Thread: Turbo Diesels in marine applications?

Does anybody know of any go-fast applications using turbo diesels? With all the work Audi has done in this area, it seems like it would be a good way to go...good power, and great fuel economy.

Curious if anything fast is running out there with this type of setup.

Define "go-fast"
Turbo / Diesel is not uncommon in marine applications, in fact it's the defacto standard once you get out of pickle forks, and weekend / trailer boats.

Go fast meaning over 50kts? And how big of a boat are you thinking? 20M or greater?

Nortech uses sea-tek diesels in their 50' V's

I have twin cummins turbo diesels. But I'm not a "go-fast".

They are great for big boats but generally not "Fast" by any means. Diesels are HEAVY with a narrow powerband, not ideal at all for speed.

You know turbines can run on diesel and those go fast.

I tried to come up with a better term than "go-fast" but was trying to separate out the bigger yachts that were running diesel vs. the sport boats that are trying a more high performance setup. Any combination of words seems to mean different things in this area.

The high-performance offhsore market really seems to be into fragile, huge cubic inch monster motors that run on race gas. I was just wondering if there are people making the switch to hi-performance diesel, and it sounds like Nortech is along with a few others.

Turbines don't count since they are gobbling up the fuel no matter what

Originally Posted by prohydro

Turbines don't count since they are gobbling up the fuel no matter what

Turbines use less fuel per MPH than piston..

Originally Posted by waterboy222

Turbines use less fuel per MPH than piston..

Good point, but...which are you going to be able run on the lake longer during a "normal" day, a piston or a turbine? I'm not arguing against turbines by any stretch.

As long as you aren't idling around all day, the turbine would still be the most efficient. If you consider "on-plane, in powerband" movement for an entire weekend, then the turbine wins hands down.. But if you gotta idle around a lot, piston is the way to go...

Im only being objective about the turbine because its the future, unfortunately..

Yea unfortunately turbines are the wave of the future in go fast, but then will come noise ordinances I would assume.

Once you get over about 40' in cruisers it gets hard to get a gas motor. Sucks if your like me and on a lake with no diesel and want a decent sized MY. Carrying 400gals or so down the dock is a PITA so you have to take a chance and have a truck meet you at a bridge!