90% of the time I have my 6 year old so Im just cruzing im sure that prolonging the life.atleast 80 to 100 on the uppers ,and I had lowers since 05 with only one failure on them ,I hit bottom the next day broke a verticial .I do switch tmem from side to side,and when getting on plain I push it to3700ish and let it get on plain 35/40 mph Ill smash it ,you have to pay attention at high speed in this boat the midrange is about 12 to 15 mph faster then most with similar power . If you go on youtube take alook at 33 baja superboat 100 mph pib that day the best I saw 98.9 our top speeds were close I played cat an mouse .when we stoped his crew said I had to be hitting 104 I laughed an replied best I saw was 98.9 That day I was in 2 states 2 countries in 3hrs I used 140 gallons of 94 and nothing broke one of my best days. OH.MI canada ,back to the us.

That video rocks! Your boat is awesome and it looks like you can drive her also!

Switching the drives side to side helps for sure. I just don't want to baby it anymore or wrench on them. Saving for something bulletproof for atleast 500 hours! Then I can drive in rough lake michigan everytime like u were in the video!
How fast was that cig and did u read all the peoples stupid commets...amazing how dumb people are!

Thank you
The cig topps out 101,that day he was running with 4 people ,the next week I had dinner them and thats when they showed me the video I felt real Good The cig has mec 700with bravo,s he swaped out 525,s Anyway I would like the imco,s ,I cant spend that kind of cash.nor put any more unnecessary cash in this boat ,I would like to move into something bigger

Thats exactly how I feel.

Yeah it'd always a dream to move to something bigger but what? I know our 33's are not the coolest boats out there but they are the coolest bajas ever made! Imo. That's better then...let's say...having the lamest.... Outerlimits! My problem is I always have lots of people on board and what other boat has a cockpit as large as the 33!? Also what boat under 200000 is a night and day difference to what we have? Meaning goes over 100 reliable. Looks better. Handles better. Bigger but still has equal cockpit space. #6 drives, arneson, or indy drives. Flashy paint. ?????????
Tell me the secret because I look every week and only find boats that are 300000 and up! I am not buying a junk bravo based boat again!
Plus realistically if we are lucky Our boats are worth 70/80 grand even though we wish 95,000. So that's over 130000 to move up properly! We r screwed! Lol

Theres pros and cons too having a bravo , A guy I know owns American Muscle and he smashes trannys 6 gran a pop 1500.00 labor to put it in .I can afford a bravo enough that I can stock a few and when the time comes cause it does .I can be running in about 30 min. minus idle back to the trailer with my tail between my legs. Boatings to me is like nascar but you get four days to PITTTTTTTTTTTTT .I carry every sensor ,plug wires,plugs seapump ,impellers rebild kits, fuses one complete drive split two sets of props 30, 31 p5x plus whats on the boat , 4 inch exhaust hose ,spare ecu ,heat exchanger gaskets cmi gasket and clamps, oil and gear lub of corse enough tools to getter done .every thing is on the boat except spare drive extra props and fliuds . You know what they say you cant keep a good man down......................................LONG

Good post and very true!

The cockpit space will be the hardest thing to give up.

Only if Baja would have made a twin step 40 O/L ???

If I'm going to be stuck with a boat, this one isnt too bad
to be stuck with.:drink:

Of all the boats that I've owned, I've kept them about
5 years ( the fun ones), one I didn't ( boring one), lasted 2....it's going on 6 years on this one.

A friend of mine bought a TS Top Gun 2 years ago,
and the first time I drove it ( at LOTO, rough water) I was hooked, so the quest for the replacement just started;),
but until someone comes along and just has to have my boat,
that may be a while. ( most folks shopping for 33's are
happy with 502's or HO's)

I wouldnt have a problem with putting a good set of
drives ( SCX's, BMAX's) on a 38 or 39 TS TG bravo boat,
then power it accordingly....700 hp will get you to 100 in
these.....it wont in a 33.

Im thinkin 38 hustler or stepped hull cig,the hustler has nice cabin ,Its nice to dream. somtimes they come true.

Last spring Shogren had a 42 fountain I liked he offered me 50 K for my boat never saw it and didnt ask many questions I was insaulted a bit.His was gold mine was scrap steel

I will admit I rode in a 2000 38 Cig TG and was amazed. It was converted to #6 drives and had N/A 850's side by side. Amazing in the rough and we easily ran the entire poker run at 90-95mph! (I had a hand at least but broke drives!) I finally am in love with the Cig brand but will prob never own one. Not enough cockpit or cabin space. High price, and they all have the american flag paint!

Yes a 40 twin step baja would rock! Maybe checkmate will listen to this because the fun is over at baja, its investment time there, no "passion for powerboats" any more.

Yes its fun to dream, I do it all week long and it drives my G/F crazy! Even though she dreams the same as me.

The hustler is cool, especially the one on OSO for sale with arnesons and ilmors.

Glad you did not get that 42 F word! (my Girl tells me not to say the F word cause she hates it! LOL!)

Boat GPS'd over the weekend at 80 MPH. 5 blades coming from Brett although he told the owner he does not think they will make much difference due to stern lift. Brett told him the 33 Outlaw is the toughest hull for him to dial in.

Awesome! Best part is you had it out in the water! Still to cold up here for that!

First time I've been in it since the new 522 cu. in. Brad Smith Mills were installed. Boat is a totally different animal compared to the stock 500 EFI's. But it just hits a wall at 80 MPH. Boat ran the same speed stock when it was new so obviously the owner is a bit disappointed. It had lost a few MPH over the years but still ran 76 - 77 MPH before the motor work.

Somethings not adding up.

As I recall a 525 33 runs like 82-83 mph.

525's make around 560 on the dyno from what I've heard.

Try spinning the 5 blades "in"

I agree something is not right. The power is there. You can hear it and feel it in the mid-range. Just can't hook the power up on the big end. I think the boat should be running 85 MPH easy. Yes, most 525's dyno at 540HP +.

If the waters real cold it will run super fat ,look at the exhaust tips and transom and see if its all sooted up sea trail is the best dino Lean that ***** out a bit ,then find your cg on the boat start moving weight back,with the whipple kit 625 hp I was at 86-89 mph I saw 92 in jacksonville Fla. with Doc and his wife on board.

Are we sure the drive height is high enough? Even though he has boxes are they adjusted up? Or does he have shorty lower units? Maybe thats the problem? Good luck though!

Stellings neutral boxes and XZ's with standard lowers. I could not get a measurement of the propshaft centerline to the bottom of the boat as it is currently on a lift at the dock. The boat is backed in and no easy way to accurately measure just how deep the drives are at the moment. Just eyeballing them they are not very deep at all. Regardless, adding 270 HP total should gain him some speed. Right now all it did was get him back to running what the boat did new. Hopefully he has arranged for Brett to send him a set of 5-blades that we can try out this weekend.

What props are on the boat now?

see post #1

30" Bravo I's. Standard, not lab finished.

JaayTeee you running standard lowers on your XR's? No nose cones?

I EVEN LOOKED BACK through BEFORE I ASKED!!! Well we run the same props and my boat has more hp so that's why I don't think its a prop issue but a drive height or something else. Hopefully these other guys who know more then me can help.

Something ain't right. RPM vs speed would be nice to know.

5300 RPM, 80 MPH GPS. 20% slip.

Std length XR's

I do have hydromotive nose cones on them....I didnt notice
any gains by putting them on....I just fugured that I was over the point that they become benificial so I glued a set on.

GSC was telling him he needed nose cones. I never mentioned them to him as I felt he was not running fast enough yet to justify them.

He doesnt need them.

Hydromotive told me 85 mph is the # where they
start to do some good.

I know that I ran it on a couple occasions at 88 mph
before I put them on.

That was always my understanding too. You had to be pushing 90 MPH before the standard bullet pushed too much water away from the props.

Updates?

I tied up with him on the lake yesterday and he said Brett at BBlades will not return his calls to get test props sent to him.

Give him time. Everybody & their brother is getting ready for summer. Email seems to be the best way to get a response in my experience. That and testing December-March.

Two perfect ideas!!!

That's cool thanks for the update. My friend Ryan is also waiting for a return call or email from brett. I understand they are busy this time of year but you would think with so many people looking for work, and it not being their first year in business, that they would have planned for this.

I already told him this is Brett's busy time. Still, I agree with him that no return call for days on end is not a good way to retain a customer (he bought his existing props from Brett). He just got the boat back from Brad Smith mid-April. And you are not going to do much testing in Central Illinois until mid-March at the earliest.

+1 He always gets back to me. Being in business myself I understand sometimes you get a little backed up especially in the busy season. Also it never hurts to do a follow up call to touch base.

28" Maximus and 29" Hydromotive's are being shipped tomorrow. If the rain holds off, we should get some testing in this weekend. Hopefully he will agree to try them turning in as well as out but he does not seem too keen on spinning them in. Hopefully the drives survive the testing! :drink:

Spin em in to win.

Yup! He is worried about docking as he backs into his slip. I told him he won't know how it is unless he tries.