WELCOME TO RIVER DAVES PLACE

Input on an ESSEX 24 Ft Valor with the 350 6.2L

Tank0088

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2016
Messages
371
Reaction score
619
First off, I'm new to River Dave's. So Hi. I have been around boats my whole life, but they have always been my dads or other family members. It is time for my first boat. I have been looking at some different boats and the Essex 24ft Valor has caught my eye. I am looking for a boat that can handle the Havasu chop and not get my butt kicked like you do in a 21 Ft boat, but I can't afford a boat like my dad's 28 FT DCB. I would like to still be able to wakeboard but also go faster then 45mph like a wakeboard boat. Any advise on the boat or the motor I would appreciate.

Thanks
 

Runs2rch

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2013
Messages
9,455
Reaction score
9,445
The Valor is a nice boat. The 6.2 is a 377. It will run okay with that. I would go with an 8.2 ho. Price difference is not much for how much you gain.
 

X-Flight-ADL

New Member
Joined
Mar 18, 2016
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
First off, I'm new to River Dave's. So Hi. I have been around boats my whole life, but they have always been my dads or other family members. It is time for my first boat. I have been looking at some different boats and the Essex 24ft Valor has caught my eye. I am looking for a boat that can handle the Havasu chop and not get my butt kicked like you do in a 21 Ft boat, but I can't afford a boat like my dad's 28 FT DCB. I would like to still be able to wakeboard but also go faster then 45mph like a wakeboard boat. Any advise on the boat or the motor I would appreciate.

Thanks

I owned a Essex 22 Vortex for 14 years. Bought it the year before the 24 Valor was available or I would have purchased the valor. Essex is definitely a well made boat and Ron Sanchez (owner of Essex) pays attention to quality. It had a 496 (not an HO) motor with 375 HP. Top speed was 60 to 65 depending on the number of people in the boat and weight of gas in the tank. I was told the HO added about 5MPH on the top end but did NOT add to pulling a skier or wake boarder out of the hole. That said, the boat always performed well with that motor and I usually had 4 to 6 adults in the boat. However, occasionally I had to have 2 or 3 adults go to the bow when I was pulling out a heavy skier or one with little experience. Mid range speed was very good and boat handling was excellent. The boat rides very nicely until you get into some heavy 3 ft Havasu chop and then you are in for a rougher ride with some occasional hard pounding depending on how you drive the boat. The Valor might be better with the added two feet. Keep the boat maintained really well and you will have LOTS of fun and great memories. I highly recommend calling Mark at Savage Marine if you need a good mechanic. Hope this helps.
BTW, I just sold my Essex two months ago and bought a 27ft XFlight from Advantage Boats in Havasu. They also make excellent boats.
 
Top