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Many different engines from 60 to 480 hp can be installed in the Ax5.  When selecting your engine, the suitability of it to your installation skills and the power to weight should be the important factors.

In the boats that we delivered overseas for tourist operations we installed 80 hp Suzuki G13bb engines with jet pump drives.  We derated these to 60 hp by use of an impeller that limited the RPM.  With 60 hp the boats would do 37 mph (GPS) with 5 people on board.  They also had no problem getting on plane with 8+ people during testing.  The total weight of these boats ready to go was 900 lbs empty.

On our outboard powered factory demonstration boat we are using an older 125 hp 2 stoke outboard that we had sitting around.  We will add pictures of this as soon as we can.  We will also be putting together a 240 hp supercharged Ecotec powered I/O demonstration boat in a few months.

At the high end some customers have talked about using LS3 and big block V8 engines.  These more powerful engines will make the A5x fly.  So be careful!

We recommend that you chose an engine and drive system that suits your abilities.  The most simple installation is to use an outboard mounted with our outboard bracket.  Most DIY people could rig an outboard to the Ax5 in an afternoon since it is very simple.  The Ax5 should do over 40 mph with a 60 hp outboard.  A good performance choice is a 140 hp Suzuki outboard that can be bought new online for $8000.  The Ax5 with a 140 hp outboard should do over 60 mph.  With a 200 hp outboard the Ax5 should do about 75 mph.   Used outboards of course can be much cheaper.  With a little looking I found a few 5 to 7 year old used 4 stroke engines of about 150 hp for about $4500.  Two stroke and older engines tend to be only a little less.

Suzuki G13bb 80 hp to 100 hp Marine Conversion Engine

Suzuki G13bb with Jet Pump

For the more skilled DIYer, there many choices of inboard power using outdrives, surface drives or jet drives.  If you chose to go this route we can provide two different crate engines from 80 to 130 hp.  We offer an all aluminum 80 hp, 1300cc Suzuki G13bb with ECU, wiring, starter, alternator, marine exhaust manifold, heat exchanger and coupler to our jet pump for $2595.  The jet pump is not included and this engine can also be used with other drives.  This engine with our pump is a fairly straight forward installation but still requires more advanced DIY skills.  This engine has CE certification but does not have EPA certification at this time so is for demonstration and racing use only.

Ford Zetec 130 to 185 hp Crate Engine

We also have a 130 hp, 2000cc Ford Zetec crate engine for $1295 for our Ax5 customers or $1495 other customers.  This engine does not come with any accessories and requires more fabrication on the part of the customer to adapt this engine for marine use and to install it into the Ax5.  Many Zetec engines are installed in kit cars using the Megasquirt DIY ECU and there is lots of aftermarket support.  With aftermarket cams and the Megasquirt ECU you should be able to get about 185 hp from this engine and top out near 70 mph.  Our jet pump will work well with this engine but other drives can also be used.  The Zetec engine has CE and EPA certification but only in it's stock form so again it is for demonstration and racing use only.

GM LS3 430hp to 480 hp Crate Engine

Another route for the more skilled DIYer is the installation of other crate engines.  Some other engines to consider are any 4 cylinder to V8 Mercruiser package, Ford Duratec V6 engines, Ford Ecoboost turbo V6 engines, GM Ecotec engines,  GM supercharged Ecotec engines, GM V8 crate engines and just about any other similar engine.  One important consideration when selecting your engine is the availability of marine exhaust manifolds.  There are marine exhaust manifolds for many Ford and GM engines including small block V8s, big block V8s, LS series V8s and Ecotec.  Custom jacketed tubular headers can also be bought but they tend to be expensive.

Our low cost jet pump is great for inboard engines from 60 to 200 hp.  For more powerful engines there are many other drive options including Berkeley jets (www.berkeleyjet.com), American Turbine jets(www.americanturbine.com),mercruiser outdrives, sei outdrives (www.sterndrive.cc), Arneson surface drives (www.arneson-industries.com) and others. When you order your Ax5 let us know your intended power and drive we will do what we can to make sure it will fit well.

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