Russell Ingall repowers a bargain Riviera M400
Bought for a steal, this Riviera M400 has had a refurb and repower by the V8 racing car champWith a monicker of "The Enforcer" and a long list of impressive V8 driving records, Russell Ingall is not stranger to the track. But he's also a keen boater, making headlines with his previous 48 and 50 footer Maritimo cruisers, and now for a pretty neat refurb and repower of a preloved Riviera M400.
As Mercury Marine is quick to point out, Ingall chose a pair of its diesel TDI 370hp engines with Bravo 3 drives — and Mercury’s Joystick Piloting system — to repower the petrol MerCruisers on his Riviera sportscruiser.
From all accounts, the M400 has been a special project and Russell is said to be proud as punch of the outcome. As you can see in the photos hereabouts, the reborn boat looks impressive in metallic silver sprinting down the Broadwater.
"I made a ridiculous offer for the boat," said Ingall, a Gold Coast local. "I got it but it hadn’t seen much love. I thought the work might take a couple of months but it took twice as long.
"I’m very happy with the results though. It looks like a brand new boat and it feels like one. It’s economical, quiet, and has tonnes of grunt," Ingall says in the Mercury dispatch.
DIESEL REPOWER
The famous race-car driver engaged the help of Boat Service Gold Coast in Coomera to effect the repower. The old MerCruiser 496s petrol engines were removed and replaced the diesel TDI 370s that are known for their grunt and fuel efficiency.
"These Mercury diesel engines are really impressive," Ingall said. “They’ve taken the best of modern European car technology and adapted it for the marine environment, so you have engines which have a far better power-to-weight ratio and are seriously durable.”
We understand the subsequent on-water testing revealed the M400 has a top speed of 34 knots at 4150rpm, with both engines combined using 158 litres of fuel an hour. Not that you run them up there for an hour, mind you,
Cruising at a very comfortable 25 knots and 3200rpm, fuel consumption drops to 100lt/hr, Mercury says. That's about par for the course for twin 370hp diesel engines on a 40ft cruiser.
Given this boat has 1100lt tank, 90 per cent of that capacity should provide a safe cruising range of about 250nm by our reckoning.
JOYSTICK DOCKING
Ingall also fitted Mercury’s Joystick Piloting system to make his M400 easy to dock and manoeuvre in tight spots.
"The joystick system is just amazing. It makes me feel like I’ve been driving boats all my life instead of cars. You can go forward, backward, sideways and the GPS anchoring feature just sticks the boat in the one spot – fantastic," he said.
DASH REDESIGN
The dash of Ingall's M400 was reconfigured with the latest electronics including Digital Throttle and Shift for smooth shifts and fast throttle response, while a VesselView 702 relays real-time data and engine performance.
REPOWERING OPTIONS
As we go to press with this press release in late 2016, Ingall apparently has his refurbed and repowered M400 'dialled in' and is planning a family holiday to Moreton Island.
"For me, it confirms you don’t have to spend big money on a new boat. Repowering a second-hand boat can give them a completely new lease of life and you have fun doing it," he said.
THE RIVIERA M400
You can read more about the Riviera M400 in this
early Riviera M400 review. At the time of writing, we had four M400s listed on our sites with boats fetching a tad under $200k.
The sterndrive sportscruiser was a very popular model pre-GFC with new boaters. The attraction of the M400 is an especially big interior for family weekends and a spacious cockpit designed around long lunches afloat.
More at Mercury Marine.
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