Pre-90’s or Post 90’s Exhaust?

I'm interested to see peoples feedback on exhaust preference. Do you like the pre-90's exhaust roar or the quiet, single exhaust with excellent mufflers? There's something classic about the tone and volume of pre-90's Nautique whether it's idling or winding up to speed. You've got to love it when heads turn at the boat ramp when you start up the dual exhaust Nautique, versus a high-pitch outboard or "bubbly" sounding I/O. I get chills eveytime I hear my '86 start up.

I love the sound qualit of the exhaust in my '79SN. It's hard to beat that American V8 rumble. It is however a bit loud when underway. It makes it hard for passengers to hear each other.

On the otherhand my '02 Ski 196 with single exhaust sounds like an electric blender. It has almost no rumble.

Ideally what I would like is a true dual exhaust setup like my '79 has but with slightly quieter mufflers.

On another note I think I'm going to try to better insulate my motorbox and seal it a little better against the floor to try and reduce the engine noise the passengers have to listen to. We'll see how it goes.

Yes, you both have a point...the engine/tranny noise dominates with the quieter exhaust. I too have toyed with the idea of sound insulating the motor box.

All I want to hear is the water slapping against the hull (from the outside).

I wonder how much a 300HP electic motor plus batteries for a 6 hour run time would weigh and consume in space?

Nautique2001 wrote: For cruising purposes around the lake with family and friends, I would choose a single exhaust with quality mufflers. When skiing or tooling around with your buddies, has to rumble. Got to love the American V8!

You hit the nail on the head, I guess I need more ski buddies....

To me it's an era thing. Classic boats should have that classic sound. Loud modern boats are just that - Loud. BKH

Wait til jbear wakes up from his nap, I'm sure he'll have something to say about this.

Guys: I bought the "80 off this site because Dixeelegger advertised it as "no mufflers but avalible if you want them". Those mufflers are still sleeping in my attic. I do have a radio in the boat (surprise) but never play it. Talking is for when you are floating enjoying a cold one. Besides, it is to hard to talk with that big sh_t-eating grin you get when you push the throttle down. And I love it when every head on the ramp turns when Mrs. jbear fires her up. When I went to test the boat, I told Dixeelegger it was sold as soon as he started her up. But I had him put it in the water just to humor Mrs. jbear. She wondered later why I bothered to put it in the water. She knew by the sound that I was gonna buy. I had 3 quiet boats in a row before the '80. Sorry this is so long. Wanted to make it worth waking up from my nap.


john

Alan: Like I said in my post, it was sold the moment the PO started it on the ramp. We just put it in the water to humor Mrs. jbear. I knew I wanted it right away when I saw it in the For Sale section. It is an exact twin for the 81 I wrecked the weekend before Mrs. jbear graduated from college. Almost threw her out of the boat and hurt her foot bad. Had to go accross the stage on a crutch and a dress shoe. But she never got mad. She is awesome. Ya know how these old boats will spin out at high speed if you get the rear end loose in a wake or some rollers? Well thats what happened. Scared me.

john