Formula 400 Super Sport (400 SS) Buyer's Guide

What you are buying when you search Formula 400 SS for sale

Type Formula 400 SS for sale into a listing site and you will see two different boats. The one this guide covers is the original 400 Super Sport, a 40-foot sterndrive performance cruiser that Formula built in Decatur, Indiana, from the mid-2000s; listings start with 2005 models and run to at least 2016, and later boats are sometimes advertised as the 40 Super Sport or 40 SS. The other is the 400 SSC, an outboard-powered Super Sport Crossover that Formula announced in August 2018 and still builds. Same badge, completely different boat.

The 400 SS is pure Formula: a Porter family business, a builder that has raced offshore since the days of Don Aronow, and a hull credited to longtime Formula designer John Adams. Power & Motoryacht's tester called it a race-bred performance cruiser dressed for family use, with an aggressive nose-up profile, a double-step hull and eye-catching Imron graphics.

The FAS3Tech stepped hull and why it matters

Under the graphics is Formula's FAS3Tech running surface, a double-stepped deep-V with 22 degrees of deadrise aft. A foam-filled internal grid and a bonded, through-bolted hull-to-deck joint stiffen the structure. With an 11-foot beam on a 40-foot hull, the 400 is narrow by modern express standards, which is exactly what makes it fast and slippery in a chop.

Dry weight is around 15,500 to 16,100 pounds depending on engines, draft is about 3 feet with drives down, and bridge clearance is roughly 10 feet 6 inches, low enough for many fixed bridges and lift storage at larger dry-stack facilities.

The narrow beam is the trade-off. The interior and cockpit are less voluminous than a 40-foot Sea Ray Sundancer or Cruisers express of the same era, and at anchor the boat rolls more than beamier cruisers. Buyers who prioritize sleeping six should look elsewhere.

A race helm in a family cockpit

The helm is where the 400 earns its name. Two bolstered helm seats with flip-up bolsters, a tilt Dino wheel with mahogany inserts, Livorsi instruments with chrome bezels on gas boats and Livorsi or Volvo electronic controls, Bennett tab rockers right under the throttle hand and drive-trim switches beside them. Power & Motoryacht's tester found he rarely needed to look down while trimming and tabbing at speed, which is the point.

Behind the helm, a molded wet bar to port with Corian counter and fridge faces a large U-shaped settee to starboard with an adjustable-height table. An expandable aft sunpad and a pneumatic transom door lead to the integral swim platform. A bimini was standard; the boats to buy carry the optional hardtop with Bomar gullwing hatches, and some add cockpit air conditioning.

Formula claimed a dozen polished stainless drinkholders around the exterior, and the fit and finish of hatches, gutters and upholstery is a notch above most production express cruisers of the period.

One stateroom, done properly

Formula chose a single private stateroom rather than squeezing in two. The athwartships aft cabin has a queen berth with a memory-foam mattress on later boats, and the forward area is a large V-shaped Ultraleather dinette with a dual-height cherry table that converts into a big berth for kids or occasional guests.

Between the two, the galley sits to port with a stainless refrigerator and separate freezer, microwave and cooktop, and the head to starboard has a separate shower stall and VacuFlush toilet. High-gloss American cherry joinery, Sirius radio, pleated window blinds and a 16,000 Btu air-conditioning system round out a cabin that suits a couple perfectly and a family of four for a long weekend.

Big-block gas or Volvo diesels, and the measured speed

Standard power was a pair of 425 hp MerCruiser 496 MAG HO gas engines on Bravo Three drives. Formula also offered 430 hp MerCruiser 8.2 MAG HO engines, 525 hp Mercury Racing 525 EFI sterndrives for buyers who wanted the most speed, and 370 hp Volvo Penta D6 diesels with DPH duoprop drives for range and economy.

Power & Motoryacht tested a diesel boat in 2010 on Biscayne Bay in a 2-foot chop and recorded 46.7 mph, about 40.6 knots, which the tester described as sensible by performance-boat standards. He praised the low, efficient running attitude, very tight turns thanks to sterndrive leverage and Volvo's electronic steering, and intuitive trim and tab control. Gas boats with the Mercury Racing 525s are faster still, but no comparable instrumented figures were published.

That same test boat had Volvo's Aquamatic joystick, the first ever on a Formula and a $34,825 option. It gave pod-like docking control but felt slower and clunkier than Volvo IPS because the drives sit far aft. On a used boat it is still worth having for short-handed owners.

• Standard: 2 x MerCruiser 496 MAG HO 425 hp gas, Bravo Three
• Options: MerCruiser 8.2 MAG HO 430 hp, Mercury Racing 525 EFI, Volvo Penta D6-370 diesels
• Power & Motoryacht test with D6-370s: 46.7 mph (about 40.6 knots) top speed
• Fuel 250 gallons, water 50 gallons, holding 50 gallons
• Generator: 7.6 kW Westerbeke on the 2010 test boat

Running costs, gas versus diesel

Expect roughly $25,000 to $50,000 a year to keep a 400 SS before depreciation: a 40-foot slip or rack, insurance on a high-performance boat, sterndrive service, bottom work, canvas or hardtop care and fuel. Twin big-block gas engines drink heavily at wide-open throttle, and with only 250 gallons aboard, gas boats need careful fuel planning on longer runs.

The D6 diesel boats cost more up front and more to service, but they are markedly more economical at cruise, hold value better and suit owners who run long distances on the Great Lakes or offshore. Whatever the power, sterndrive maintenance is the central cost: bellows, gimbal bearings, U-joints and drive oil seals need regular attention, and duoprop drives are not cheap to rebuild.

Used values and which boats to shortlist

The 400 SS sold well for more than a decade, so there is choice. A 2005 gas boat with Mercury Racing 525s has been listed at $174,900, a 2011 Volvo diesel boat at about $290,000 and a 2016 gas boat at $399,900. In 2026, plan on roughly $120,000 to $175,000 for early gas boats and up to about $400,000 for the last, low-hour examples.

Our shortlist starts with a 2010 or later boat with hardtop, cockpit air conditioning and either the D6 diesels or the 8.2 MAG HO engines with documented drive service. Freshwater boats tend to show less corrosion on drives and hardware than boats kept in salt year-round, so ask where the boat has lived.