Axis Wakeboard Boat Forum

I'm ordering a '18 A24. I had the 450 motor in my '17 A24 and was pleased with the performance. We mainly surf by the way. With the new transmission and 17" prop is the standard motor going to be good enough or should I upgrade to the 450 again. I just don't know if there is enough performance difference to justify the extra money for the 450. Anyone that has any insight or been on a boat with both engines let me know. Thanks!

Great question... I will have the same one soon hopefully subscribed

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How much weight do you run? Your elevation?

I tested an 18 A24 in Las Vegas (1100 feet) with the base motor and it did very well with full ballast and PNP with 3 adult men in the boat. With power wedge II it also got to wakeboarding speeds in pretty impressive fashion. It would be a no-brainer to me if I lived in low elevation and mostly surfed to stick with the base motor. You can always prop down if you have to, unless cruising is also a priority.

I am conflicted because I am at 2700 and boat sometimes at 3600 feet. Eager to hear other opinions. Cruising is sort of important to me because I do sometimes cruise on a large lake, and also do some wakeboarding/foiling with speeds as fast as 25 MPH. I don't want to have to do that at 4500 RPM.

according to the California Air Resources Board's horsepower ratings for PCM's 6.0 (the "409" in axis speak) and 6.0 high output (the "450") motors, the 6.0 is rated at 363 HP and the 6.0HO is 374 HP. Compare for yourself:

450: https://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/offroad/c ... 3-0048.pdf
409: https://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/offroad/c ... 3-0049.pdf (note that this one also includes the 5.0 and 5.7 motors)

(ratings are in KW, so you have to convert to horsepower)

Assuming that those numbers are accurate (a topic of much armchair QB'ing), I am doubting you'd feel that difference from the driver's seat. I did a little bit of googling and was hoping to explain the very slight difference to the testers using regular fuel in the 450 instead of premium, but from what I can tell, where premium is prescribed for warranty purposes (which it is for the 450), premium (91 octane) is supposed to be used in the test. <--- not an expert and ICBW about that.

If you have 93 available, I'd 'spose it's possible that PCM's tune would advance timing a bit more than the CARB numbers would suggest. Purely hypothetical for me, as 91 is the highest octane available in my area.

If it were me, I'd be putting that upgrade money into clamping racks or SP3 instead of the 450.