You might be right, but the difference is almost indistinguishable. I can say this, the plastic on the 510 seems much thinner and deforms when carrying on top of my vehicle in hot weather. No doubt their attempt to reduce weight when paddling turns into a liability during hot weather, car-top transport. If I had a do-over I'd buy a V7, but I wanted to review a boat that nobody (or very few people) had ever reviewed before.