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Soon, we had rounded Destin's famous sandbar and made our way into the light chop of Choctawhatchee Bay, where Garland literally firewalled the Volvo electronic throttles, which is the best way to get this boat over the "hump. The supercharged D6 diesels love it. Here are notes I took while Garland drove and also after I'd had some time at the helm:
In summation, the marriage of Tiara's hull design with the new Volvo system is amazing. Builders like Tiara will certainly be offering IPS on a wide variety of boats. Of course, you can have the IPS Sovran 4000 right now. It's pricey—over $500,000 (the exact price is still to be determined)—but it comes well-equipped with many traditional Tiara options as standard items. "IPS is priced to performance, says Dave Northrop, Tiara's vice president of sales and marketing. By that he means its cost reflects that of larger engines that would be needed for comparable performance. The twin IPS 370s on this boat perform as well or better than conventional twin 480s would, so the price is about the same.
"Our dealers have never been so enthusiastic over a new model, says Northrop. It's not only the 4000's performance that has them pumped, but also its accommodations. Tiaras are known for their livable interiors, but the 4000 breaks new ground—literally. Thanks to IPS (which is mounted farther aft than conventional inboard power), what was once an engine room is now a guest stateroom, and an inviting one at that, with twin berths (or optional queen), high headroom, a vanity and a head/shower stall (see "Room for Much More). Even with conventional power (the 36 and 44 Sovrans have V-drives) and only one stateroom, this would be a hot boat. It's strong and impeccably finished, with a minimum of parts that have to be caulked at their seams. Aft seating in the cockpit is U-shaped because there's a single transom door. The L-shaped helm lounge is elevated so that even from the aft section the water ahead is visible. The hardtop is beautifully integrated with the windshield for a totally dry environment that can be air-conditioned. The all-white helm is clean, but would benefit from traditional Tiara non-glare gray on the flat area. I'd also like a helm-side glove box. Two interior styling innovations are striking—"vessel-style sinks (they're like bowls) atop the vanities, and a vinyl-encased TV in the salon. The former is a hot item in high-end homes. The latter is stark looking. A table can be secured for dining or as a filler in front of the comfortable Ultraleather settee, whose L-section can be replaced with a washer/dryer. New, full-length running strakes and the elimination of a keel define the 4000's new IPS-friendly hull. I was most impressed by how quick and quiet the boat is. In the salon at idle, I measured only 62 decibels; at cruise it's 78 decibels (81 in the cockpit). The absence of vibration, except in neutral, is phenomenal. Leaving the slip, the 4000 threaded its way around a corner that any other boat its size would have had to negotiate by using reverse at least once. The advantages of IPS propulsion are myriad. Exhaust components are virtually nonexistent. Damaged drives are easily replaced, and the 4000 gets a mile a gallon at cruise. The arrival of IPS marks a propulsion breakthrough that Tiara has been among the first to take full advantage of. Now it's your turn.Z
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I was psyched! I've probably tested a dozen new Tiaras over the years, but never with the degree of anticipation I felt as I arrived at Galati Yacht Sales in Destin, Fla., with Dave Walsh, Tiara's marketing director, to sea-trial the new Tiara Sovran 4000. My curiosity was intense because this boat had been built entirely around Volvo Penta's radically new Inboard Performance System (IPS)—a diesel propulsion package whose drives mount beneath the boat, rather than on its transom, and whose four Duoprop propellers face forward rather than aft (see Motor Boating, January). The concept is revolutionary. I was about to witness the application.
The Sovran 4000's aft guest stateroom (top left) is courtesy of its IPS propulsion system. Normally in a Sovran, inboard diesel V-drive power plants are installed under the upper cockpit. In the new 4000, however, the engine room begins aft of this level, freeing up enough interior space for an extra stateroom and head beneath the helm deck. One of the actual engine/drive units on the 4000 is pictured below. (A generic view of the drives is shown in the rendering, left.)
IPS is a complete system, with every component accounted for. Only one hole for each drive has to be made in the hull. Cooling water enters through the drive rather than through a seacock. Exhaust exits through the drive, eliminating the need for mufflers. The engines angle toward each other from front to back, as do the stringers, in order to align properly with the drives.
