I need some input.
Looking at buying a 292 or 312fastech.
Is the 312 good to waterski behind? or the 292.
How much different is the 312 from the 292- performance,fuel, cabin space?
Is there any difference in performance with the silent thunder exhaust,why have it?
How much more is insurance from twin 6.2 to twin 496?
trailering differences?

I had a 312 and a buddy had a 292.....I had 502's and was 4-5 mph faster than his with 350's. My cabin seemed much bigger. I removed the silent thunder box and barely noticed a sound difference in the cockpit and no noticeable performance difference. Trailering can't be much different. I've waterskied behind similar size boats and it's really not any fun....do-able, but not fun.

My uncle bought the 312 from t500hps, I have a 292 with 6.2's. Performance, The boats run tit for tat wide open, I can get there quicker because I am lighter with the small blocks. The 312 is built taller and does have a larger cabin, not that much larger though. I still have my silent thunder on and can outrun a 312 with 502's and no silent thunder My insurance is $540 a year. The 312 is a heavier boat but shouldn't be that much different to tow. I tow with a F250 he tows the 312 with a 2500 chevy. I wouldn't even consider skiing behind either one of them. My uncle has made the comment several times he would rather have the 292 but doesn't think he can get what his boat is worth right now. BTW I just listed my 292 today, look for the thread I started.

should probably stick with the choice of boat my wife made..280ss
Im not crazy about the looks of it but could get used to it.My big concern would be performance.I would have to think that bravo 3s would the outdrive to pull a skier out of the water ,what should i expect for top speed and do they make this boat with thru hull exhaust .. need to have the noise!!!

Waterskiing and kneeboarding etc. are not what these boats are made for. Yes it can be done.....but not a lot of fun. Tubing is not bad.......

I tow mine with a F-250 and it's not really a problem if you know HOW to trailer.....but it is pretty heavy and takes some time to get used to stopping!

Personally I hated the Silent Thunder.....just not loud enough for me, so I put straight pipes on mine....but that's totally a personal preference I believe.

Good luck with your search.....there are TONS of them out there.

None of these boats are going to be any fun to ski behind, too big and too big of a wake. It's been a few years but a local guy had a 280SS with 4.3's. BIII's and it ran low-mid 50's, don't think he ever skied behind it.

and NbyN, when I first responded I didn't know you had yours listed....I was refering to a Richmond guy that had a 292 and sold it soon after I sold the 312. (I still think Arthur should be able to take you!!! )

looks like i'll need to buy two boats.

maybe he should get you to show him how to trim it I knew you weren't talking about mine when I saw he had 350's.

get a late 80's early 90's mastercraft for the skiing and tubing.

best I ever saw out of that 312 was 78 on the dream-O-meter......74 on the GPS.

and I just bought a 21 ft center console and have been tubing with the kids for 3/4 of the hours we've put on it. A 150hp outboard and we've pulled 2 3-man tubes with 6 kids ages 9-14 all at once without issue.