Volvo Penta V6 SX 4.3L 240 vs 250 Designation

[Beacon Boater]

I noticed Volvo Penta made a subtle change in their V6-SX 4.3 litre engine designations sometime in 2020.  I own a 2020 Chaparral 237, and my engine is a 4.3L V6 with a 262 ci, 240 hp designation.   Yet the same engine line up on the Volvo Penta website now designates that same engine as a 250 hp, with no reference to the 240 designation any longer.  What happened?  I could find not announcement or reference anywhere in the boating press or on the volvo site.

Did Volvo discover it was effectively producing 250 hp and change the designation to reflect that?   I feel a bit like I got the "old model" when it appears to be the same.  Are 240's now 250's?  

 

[cyclops2]

Oldest way to make a engine ....SOUND stronger ? 

Spin it a little faster.  Or   Just simply LIE.  Both ways are / have been done forever. 

OK  There is a 3rd way. A honest error in the testing  originally. 

[dan02gt]

My guess is that they we able to make a few small tweaks and gain a few more HP. Also the 4.5L MerCruiser is 250hp so I’m sure they wanted it to be comparable for marketing reasons. 

[cyclops2]

BINGO Dan  

[CKSNAP]

Most likely simply a paper change for marketing reasons. The 4.3 is a six cylinder variation of the small block Chevy V8 first introduced in 1955. There aren’t gonna be any new revolutionary HP increases in this 65 year old design that haven’t already been done. I’ve read Mercury uses a +/- 10% policy when rating engines. VP is probably the same That’s why the HP numbers always end in 10’s and 5’s. Looks good on paper. The 496 Mag is rated 375 hp by Merc but the GM Marine brochure rated it at 392 HP. The same brochure shows the 496 HO only producing 419 HP. The 27 hp performance difference in a marine environment is basically nil. I believe they tweak the numbers to justify the $5000 upcharge for the HO. Don’t sweat it. There’s probably no measurable difference between the 240 and 250. 

[cyclops2]

They both produce  235 shaft h p.   Just kidding.