tomoad
Active Member
as far as power goes, is the 280 really stouter or have more torque on bottom, what the biggest difference beside the charging, electronics
280 vs 260
- Thread starter tomoad
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hullbilly
Active Member
I'm by no means a mechanical expert of these motors, but I'll offer up what I know. I bought a new 2005 280 and in stock form they are very consumer friendly engines. They idle wonderfully, partly due to a much more complicated electrical/computer system. I believe the computer pulls voltage away from the fuel pump or something exciting like that. So, they idle better than the older motors. The charging system is very effective at charging. I'm sure you know that the 280 has an alternator that is ran off a belt system which attaches to the flywheel. This system does not come without it's draw backs. The alternator does not allow the motor to turnt he rpm's that the old motors did. With a good 280 box that has been worked, you can expect @8600 rpms. That what mine did.
I have recently put the old style electronics on my 280 with an A6 ECU and the motor turned @9300 with stock heads. This swap really woke the motor up and was not extremely difficult to do. It still idles good, but doesn't have the charging system. The 280 exhaust chest is supposedly very close to the drag motors, where the 260 is not. Both are great motors. If you want to race, you're just looking at an electornics change out with the 280.
If you fish and or ski, the stock 280 seemed like a great fit.
mark
I have recently put the old style electronics on my 280 with an A6 ECU and the motor turned @9300 with stock heads. This swap really woke the motor up and was not extremely difficult to do. It still idles good, but doesn't have the charging system. The 280 exhaust chest is supposedly very close to the drag motors, where the 260 is not. Both are great motors. If you want to race, you're just looking at an electornics change out with the 280.
If you fish and or ski, the stock 280 seemed like a great fit.
mark
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chad202
Well-Known Member
The little bit I know is that the exhaust chest of the 280 is all opened up like the S3000 and the 260 has more meat so it's more restrictive. The ports of the 260 are a little bigger than the 280 but smaller than the S3000. The last year of the 280 went with the 5-pedal sportjet vs the 7pedal boysens but intakes are basically the same. The electrics on the 280 need smarter equipment to work on them than the 260. You can race with the 280 electrics, they're good to around 9400. A very good friend of mine races his and has 3-stage nitrous.
hullbilly
Active Member
Thanks for the info.....9400 with 280 electrics...wow...is that with the alternator in tact?????? That's awesome, but I'm still glad I changed to drag electrics. Much more knowledge and data out there for race tuning.
Just for a reference, the modified classes in the DSRA are all turning well over 10,000 rpms. I think some are at 11K with no nos.
fishing or racing the 280 block is better all around with the "right" electrics for each application. as for the ports, the 260 has higher ports on the top from the deck but lower on the bottom from port entry. the exhaust is a little lower on the 280 but very close on the tansfers and boosters. it's the bottom "entry" where the difference is. transfer port entry on the 260 is 4.185" and the 280 is 4.055. booster port entry on the 260 is 4.751 and the 280 is 4.575. on a drag motor the transfer entry is about .080 higher than the 280. the s3000 and early drag are very identical to the 260 on top from the deck but waaaaayyy different on the port entry and also exhaust chest. for more info look on scream and fly and do a search on "280 port map".
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hullbilly
Active Member
Will do! Thanks
chad202
Well-Known Member
Mark, what Spence said. lol
suicidealli
Well-Known Member
the 260 has more bottom end torque than a 280 on pump gas. i didn't see that answered anywhere.
roy
roy
BP1
Active Member
I have both and have found the opposite to be true,
The only thing a stock 280 gives up to a stock 260 will be the abilty to turn higher rpm due to engine electricals.
And since the limiter can be raised or removed on the 280 box it's a non-issue for most people.
IMO the 280 does everything better.
If you want to twist it to 10,000 get a drag!
The only thing a stock 280 gives up to a stock 260 will be the abilty to turn higher rpm due to engine electricals.
And since the limiter can be raised or removed on the 280 box it's a non-issue for most people.
IMO the 280 does everything better.
If you want to twist it to 10,000 get a drag!
bigtis
Active Member
I've turned my stock no rev 280 with alternator to 95-9600 every pass before in the 1/8'th. It made 98-9900 one time, stretching it with a 20p yammi on 1.87's and a xr01drag. with the same setup, the boat would be on
9K by 300-335ft. it stopped pulling hard around 91-9200. then with trim and stretching would make a little more. it done the same thing with every wheel I put on it that it could spin over 9K.:beer:
9K by 300-335ft. it stopped pulling hard around 91-9200. then with trim and stretching would make a little more. it done the same thing with every wheel I put on it that it could spin over 9K.:beer:
jbf 2002
Active Member
Box stock to box stock, Any thing you make extra in the 280 you loose turning the belt driven alternator. I have been in the Mercury Racing shop during a dyno pull three times and each time a different powerhead and every time quite the show. Balzy used to include this when he still had his balz to the wall.
j.f.
j.f.
the 260(in theory) has potential to make more power just by modifying the exhaust chest, and your not stuck w/ cdm's or weird electronics. just took a box stock 99 260, modified the chest, put a 1" spacer on it, and made 295 hp on the dyno(at the prop), and you can alter the timing on them(260), and your not saddled w/ o ring heads(expensive to mill), the only beat thing is the charging, which can be solved w/ a simon alternator kit