sheptack

I have a 2003 Powerquest 260 Legend Sx, with 496 Mag. HO, Bravo 1 that I picked up late fall this year. When I got the Boat it had a 23 Mirage Plus, but WOT is only 4,600 rpm. with this prop, and based on water conditions speed Avg. is about 62 mph. Actual engine WOT is 5,000 rpm. and I am looking to utilize my full RPM. I am looking for some actual experience with different props you may have tried with this boat/engine/drive set up. One suggestion is to get my 23 Mirage plus labbed, and try and pick up my RPMs and get to 5,000, but I’m not sure if I will gain or lose top end?? and of course gaining top end with all around good performance is the goal. I am also interested in what props you may have tried, both good and bad, and which ones that I should stay away from on this boat. I hear bad things about trying a 4 blade on this boat, but then again reading all past threads it appears a 4 blade hydromotive 22 may be a good choice??? I have also heard you need to keep a cupped prop on this boat for best handling? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for your responses

Knot 4 Me

Before you do anything with the prop verify the accuracy of your tach with an inductive pickup shop tach. If your speed listed is GPS and not a lie-o-meter speed, your RPM calculates to @ 4,900 assuming an average prop slip of 13%.

bert4332

Hydromotive 21p QIV will put you at the top if not over the RPM limit. 22p QIV will probably put you below. Remember a 23 Mirage is NOT a true 23, so you can't just swap out sizes, I did and it screwed me. I would get the 22p QIV and have it labbed. You'll pick up 2-4mph and get out of hole better too.

Revspan

I have a twin to your boat...only a 2004 model. While I haven't gotten into the game of maxing out the prop for best top end, I can tell you that the Rev 4-23p that I have on my boat really is a great all around prop. It all depends on what you plan on doing with the boat. With the Rev 4, I can pull the kids on a tube without issue and stay on plane, get a great hole shot, and top out at an honest GPS speed of about 62mph at 4600rpm. I have thought of labbing the Rev 4, but just can't bring myself to possibly losing the ability to have great low to mid speed acceleration/traction for 1-2mph on the top. In the end, I rarely spend time at WOT due to kids in the boat, traffic, and when I do, the 1 mph won't make a difference.

You are going to love this boat!!!! We have had ours for 7 years and spend tons of time on it. Enjoy!

bigvander

Guys, I'm getting pretty serious about a 2002 Legend with a non-HO 496 (made a formal offer today!). It has the stock 3 blade prop and on GPS we hit 56mph at 4600 RPM, full tank of gas and 2 big guys - I'm 260lbs and I'd guess he is 280lbs. It wasn't near as responsive on throttle as I had anticipated and it cavitated a bit on turns (he might've had it trimmed too high on the test drive). Is the 260 with 496 supposed to be very responsive on the throttle mid-range, to the point where it puts you back in your seat? I went for a ride in my buddy's 1997 240 Precept with a carbed 454 Bravo 3 and it was pretty torquey with quick throttle response. Thoughts? Thanks.

bert4332

Nope, you are not going to get jacked back into your seat with that boat unless you put some SERIOUS HP under the hatch and then the $$$$ wouldn't be worth it. The boat is simply not designed for speed, it's designed to do everything well, not great in any regard. You can increase your speed and out of the whole time by going to a 4 blade, see my post #3. Having a decent amount of weight in that boat in particular is going to strain that 496 out of the hole and mid range throttle. The 4 blade will improve your tracking and stability immensely, for the $$$, a four blade will be your best investment for that hull. Good luck and enjoy the boat for what it offers.

sheptack

Sorry for the long time to respond, Revspan, and I really appreciate your post, but I have a few questions for you. I ended up having 3 blade a 23 Mirage plus Labbed. Spent a lot of money, and can honestly say it was not worth it. I really got no real gains in top end, or anything else over the stock 23. It seems so far that the Revolution 4 blade 21 that I am running appears to be the best all around prop for my boat. You can load the boat up with lots of people and still get a good hole shot, and with the load you will be close but under full WOT of 5100rpm. at 60mph. With a lot less load, or by myself you can actually hit the rev limiter if you hold at full WOT for a little bit to long and still max out at only 60mph. With the Rev 4 21p it's like a real quick run to hit 60mph. I actually considered getting a REV 4 23p because I thought going to that would be the magic answer, and pick up some top end, and they told me that that prop was basically to big of a pitch for my boat in a 4 blade. I think they said that I would not get even near full WOT rpm. or even close, and that mid range would suffer, and that based on the numbers nothing would be in spec so to speak. I think they even tried to tell me it was adverse to engine performance. Of course every boat hull and prop combo reacts differently in my opinion, but I am now really curious with your numbers and top speed seeing how we basically have the same boat. As you say you feel the prop is giving you great hole shot, mid, and top end. The only thing I see however is that you are maxing out at only 4,600rpm, which appears to be like 500rpm. from full WOT. I really don't know what affect that has on anything because I am certainly no prop expert, but it would seem you have some wiggle room left on RPMs, so like you say, it would be interesting to see what someone could do labbing that Rev 4, 23p. I think I will give B Blades a call and have them run the numbers on that Rev 4 23p and see what they say, and then tell them the real world numbers that you have. I will make another post once I get some info. Thanks again for your response, and Yes, we do love the Boat!!. Anyone else with any help or input is appreciated. Thanks!

pqjack

have the 21p re-pitched to 22p....I was running a 25p REV4, and hitting the rev limiter.(5400)..had it repitched to 26p....bingo!...best all-around prop so far.

Revspan

Yep...you are right. It might be a little too much prop, with the rpms at 4600. That is why I was considering doing some work on it. I then thought I would spend money to raise rpm....and maybe lose something in the low to midrange. Because of this, I left it alone. I simply thought there was much more to lose than gain.

It is a balance for sure...I just know I spend most time at lower speeds and kept it stock.

Good luck..

sheptack

Hi Revspan, I did talk to BBlades and they told me that based on me hitting the Rev Limiter at like 5100 on the Rev4, 21p, that they thought I could spin the 23P at about 4700, and be in the low end of the proper range. Like you said everything is a balance. I actually even tried a 4 Blade Bravo 1, that is a 22p, thinking that would be the answer, and got almost identical numbers as the Rev 4 21p with maybe 1/2 mph. gain on top end. No real difference in drivability with either prop. For now I think I will pursue finding a Rev. 4 23p, and just give it a try and see what happens. It seems like I generally have a few people in the boat so my only concern is dragging the RPMs down on the Rev 4 23p, but it would sure appear to be a Gas saver by perhaps hitting the 62mph. at only 4,600rpm. or 4,700rpm. as opposed to WOT at 5,100only doing 60. Like I said big difference is with a lot of people in the Boat with that Rev 4, 21P, it is still a screamer, with little performance difference at full load. Once again your key word of Balance comes into play. Hopefully in the next month Boating season will begin here in Michigan, because it is certainly not warm enough here yet........More to follow later in the year. Thanks for all you help.