42 Tiger TS versus 38 TG TS comparison
 

So any notable differences or handling characteristics of either hull ??? Is the 38 inherently faster because it is shorter and presumed lighter ?? Is it lighter ?? Is it faster ?? is or was there any improvement in design from the Tiger TS to the Top gun ts ??? Is the Tiger better in the rough stuff because of the extra 4 feet ??? Is there a noticeable difference in room the cockpit or cabin in either . Mph Holding a turn ????? Any reason not to but a Tiger TS over a Top Gun ts ???? I'm not crazy about the hood scoops on the engine cover of the Tiger , but otherwise ...

So I see nobody took a stab at this one, so I'll give my .02. In my experience, having been in both hulls, the 38 TG is faster with the power being equal. It is also an easier boat to drive, especially at high speeds. The Tiger has a tendency to want to porpoise more than the TG. The tabs are a big part of driving the Tiger, but once it settles in, its a wave crusher! At cruising speeds, you can drink your Martini with ease. But when the sticks are pinned to the dash is when the Tiger was not very "tame"(you see how I did that?? Tiger...Tame...) over 90 MPH, actually... over 85 it started to become a handful. The one I was in was a 2001 (800HP a side/IMCO drives) which was an early step hull. Somewhere around 2003-2004 I believe they moved the step to help correct some of these issues. On the flip side, the Tiger would plow through waves better than the TG because of its extra length and weight. Both great riding boats, the Tigers bow seems like its a mile long when you are in the cockpit! Its a really cool boat to ride in. They are both awesome boats, good luck!

The 38 is a smaller boat not just in length but also freeboard, 38 weighs less, 38 has a bigger cockpit which makes no sense, 39 and 42 have the same size cockpit,
the 38's are more popular so have higher price, Tiger is an awesome boat and when it gets rough the tiger has the advantage, Bravo drives don't usually last long on a Tiger, hell even on a 38 they are stressed.

A buddy just bought a Tiger out of Texas and sold the Bravos first thing and got imco's, happy lad

Good answers. The Tiger in rough water even with 500's and 525's is a drive eater. Its just a heavy machine. I had a friend on Lake Ontario who was very experienced driver and really only got 25-30 hrs out of XR drives with about 550HP a side NA Motors.

Awesome input
 

Awesome information. I am boat shopping, and do not have a $300k budget so the lower price on some of these Tigers has got my attention. It seems the beam is wider also .. looking at engine compartment pictures, seems like there is a little more room . Not sure .
I definitely like the profile of the Tiger, has that old school proportions. The drive killer feature is definitely something to take into consideration.
Thanks for the input. And the search continues

They have the same beam, it just that when in the cockpit sides are higher, in a 38 i can reach over and touch the water from drivers area, not even close in the 42, yes there is more room in the engine compartment but agin its much deeper

My Tiger isn't a step hull but i can give you my version. Ive had one drive failure, it was a lower and had over 400 hours on it. mine came with 500s and xrs, ran low/mid 70s and handled everything with ease. when i upgraded the power with the xrs, went to 640 hp ran 82 and again handled everything with ease. added blowers and imco scx transom assemblies and uppers and run sc lowers, 93 mph on the rev limiter and it was on rails. TG has a bigger cockpit, the additional 4 ft is mainly in the helm areas. I don't buy the drive killer label, but i also changed my oil every 25 hours and ran it to Bimini and back and won. that being said every step hull owner that i know said their boat didn't plane as well as mine, that could be because of the steps and that's where the stress was on the drive. i turned my props in and it changed the attitude of the boat tremendously, it carries the bow much easier especially when it was lower powered. porpoising is physics and can happen to any boat, either a bump in rpm or tab fixes it

There’s a reason why twin step tigers are so cheap. It’s probably the worst twin step hull they built, they porpoise like a straight bottom and just can’t carry the nose due to the balance. They fixed it with the 42x

mine doesn't porpoise

And I would rather have yours any day than a twin step tiger.

must be the ceramic coating

:party-smiley-004:

A straight bottom 42 is an Apache twin. They don’t get as much love despite being much newer.

I owned a 2001 TS Tiger for 7 years and only ever had it porpoise when in flat lake water trimmed out. The boat was an absolute wave crusher and loved the rough stuff. It does not have a balance problem but the early models had a little more lift in the front to ride over waves rather than through them. i've been on a lot of different boats over the years and haven't had one ride as nice in the bigger water. I just bought a new boat and sold the tiger (hope I didn't make a mistake). I did keep blowing drives the first 3 years and changed to Imco SCX Extremes and solved the problem. Had the uppers on 4 years before any rebuilding and changed the lower gears every season as preventative maintenance. Seemed like I had more room in the engine compartment then my friends 38TG, Also the door to the cabin was bigger, Had 2 big lockers in cabin.

I can’t speak to the T/S boats (beyond my pay grade) but my flat bottom tiger definitely porpoises without a good amount of trim. I can’t compare it to a TG either but I can compare it to my Cafe and there was a significant size difference. 42 is plenty more to tow that’s for sure.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...c584c9a15.jpeg

And how cool was the electric sliding cabin door !!!! It was like someone discovered gold when I saw that for the first time! HAHAHA....

the side by sides did well, once they tried to stagger them, there was a cog issue, thats when they did the 42X... there were only a few stagger tigers and they didnt handle well at all.

because its quality, something you know nothing about... because its not on the shelf at walmart.:evilb:

It is the Apache Twin, Except that the Apaches were Rigged with SPEEDMASTERS and TRANSMISSIONS and could handle the Horsepower. You figure all APACHE's in that size range have at least 700HP. No Proposing because of the CG and the Weight of the RUNNING GEAR!

Liked the steps in the door as well.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...88717ed18.jpeg

yes but there is a little more than that, in 2000 mine was the very first vacuum bagged hull at cigarette. so it was as strong, but lighter as they were able to use the resin in proportion, not just rolling it on. my tiger dry is only 11000 lbs so lighter means it doesn't need as much power. also when going to step hulls in the early 2000's everyone was testing diff drive heights and set ups to give the best overall performance. there are many companies that had models that got better with time as they were able to experiment. setting a ctr of gravity is time consuming, i was testing and adding weight when i crashed my 20, 50lbs in front got me an additional 10 mph at 94 an hour before the crash. I may be the only one out there that's not a fan of steps, but i also have a straight bottom that is 90+, every step hull Ive ridden in at top speed felt loose to me at speeds of 90 plus, like the slightest wave was going to cause an issue. I know on the 39s at about 115 the stern tries to swap places with the bow very quickly due to speed and stern lift. the 46s and 50's im looking at are all stepped, so i will have to get used to it.

this is a great read. Not that I can afford either but I love to learn about different hulls

Are you the one that got ****ed over with the paintjob?

those are total setup issues, not stepped hull issues. If you rig a stepped hull like a straight bottom you can run into this.

agreed, thats the point, they changed the hull and were experiencing set up issues. eventually with the staggers, they changed the hull and steps.

yup, and fixed it.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...d15efc469.jpeg

I figured, Karma is a ***** huh

you would know....