[todc]

I am considering moving up to a 3500 Open from my current 3100 Open. I'm looking at both diesel and gas power. Anyone have good cruising fuel consumption data on the 3500 Open?

Thx, TodC

[trit21]

I own a 2000 3500 w/ cummins 370 diesels. I don't have any electronic gauges that state fuel burn and my numbers are based on fill up and range. I routinely get over 1mpg and mostly around 1.2. The performance specs that Tiara published for this boat are pretty accurate. They state 1.2 mpg at cruise of around 30 mph.

[Northbound]

We bought a 1998 35 open 3 years ago and love it. Last year we did a 1200 mile trip. Our best was about .93 mpg and worse was about .83 but our average was .91mpg. We cruise at about 25mph which is about 3500 rpm with our 454s. Our engines have about 600 hours on them.

[todc]

Thanks for the input - Was this a gas or diesel boat?

[Dennis]

Hi TodC

Last year we purchased a 2000 3800 open with diesels but had hunted long and hard for a 35 open. We had our hearts set on the 35. I did some major research and one thing I found out very quickly was not to purchase a 35ft Tiara with gas. Any Tiara dealer worth their distributorship would tell you that.
The boat is to heavy and the gas engines do not have enough torque to push that boat adequately.

I ended up with the 38 because it was less expensive and the wife said I like the bigger boat and when the wife says she likes the bigger boat I was not going to complain. The gas consumption was a major factor and I burn 4-5 more gallons per hour at cruise compared to the 35 Tiara but if I pull back to 17-18 knots its less.

Go to boattest.com it has accurate test specs and this will help your decision making process. :up: :up:

[Uhehner]

We have a 36 convertible with 8.1 Crusaders. WOT is in the mid 30's, cruise is 22-24 at 3200. It can easily meet the 1.2 MPG and the torque will throw you out the back of the boat if you slam the throttles. We are talking 8.1 multiport fuel injection, not 454's or carburators. Big difference. Easy starts, smooth running, no smell, quite. Capt. George

[Chris Burkard]

The 3500 Open is a great boat with diesels. Tiara only built a few 35s with gas engines and usually for short season areas where diesel is hard to find. I have run a gas 35 and it runs well, just slow and with a much greater fuel burn than the diesel versions. Cruising speed 20 to 21knots getting .75 mpg. The Cummins diesel version cruises between 24 and 26 knots getting 1.15 and 1.2 mpg (salt water, mild temps, calm sea conditions and normal loading). Fresh water will produce slightly lower speed and slightly worse fuel economy.

[Virginia414]

What was your consumption on the 31? What engines?

[ingram622]

I just went from Gas to Diesel engines. Amazing difference. The torque and handling around the docks with diesel way surpasses gas engines. However there are plus and minuses for both. Gas gets less MPG, worse handling around the dock, shorter life but much less maintenance costs and repairs and replacements are WAY less. Diesel better milage, handling around the dock is much better, longer life but maintenance is more. I went from 8 quart oile changes each motor to 9 gallon oil changes (ouch).

So at the end of the day if the diesel is priced right, low hours I would say that is the way to go especially when getting to a heavy boat. The gas engines on a 35 would be working very hard and drinking a lot of fuel.

[Chris Burkard]

Once you get over 31 feet, diesel is really the way to go unless you have a super short boating season and you only day boat or very short trips. Anything else and diesel is best. The 31 Tiara can go either way. It runs well with gas or diesel.