All the reviews on these have been very good. More power due to horizontal thrust, meaning smaller engine to move a comparably sized boat, meaning much better fuel economy.

There was a concern with these about what would happen if they hit ground. One of the mags was testing the engies, I think in a Tiara (which was the first to use these), and they - you guessed it - hit ground. Evidently, they bent the props, like you would a conventional, but didn't do any great damage beyond what you would normally do to a sterndrive.

They say you can turn much tighter circles.

Everything I've seen on these has been double thumbs up, and their applications are spreading as more boat makers design around them.

Gresch - you don't want a pair of big Merc Vdrives unless you have connections in Venezuela or the Middle East. Trust me, I have huge MErcs (8.1L 370's) in a V-drive, and they eat gas like there's no tomorrow. When a tank of gas cost about $400 (2 years ago), it wasn't so bad. Now that that same tank is about $1100, it makes for an expensive day on the water. I'm about a tank and a half from Key West, and I can fly my family of 5 there and back cheaper now.