Fuel consumption - Gladiator Zul / Sterlings
 

Hi!

I hope you are all well.

I consider to buy a second hand Cigarette Gladiator and import it from US. It has to be equipped with aftermarket engines due to tax regulations in Norway. If you import aftermarket engines separately, you save approx. USD 40 per HP in tax compared to a obvious marine engine like Mercruiser (for private use).

Due to this I am curious about fuel consumption from fx. Richie Zul engines approx. 700-750 hp and Sterling Engines approx. 700-750 hp at cruise speed (3000-4.000 rpms). Reason for asking; in norway you have to pay 12 USD per gallon of fuel....

What is the cruise speed at these rpms?

Cheeeeers and A happy New Boating Year from Norway,

Toffen & Heidi :cool-smiley-027:

You can buy our Gladiator and I'll rip the Merc logos off it!!:D:D Sorry I cant help you on the Fuel question for the ZUL boats. Id would say though to buy a Zul boat over a Sterling one.

I am not sure about the Gladiator, but I figured fuel consumption on my 572ci 700Hp engines running single 1050cfm carbutetors at 30-33 (pair) gallons per hour at 3600rpm. This was using fuel numbers from the dyno. I am seeing pretty similar numbers in the boat. I assume the gladiator would get a little better mileage but not much.

why dont you call zul and ask him!!!!

i sure hell be glad to answer any of your questions... ill give you his cell phone if you like, but you have to promise me that you tell him stecz told you to call.....:party-smiley-004:

Gladiators
 

Hi!

You have a PM.

Cheeeers! Toffen G

I had an 04' Glad with 598ci 775hp Zuls in it and it was incredible on fuel! Obviously if you run wide open nothing is going to get good fuel economy but the zuls were very good. Under 4000 rpm's is the best cruise/fuel economy I saw with my Zul's. They were still decent on fuel even when running over 4000 rpm's. The boat cruised @ 70mph and ran 105mph wide open and the Zul's ran great! Richie was always great about answering any question I had. I would recommend Zul engines!

DK

This boat is one of the nicest (if not the best) Gladiators on the market today. Ken and Dan have taken extremely good care of it and it was on my short list of boats when I bought my Donzi Comp.

Thanks Tom!!! Cant wait to run with you in your ZR!!

Dans Gladiator is truley impecable.:cool-smiley-011:

Gladiator and fuel
 

Hi!

Thanks Guys! And Happy New Year!

I will reconsider and look again for a Gladiator with 525's. However, I have to find out what to do with the HP tax. You have to pay USD 30 per HP plus 25% VAT on top, so 1.000 HP will be approx. USD 40.000.... in tax.

You are allowed to import a boat without engines and put "non marine" engines in it tax free... The problem is that everyone on the planet knows that mercruiser is not ment to be in a car... or in a helicopter. Hmmmm.

Are you guys spinning the props in our out? And what kind of props? Have you experiemented with Stelling boxes and shorter lower units?

I am new to inboard boats. I have been an outboard guy for 30 years now. Time for a change!

Cheeeers, Toffen G

Gladiators run best with the props turning in. We are running 4 blade bravo labbed 34"s. Most, im pretty sure all, have Mercury ITS which is like a stand-off box. We are also running sportmaster lowers. Ok heres the offer, we'll take the motors out and strip the Merc badges!:D:D

Dan's boat is definatley the boat to buy and it's priced right. Don't forget 525EFI's run on 87 octane and Zul's need 93 octane. We bought 525EFI long blocks and they came with black valve covers. Bill Mazzoni has them and I'm sure he'd trade them for the blue valve covers from Dan's 525's. You can do something with the top of the fuel injection and you'd never know it was a Mercury motor.

Thanks Bobby!!

Gladiators
 

Hi!

Thanks!

Thats perfect. I was thinking about something like that myself, as the Mercruisers block should be regular long block made by General Motors (isn it?).

I will also speak to a friend of mine who has done this before.

Also thanks for letting me know about the fuel issue. Highest octane on marinas is 95 RON / equivalent to 87 Octane in US. If you need 98 RON +, you have to fill gas on regular gas stations using a) portable 20 litre gas tanks b) find a gas station by the sea. Both impossible to live with in the long run. I have done it with my two Merc 2.5 EFI SS's, since they require 98 RON.

How many hrs can 525's run before rebuild? And what kind of rebuild is necessarry? On Merc 2.5 EFI SS's you have to change rings and bearings every 120 hrs depending on leak down figures (and how hard you drive). But thats a 2 stroke 7,500 rpms engine (!).

Thanks again for all your help! :cool-smiley-011:

Cheeers, Toffen G

525's are pretty bulletproof. This is just a baseline but the bottom end should be done around 500 hrs. A motor could go longer without or it could go sooner depending on how it was run. Bottom end is rings and bearings which isn't a big deal. The top end should be done at 250-300 hrs which is basically the valve train. The 525 is a great motor, loved the pair we had.

I'm guessing Dan's Gladiator burns somewhere around 40gph per motor WOT. That's what our F2 Top Gun burnt and it weighed about the same. If I remember correctly it only burnt like 15gph at 55mph. We ran our TG to Key West in '06 and it got approx. 1.6mpg running 75-80mph the whole way.

toffen, did you own a couple of allisons? i think i remember you from the allison owners website, my previous boat was a xb2003 with a 225 promax ss. I recently purchased a gladiator with 800 hp zuls, dual 4b demon carbs on tunnel ram intake, 6 blade 29pitch herring props turning in, 113 gps. The gladiator is a blast to drive!!! acceleration will pin your head to the seat from 30 to 100 gps, and the zuls are great on fuel considering the hp.

cheers! dan.:cool-smiley-027:

Gladiator - Norway
 

Hi!

Thanks for all your help guys! Much appreciated.

I did not end up with Allison or Bullet, since neither of them is CE approved in Europe which implies lots of paperwork and USD.

I did end up with a twin set up on my old 1985 Phantom, just as it originally was set up for racing back in the 80-ties. Its a offshore hull often used in endurance races in UK and elsewere in Europe.

The twin setup increased the top speed with 10-12 mph, but the accelleration is just unbeliveable. If you cruise at 30 mph, you hit 80 mph in less than 3 seconds... :cool-smiley-026: And since it is a former regatta boat, you can go in to 45-60 degree turns at 80 mph plus... just using the split foot trottle.

But since the coastline around us is pretty rough, I dream about a bigger boat, and Gladiator 36 is just the ticket. So it will happen one day. Just have to work on it!

Have a nice evening.

Cheeers from Norway, Toffen G

Gigarette and diesels....
 

Hi again!

Sorry for asking all these questions...

Just a thought. What about a Gladiator with twin 480 hp 6LY3 Yanmar diesels? I presume you have to use surface drives (MiniRex or Arnesons) and ZF gears.

I know that a Nortech 3900 sportboat made 75-78 mph with such a package. Low maintainance and low on fuel. In Norway the diesels is half the price as gas if used in boats (less tax). So its money to save, but the price for diesels and drives are high... And the question is .... how fast will a Gladiator go? Will it be boring :(

Cheeers, Toffen G:cool-smiley-027:

efficiency
 

Hi Toffen

Just wondered how efficienct your phantom is? how many GPH do you use?

I know i've asked you before if you're selling your phantom as i'm still looking for one. Seen 2 so far and still not happy with what i've seen.

Rick

Phantom 25
 

Hi Richard,

I trust you are well.

I am now selling my Phantom 25 with twin Merc 2.5 EFI SS engines if you are still interested. I have sent you en email about this. My email is [email protected].

The boat is using 75 litre per hour running 50 mph.

Look forward to hearing back from you!

Cheeers, Toffen G