August 20, 2026
Sea Ray SLX 310 Outboard: Same Number, Different Boat
Sea Ray builds two boats called SLX 310, and the outboard is the longer, lighter, faster one: 33'10" against 31'6", 10,335 lb dry against 11…
Read the articleThe Sea Ray SLX Series
The sport boats — SLX 280 Outboard to SLX 400 Outboard, 31'5" to 42'2", on Mercury sterndrives and Verado outboards
The SLX line is where Sea Ray puts its best finishes and its newest technology. These are day boats first: the cockpit is the room that matters, the wet bar is standard rather than an option, and the swim platform is treated as living space rather than a place to store a ladder.
Eight SLX models are reviewed here, and what separates them is not size so much as how the power reaches the water. Sea Ray builds most of this line twice — the 310, the 350 and the 400 each exist as a sterndrive and as an outboard, and they are not the same boat with different motors. The sterndrives keep their engines inside the hull on Bravo Three drives, which buys a clear transom, a full-width swim platform, and weight carried low and inboard. The outboard versions are longer over the same accommodation, lighter, faster at the top end, shallower with the drives up, and serviced at the transom instead of through a hatch.
The whole line carries a 21-degree deadrise, which is the number that explains why these boats stay civilised in a chop that has flatter hulls slapping.
The SLX Lineup, Smallest to Largest
Every Sea Ray SLX model we review in depth, in the order owners step up through the series.
Photo credit Sea Ray.
A 31'5" outboard sport boat with twin 250 Verado power and Joystick Piloting standard, 135 gallons of fuel and a Sea Ray-published 180-mile cruising range — but fresh water only arrives with the Water System Bundle.
A 31'6" sterndrive dayboat: twin MerCruiser 4.5L with Joystick Piloting standard, 21° deadrise, a wet bar aft, and a published 44–50 mph.
The outboard SLX 310: 33'10" on the same 10'3" beam as the sterndrive, 917 lb lighter, 158 gallons, twin 300 Verado standard, 33-39 mph cruise.
A 36'0" sterndrive dayboat that keeps its transom clear: twin MerCruiser 6.2L with Joystick Piloting standard, an air-conditioned Port Hideaway, 21° deadrise and a published 44–52 mph.
At 38'0" and 13,027 lb the outboard SLX 350 is two feet longer and 1,208 lb lighter than the sterndrive, with twin 350 Verado V10s, seating for 18 and a published 48–64 mph.
Triple 300 Verados, a 35–38 mph cruise, 49–52 mph wide open and 238 miles at cruise — all four Sea Ray's own.
39'9" of sterndrive sport boat with a published 47–50 mph wide-open band, 250 gallons and a transom with nothing bolted to it.
42'2", triple 300 Verados standard and twin 600 hp V12s optional, with a fold-down swim terrace that opens the cockpit to the water.
Don't see the SLX model you're after — or a brand-new launch? Request specs through Yacht Specs Direct.
Moving Up the SLX Series
SLX 280 Outboard31'5"SLX 31031'6"SLX 310 Outboard33'10"SLX 35036'0"SLX 350 Outboard38'0"SLX 360 Outboard38'1"SLX 40039'9"SLX 400 Outboard42'2"
The SLX 280 Outboard at 31'5" opens the line. Twin Mercury 250 Verados, 135 gallons, 8,053 lbs dry, and a published 50–52 mph wide open with a 29–31 mph cruise. One specification to catch before you order: its water and holding tanks both read "Requires Water System Bundle" — there is no fresh water standard on this hull.
The SLX 310 at 31'6" is the sterndrive of the pair. Twin MerCruiser 4.5L engines at 250 hp a side with Joystick Piloting standard, 6.2L options to 350 hp, 130 gallons, and a published 44–50 mph.
The SLX 310 Outboard at 33'10" is the same model number and a different boat — 2'4" longer on an unchanged 10'3" beam, 917 lbs lighter, 28 more gallons of fuel, and a published 54–61 mph with a 33–39 mph cruise and a 187-mile range on the standard twin 300 Verados. Those figures belong to the standard boat, so run the optional 350 or 400 package before you order one.
The SLX 350 at 36'0" is the six-rung engine ladder of the line: 6.2L Bravo Three at 300 hp a side through 8.2 MAG at 380, with or without SeaCore, plus an optional Dynamic Running Surface. 160 gallons, 14,235 lbs dry, 44–52 mph published. Its air-conditioned portside Port Hideaway is the day-extender that makes the cockpit work past sundown.
The SLX 350 Outboard at 38'0" is two feet longer and 1,208 lbs lighter on the same 10'6" beam and the same 160 gallons, and it converts that arithmetic into a published 48–64 mph. Moving the head to starboard under the helm is what enlarges the Port Hideaway. Three published packages, up to twin 400 Verado V10s.
The SLX 360 Outboard at 38'1" publishes the full performance set — a 35–38 mph cruise, 49–52 mph wide open, and 238 miles of range at cruise. Triple 300 Verados with e-Steering standard, triple 425 V10s optional, 275 gallons.
The SLX 400 at 39'9" is the sterndrive flagship, with a published 47–50 mph on twin 8.2L MAG ECT Bravo Three X SeaCore drives at 430 hp a side. Note that Joystick Propulsion is not standard here — it appears only on the HO ECT option. 250 gallons, 20,794 lbs dry, sleeps four.
The SLX 400 Outboard at 42'2" is the largest in the line. Triple 300 Verados standard with the twin Mercury 600 V12 pair optional, 375 gallons, a hydraulic terrace and a cabin below.
Our Take
The SLX line is the reason Sea Ray still matters in a market that has been handed to centre consoles. These are unashamedly social boats — the layout starts at the cockpit and works outward — and the finishes are a step above what the volume-builder label suggests.
The sterndrive-versus-outboard choice runs through most of the line now, and I would not let anyone make it on horsepower. The outboard version of a given model number is the longer, lighter, faster boat with the shallower drives-up draft and the easier service access. The sterndrive is the one with the clear full-width transom and the weight carried low and inboard, and it is the better boat to swim off. Both arguments are real. Which one matters depends entirely on what you do on a Saturday.
The other thing worth carrying into a showroom: the 400 and 400 Outboard are quietly excluded from Sea Ray's five-year SURPA5S+ warranty and carry the three-year cruiser terms instead. Nobody is hiding it — it is on the warranty page in plain type — but it is not on the model pages, and it is the sort of thing a buyer discovers two years in.
Sea Ray SLX Articles & Guides
Watch Our Sea Ray SLX Reviews
Official Sea Ray Premieres
Videos courtesy of Sea Ray.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between the Sea Ray SLX and Sundancer lines?
SLX is the sport-boat line and Sundancer is the sport-cruiser line, and the dividing line is what happens below deck. An SLX is built around the cockpit: standard wet bar, convertible sunpads, a swim platform treated as living space, and a cabin that ranges from a head compartment on the 310 to berths on the 400 Outboard. A Sundancer is built around staying overnight: every Sundancer reviewed here is rated to sleep four, with an enclosed head and a galley, and the 370 adds a separate shower stall. SLX boats also carry the longer five-year warranty, with the SLX 400 and 400 Outboard the two exceptions.
Should I choose the SLX 310's sterndrives or the outboards on the 360 and 400?
It comes down to the transom and the maintenance. Sterndrives on the SLX 310 keep the machinery inside the hull, which gives you a clear transom, a full-width swim platform and weight carried low and inboard. The cost is annual service on bellows, gimbal bearings and the drives themselves, plus corrosion management in salt water where the SeaCore option earns its keep. Outboards on the 360 and 400 give you a shallower draft with the engines trimmed up, service at the transom rather than through a hatch, and diagnostics a dealer can run at the dock. Sea Ray now offers both configurations on almost every model, so you can pick the propulsion without changing the boat.
Which Sea Ray SLX has the longest published range?
The SLX 360 Outboard. Sea Ray rates it at 238 statute miles at its 35 to 38 mph cruising speed, and 178 miles at wide-open throttle, from a 275-gallon tank.
The SLX 310 Outboard is next at 187 miles at cruise from 158 gallons, and the SLX 280 Outboard follows at 180 miles from 135. If range is the deciding factor in your shortlist, the 360 Outboard is where the builder's own arithmetic goes furthest.
Which SLX Fits Your Life?
Tell us how you plan to use the boat — guests, range, crew or no crew — and we'll give you the straight story on where in the SLX series you belong, new or brokerage.
Explore All Sea Ray ModelsOr reach Tony directly: TS@MintedYachts.com · +1 (404) 805-9819