So far you have gotten off EZ

I had to totally rebuild both drives one was supposed to be rebuilt when I
bought the boat........that one blew on the second ride

Well the good news is it's all good now. And since we're talking about porpoising, I bet you love the way the T/S guns (especially yours) have NO porpoise hmmm? The just stick to the water. I was amazed at how well the Gladiator stuck to the water when we ran with Phil. Totally different beasts...the old design compared to the new.

My F-2 rides like no other Cigarette I've ever been in. I've had 9 of them.
This one is a very special boat runs flat & Fast & handles the ocean like
a dream. Philly really knows how to put a boat togeather to do all the the
right things.

Agreed, none better. He is the man!

Right on!! I totaly agree with you. since we couldnt afford a ts, thats why we went with a top gun with trs's

Tres told me that most of the time he can get rid of it with props.....
I have been told for years that 70 mph is where this hull "comes alive"....I believe it, Mine realy does at 70

I'm still over here not WANTING to believe what I am reading. Just add a few ten thou or so and that will fix a hull that was disigned to run with different drives? Why didn't Cigarette fix it from the start? That means forget the older TG's, buy the newest you can aford if you want a Cigarette.

I came here wanting to read that the TG was the CHIT but now I'm not so sure.

Can someone tell us when the Gun got steps and what is the best combination of STOCK power with the newer "improved" hull.

Thanks guys,

Mike

Mike I think you are getting the wrong impression. I have owned 2 nonstepped guns and if I go 40mph in flat water with the drives trimmed out about 2.5 and tabs level the boat will porpoise.

If I run 60 it wont and 70 I can put them anywhere and not get it.

But this is no different than my 28 Pantera did. While I do buy somewhat the TRS vs Bravo I also think it has a lot to do with how much fuel (6lbs per gallon) and just the 24 degree dead rise. Remeber the boat was built to be driven on waves, I don't notice any porpoise when the lake gets whipped into a washing machine, only when it is flat.

With the TRS drives you have the engines forward about 12 inches or so. That changes the center of gravity on the boat. You could put a brick in the nose and probably move the CG datum back to where it was.

To answer your question 2000 was the first year for the steps and I would say the best combination of "blue power" would be the new 600's.

Dont take it wrong Mike...The Top Gun is the Shiz !...This is not a big deal. I have ridden in several big Vs that did this in certain water at certain speeds. Not sure if the stepped boats do or not ?

You are getting the wrong impression. It's not necessarily buy the newest you can afford if your talking about a straight bottom. I would take our old '91 Top Gun with TRS any day over a '99 Top Gun (straight bottom) with bravo's. The Top Gun wasn't designed to run without a transmission.

We have a friend with a '93 Top Gun with #3 drives and he took the boat to Tres Martin who blue printed the bottom and it fixed the porpoise issue somewhat.

Steps started in late 2000 (there are some 2000 straight bottom Top Guns).

If you can afford the T/S, go for it and you won't be sorry. The T/S doesn't porpoise. I personally think the best Mercury set-up is the 525EFI.

My $.02

LS JR.