98 28 ZX with a 415 502, how fast stock?

[noyzee]

anyone tell me this?
how are these boats? do they run well? handle the water well? how fast are they?
any info would be great.

[Shanghied Again]

Originally Posted by noyzee

anyone tell me this?
how are these boats? do they run well? handle the water well? how fast are they?
any info would be great.

The 1998 is a good running boat with stock power 415HP she will run 64mph your speedo will show 67 but GPS 64. there solid running heavy boats, the tricky part is when you make turns you MUST keep the drive up, never tuck the drive in and NEVER make sharp turns like on a coventional hull. The 1998 was a Twin step bottom.

[noyzee]

thanks for the info

[shw-n-go h20]

28 is an awsome boat, have had mine since 03 and love it. big enough to handle the rough stuff and small enough to tow everywhere without needing a semi

[FeverMike]

Donzi built some great single engine models but I am not so sure that a 1998 28 has the newer step bottom. Back in late 1997 I bought a 1998 26 Scarab with a 502 Mag. Horrible built boat by the way....anyway I was looking at the Donzi's but the local dealer network was not good. The 28 Donzi back then I looked at was not the step bottom. It was a traditional deep V with very tall hull sides but with very small strakes that stopped mid way back thus the boat rode deep and smooth in the water but was not very fast at all. If this is the 28 model I am describing you will get around 58mph with a 502Mag.

The later model 26ZF with a 502 ran 68 mph. I know I drove one.

[ZXXX Donzi]

They went to a twin step mid 97. Not all of the hulls are exactly the same. Bryan Rose has one with a a bottom strake that goes all the way back. His 97 twin step is knocking on 90 mph but nowhere near stock (89.4) I have ridden in his in the mid 80's and it runs on rails. It also ran nice when it had a stock 500EFI.

The 28ZX with a 502 mag is a great entry platform. Shaghied is dead on the speed. Like Show-N-Go said, handles good water and not too big. The single 502 can be made into a screamer with boost. I don't know why more folks don't seek these boats out and hit them with some good mods. They love it.

The 26ZX did run mid 60's with a 502. Runs 90's with big power.

[FeverMike]

Thanks ZXXX, yeah like I said if the 98 is the step hull it also has the new deck and so forth and is a heck of a boat. I did not think the step hulls came around until late 99 as 2000 models so thanks for the education.

[ZXXX Donzi]

Originally Posted by FeverMike

Thanks ZXXX, yeah like I said if the 98 is the step hull it also has the new deck and so forth and is a heck of a boat. I did not think the step hulls came around until late 99 as 2000 models so thanks for the education.

I had one of the last non-steps. It was made in 97. It had the new deck, big planes, bolsters, fairing etc. It had one heck of a solid ride but required some serious hp to get it going. Bryan Rose's 97 twin step is 3#s off my hull.

I think that the 97 was one of Donzi's first ventures into the step world.

In 1998 they changed the name of the 27ZX to the 28ZX. The size of the overall hull did not change. I stuck a 28ZX cover on my 27ZX and it fit like a glove.

The 26ZX came out in 1999. I have one now. Bryan and I compared the 26ZX to the 27ZX. The running surfaces are very close and the steps are the same size. We have not broken out the tape measures yet.

[noyzee]

the one i was looking at was a stepp hull. i decided against the boat however because it had 500+ hours on it all original, owned by a 25 year old for the first 3 years then onto a 30 year old. reason the 30 year old is selling is he had a kid.
im 28, and i know what i did to boats at 25 and still today, so i think id be stepping into a pain in the arss.
i would still look for one, but the one i found will be a nogo

[ZXXX Donzi]

What are your criteria? I have seen a few of them sell recently.