2002 Rinker 342 Performance

ppst99

We are looking at purchasing a fresh water 2002 Rinker 342 Fiesta Vee, twin 320hp 6.2 Mercs with Bravo 3 drives.  Anyone have a same or similar setup and can share what the best cruise speed/RPM as well as what types of numbers you are getting with WOT.

Thanks
Paul

Michael T

@ppst99. An acquaintance has the same model year and engine configuration as the one you are looking bat. He is REALLY glad he got the 377s (6.2s) because a 342 is a fairly hefty boat and then there's the "wet" weight of fuel, water, waste and gear. The 377s will rev a bit but they are strong engines. I believe he has had it up to 46 mph. One thing for sure, both he and I have been on 342's with 350s (5.7s) and the 377s get on plane a LOT faster and hold plane at lower rpms. In fact they also get better gas mileage than 350s as they are not working as hard. Good luck with your shopping!

Handymans342

MT, shame on you. You should have told him to get a 342 with Diesels. LOL

ppst99

thanks for the information.  I would rather have performance than fuel economy.  I'm glad to hear that the 6.2s will bet the boat over 40mph

Michael T

Steve, none of us are in your tax bracket, brother - you have to carry the banner for diesels!

Michael T

@ppst99, oh yeah you're going to like those 377s! Tremendous low end torque and right on up through the curve, plus they sound wicked under load! Good choice! I'd get some synthetic or semi synthetic and the mercury high efficiency oil filters or another top brand of oil filter on them and they'll last forever!

ppst99

We are upgrading from a Cruisers yacht 2870.  I loved that boat, but just outgrew the size.  My old boat had twin 5.0L Mercs.  Personally i'm not a fan of V-drives and love the fact this boat has the I/O.  

raybo3

My 2002 342 FV will do 40 all day long with the 350's MPI

bella-vita

Raybo3 what kind of props do u have 24 or 22 pitch prop? 

Stodge

We can't do 40, but we flirt with mid-30s.  My cruise is around 28ish.

raybo3

Tell you the truth I am not sure. I will check next time I am at the boat but it is put away for the winter......

Michael T

@ppst99, As well,  I/Os are about 15% more fuel efficient than direct drives as they can be trimmed through a wide range of -ve and +ve trim whereas V drives are fixed in a compromise position. The best feature though imo is that they accelerate faster and have higher top end - the overall speed and performance are much better which appeals to many boaters - it sure does to me.

Stodge

I do get 1.2MPG at cruise when the water is flat.  Can't complain about that with the size of the 342. My 280 had twin 4.3 and only got a max of 1.5MPG.

Black_Diamond

I'm upper 30's at wot. Fuel burn at that is brutal, no reason to run ~8mph faster for 2x the fuel burn. 22P B-III 350  MAG MPI. Generally around 0.9 mpg. 

Handymans342

Guess we shouldn't talk about my 3.5 MPG at WOT then. 

bella-vita

Handy how fast r u at wot?On a good day at wot I can get to about 40mph but loaded I'm only at 36mph maybe 37mph I have horizon 350s,but even if I could do 50 mph I would still have the need for more speed lol.

Handymans342

28 MPH Bella

Black_Diamond

28-30mph is my cruise speed at 3,800/4,000 rpm. 

DanD2

My cruise speed is 28-30 mph at 3,500 / 3,600 rpms on my Volvo 5.7's

raybo3

BD that sounds a little low to me.

Michael T

@raybo3.....BD has 350s and a "wet" 342 is pretty heavy for 350s, even Mags. I have been in 342s with 377s and even those strokers have to work with a loaded 342.

raybo3

@MT I have the same set up. I run cruise at about 3700 rpms and doing about 32-34 gps..... However my tacks are a little funky so maybe they are off and my rpms are a little higher but not by much?????????? 

Stodge

OK now I want to know what props you have raybo.  I figure it's either that or I need to lose a few hundred pounds.......of ballast.

Michael T

....and remember guys I get much different readings depending on humidity and air temperature. I can easily lose 5% power and fuel economy on a hot humid day - which is aggravated even further if I have a full load of fuel, water and gear!

bella-vita

I would say I cruise at about 30-32mph gps at 3700rpm ,but my rpm gauges r not that great I have to tap sometimes .thats with full load.

Stodge

I just checked my notes from when I put in the VesselView.  At 3600 rpm I was going 28.8 MPH and 24.2 GPH.  So I guess I'm not as pokey as I thought.

Black_Diamond

Remember I am fresh water Ray..I bet the salt water helps a lot making the boat more bouyant. My FloScan reads 32/gph at cruise. 22P props. It does seem I am on the high end of gph but don't see a way to improve, the 24P props were a disaster to run with. I don't have a lot of stuff on board either, just my dinghy on the back. 

I've thought about how to add some dead weight to the bow to help, not sure what or where to put it and be safe.  

raybo3

Ahhh yes BD I forgot. I think we actually talked about that when you were here. 

Dream_Inn

Geez BD, you need to move to MD and get a 400!  I don't burn much more fuel than you.  :-)  I will say I had never paid much attention to how high the RPMs are and low top speed is on a 342 until I was riding on one again this past weekend.  For some reason I thought they'd cruise about the same as my old 310 or my 400, which is about 3800rpm at 32/33mph.

TonyWalker

Interesting about salt water vs fresh.  On our 2010 loop trip, I could not tell the performance difference in either.

Michael T

@TonyWalker.....just saw the picture of the Admiral driving your 342! :-) No wonder you didn't notice the difference....with the throttles pinned! LOL