Thread:

The Ultimate Outdrive from XPower

Billed as "the outdrive engineered to outperform," the XPower Drive had tongues wagging at the Los Angeles Boat Show in early February with its promise of harnassing up to 1,535 hp without failure.

CEO Bill Auberlen, famous for racing cars in the Grand-Am GT Series, American Le Mans Series and other circuits, began designing and developing the drive several years ago, working extensively on research and development. The XPower is intended as a direct replacement for stock Bravo outdirves, and features an X-dimension adjustable up to 5 inches. (It can be the same length as the stock drive or up to 5 inches shorter.) According to Auberlen, the drive has been tested to as many as 1,535 hp and 1,296 foot/pounds of torque with no failures.

The drive was designed, engineered and built with the same technologies and materials used in Formula One race cars. In designing the unit, Auberland employed an integrated oil filtration system and heat exchanger for compact packaging and exceptional cooling. It boasts a complete self-contained three-stage dry-sump system engineered to run with precise oil volume and pressure. The lower unit and skeg assembly was modeled with computational fluid dynamics for optimum hydrodynamic efficiency and minimum drag (up to 37 percent less drag than the competition, according to Auberlen. - Highlights from the Performanceboats.com news section by Brett Bayne.

Other highlights of the XPower Drive:

* A carbon-fiber removable cavitation plate, which can be replaced with an optional integrated aeration tube.

* Integrated oil heat exchanger for incredible cooling.

* A complete dry-sump system, all self-contained. The three-stage system runs precise pressures and volumes.

* A design that incorporates aircraft-certified hybrid proprietary metals.

For more information, call us at 800-225-9871.

PerformanceBoats.com will be one of the first to know a price when we get it. It has not been priced as of yet, but XPower and us are working hard on it for you guys.

if these are dumb questions...just consider the source

since the drive now becomes a surface drive and requires #6 style props, how does this impact a setup?

Are x dimensions and prop pitch used for Bravo style drives applicable to this drive?

Are there low water pickups on the drive or do those need to be moved to the hull?

are any so cal or havasu based shops being qualified to do installs and to do maintainence?

any warranty to back up the durability claims???

complete price including any necessary accessories (ie props, oil resevoirs, etc.) and availablity ????

thanks in advance

bueller???

Originally Posted by gmnhra

bueller???

Bare with me, I am working on getting the correct answers for you. This is a new product to us also so I am learning as I go. Should have something posted soon.

Brad

by the way my wife just noticed that the guy in the background of the first picture with the blue shirt holding the vodka/cran and the red bag is me...

Originally Posted by gmnhra

if these are dumb questions...just consider the source

since the drive now becomes a surface drive and requires #6 style props, how does this impact a setup?

Are x dimensions and prop pitch used for Bravo style drives applicable to this drive?

Are there low water pickups on the drive or do those need to be moved to the hull?

are any so cal or havasu based shops being qualified to do installs and to do maintainence?

any warranty to back up the durability claims???

complete price including any necessary accessories (ie props, oil resevoirs, etc.) and availablity ????

thanks in advance

Dear Gnmhra and CP Performance:

These are great questions posted earlier and a response would be appropriate.

Commentary:
_______________
The drive did not appear to be a surface drive in my opinion but rather a direct replacement for Bravo styled drives. If so then it makes this drive that much more appealing.

Additional, questions I would add to the above list are as follows:

1. Will this drive fit in a standard Bravo transom assembly with no modifications to helmet and gimbel etc...

2. Is the heat exchanger set inside the transom? any mods. to the transom for the plumbing. I cannot see how the entire system is integrated in the drive including the heat exchanger without some type of plumbing.

3. Also if horsepower and lack of failure claims are factually based where is the test boat(s) as XPower certainly would have tested this drive in both cat and v-bottom hulls as part of their research and development.

A drive product with such claims is unheard of in the marine industry and as such would be the subject of substantial doubt and guarded optimism to say the least. A video demonstration of the subject test boat(s) using the drive would have gone a long way into demonstrating the claims made including a cut away view of the internal components.

I hope to hear more once you have the oppotunity to investigate the claims made and gives us additional facts and details.

Very truly yours,

KAP

Originally Posted by Beer:30

Can the exhaust still run through the prop?











Sometimes I crack myself up

Now, thats funny!

Originally Posted by Hullshot

So where are the answers??? boating season is here, if this is going to be an optional upgrade we need facts for the statements and claims being made.... We're waiting. What is the website??

The website is www.xpowerdrive.com but there is still limited information available. I have submitted these questions to Bill of Xpower and I am still awaiting a response. Please be patient for I would like to get all these questions answered as soon as possible but more importantly correct.

Brad

Thanks for the follow up Brad.

KAP