15P prop so i am closer to that 6000 rpm goal. Would a 14 be to much reduction? We had 2 guys plus tools and an extra battery maybe 450lbs and to be precise the rpm were 5330 maxed out.