Osprey Vipermax Review in this months PBR

OSPREY RIBS · 07 January 2016, 21:42

Have just received our copy, and PBR have written a very positive review of the 6.8 along with a brief history of Osprey over the years.

It's good to see our hard work being recognised

and long overdue for Osprey to be back in the boating press.

RMS · 07 January 2016, 22:18

Not seen it yet. Is it the same boat. That went to Scilly .

OSPREY RIBS · 07 January 2016, 23:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by RMS

Not seen it yet. Is it the same boat. That went to Scilly .

Yes the Vipermax 6.8m with G2 200HO E-TEC

69cmw · 07 January 2016, 23:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by OSPREY RIBS

Yes the Vipermax 6.8m with G2 200HO E-TEC

Is the 6.8VM the same as the 6.5VM and just been measured slightly different or is it a new design?

Xk59D · 08 January 2016, 08:03

How is the g2 going now it has a bit of use, did they comment on it in your article?

Not too much talk of them in USA, probably due to the price they are unfortunately out there compared to other options. As our cousins like atleast 2 engines on most rigs the pricing looks like it is hurting them bad out there. You read on THT they are circa 15k more for twins over same size Suzuki, OUCH (which are "cheap" in USA due to the dominance of Yamaha it seems) and 5k more than the yams the USA love.

I see they are offering a 7 year warranty though which can only be a good thing, not sure if UK gets that though.

The fuel numbers look impressive from what I've seen anyway regardless of what they are hung on.

OSPREY RIBS · 08 January 2016, 08:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xk59D

How is the g2 going now it has a bit of use, did they comment on it in your article?

Not too much talk of them in USA, probably due to the price they are unfortunately out there compared to other options. As our cousins like atleast 2 engines on most rigs the pricing looks like it is hurting them bad out there. You read on THT they are circa 15k more for twins over same size Suzuki, OUCH (which are "cheap" in USA due to the dominance of Yamaha it seems) and 5k more than the yams the USA love.

I see they are offering a 7 year warranty though which can only be a good thing, not sure if UK gets that though.

The fuel numbers look impressive from what I've seen anyway regardless of what they are hung on.

The G2 has about 100 hours on it now and has proved to be everything we hoped. The unexpected bit is fuel consumption, I have no idea how they have managed to improve it so much over the previous G1 E-TEC which were already very good. Compared to the Honda 225 four stroke we had on one of our previous Vipermax's its using 35% less fuel at cruising speeds

Sales on the G2 must be going well as lead times are long at the moment due to demand. Not sure about US pricing, however in the UK the retail price of a Suzuki 250XL is £20,995 and the G2 E-tec is £20,309 both manufactures offer similar levels of discount to the trade so depending on who your buying from I would imagine they are similar in price.

The G2 however comes with built in Power steering and as the boat builder we only need to supply a standard helm unit which retails at £450.00 Whereas the equivalent Suzuki will require a full steering system which comes in at around £2k for a SeaStar power assisted system.

BogMonster · 08 January 2016, 09:31

Interesting - I read a test of something running twin G2s in PBR recently (it was a Humber I think) and they were claiming somewhere around 1L/NM out of twin 200 G2s. I thought it must have been a mistake, but perhaps it wasn't? I did wonder if it was that per engine though, which would be slightly more believable (but still impressive).

I look forward to the review and it will be good to see more coverage of Osprey

Xk59D · 08 January 2016, 09:52

Good info thanks.

The fuel burn people are seeing in USA seems to back up claims of better economy than the yams they like out there, not sure about Honda's to be fair as never read about them in 225hp guise. I assume this economy is down to DFI rather than the EFI all the current 4 strokes use, they have perhaps increased fuel rail pressure over the g1 with better injectors to improve on that side. Coupled with better exhausts etc ofcourse. As reference my 2012 200 zuke is 0.9lpm on a 6.8 ribcraft, how that compares with a 6.8 osprey I don't know. If you are really careful you can eek out 0.8 but it is tough work!

There seems to be a bit of a price war on in USA just now as Suzuki is MUCH cheaper than yam or evinrude. They do like their yams though as anything else does impact boat resale out there for some reason, perceived quality perhaps???. As an example someone was ( and there are more threads on it ofcourse) quoted 47k for a pair of g2 250's rigged and 33k for zuke 250's rigged. Many many threads of similar quotes for 200-300hp so there is certainly a difference out there atleast, expensive steering not helping G2 repower quotes when owners will want to use existing I assume. BRP now responding with 0% finance and 7 year warranty, perhaps that will come here too in due course.

Anyway, thanks for info and good news on your article for a good UK brand

Stuart1975 · 08 January 2016, 10:15

Have PBR ever done anything except positive reviews. feels like its a let us drive your boat and we will say its good type deal going on when I read reviews

69cmw · 08 January 2016, 11:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stuart1975

Have PBR ever done anything except positive reviews. feels like its a let us drive your boat and we will say its good type deal going on when I read reviews

Aye your correct, they even like Brig ribs !!! 😄

willk · 08 January 2016, 12:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by 69cmw

Aye your correct, they even like Brig ribs !!! ��

Highfield RIBs seem to have fallen out of favour. Maybe they didn't give them a free ride recently?

Dan Gurney · 08 January 2016, 14:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stuart1975

Have PBR ever done anything except positive reviews. feels like its a let us drive your boat and we will say its good type deal going on when I read reviews

This.

two stroke mick · 08 January 2016, 14:54

There is the possibility where a rib does not meet the mark as required, or precieved to be required then the article is not printed in PBR.

rocknrolla · 08 January 2016, 17:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stuart1975

Have PBR ever done anything except positive reviews. feels like its a let us drive your boat and we will say its good type deal going on when I read reviews

No Looey if they are shit there shit

Dan Gurney · 08 January 2016, 18:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by two stroke mick

There is the possibility where a rib does not meet the mark as required, or precieved to be required then the article is not printed in PBR.

That is indeed possible, but it doesn't stop the mag feeling like a collection of puff pieces stuck together with adverts.

Chris Caton · 09 January 2016, 11:21

maybe the good reports are due to better build quality

Ian M · 09 January 2016, 16:09

I seem to remember in their previous guise giving a large XS a right pasting. Flexing hull is the criticism that I remember.

rocknrolla · 10 January 2016, 19:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ian M

I seem to remember in their previous guise giving a large XS a right pasting. Flexing hull is the criticism that I remember.

Me an TT was down the show ystdy there was a xs there lkt a nice bit of kit,on u tube there is a good vid of the 8m in big ruff water it was more than capable dry ride azwel

and e iz given it the beans

Ian M · 10 January 2016, 20:46

Not saying the large XS is good or bad, I would not know, although I used to have a smaller XS, just that there have been some, if not negative, certainly not positive reviews.

Daniel · 11 January 2016, 07:53

I also saw the big XS at LBS yesterday; they've upped their game in terms of bells and whistles and shiney bits. I'm back here today; I'll grab a photo.