I purchased a 1997 271 w/502 efi in November '97 from a dealer in Md. I water tested a sonic 260, velocity 280, warock 29 the formula seemed to have the best ride, so I sacrificed the speed for comfort (figured i'd get it back later). I was only able to take it out one time for an hour or so in Nov. The next season I found some strange handling characteristics. At slow speeds 35 and below the prop would lose its bite with the waves, causing the engine to go from 2800-3200 over and over.
FIX...add more throttle... problem solved, except my buddies didnt like to cruise at 40-45 mph.
Turns in either direction cause cavitation at those lower speeds, and an emergency hard turn to starboard caused the boat to spin out. No Harm.
The boat requires starboard tab down at all times to level off the ride (left hand rotation) sometimes nearly fully deployed even with passengers and gear to port side. This causes major handling problems at or near wot ( tried a right hand prop but that was even worse in the other direction).
Also speed was only 63-64 gps with 24" prop at 4900 (as opposed to formula's bragging 67mph) I eventually got the 67 mph with Lightning headers B&M smart charge and a 26" prop. although it is not a very stable ride as the boat has a bow down attitude even at high trim levels. I have seen a best one time speed of 70.2 with 28" prop ( took about 3 days to get on plane)

Have any of you had any of the same experiences?

Mike Boyd at Formula worked with me, sending me different props, gears etc. but nothing really helped the handling problems.
Maybe Im being to critical but for 65 g's I figured they had their **** together.
All in all Formula has lost me as a return customer.
BTW my engine is out getting better pistons and rings (hopefully to control the oil consumption) Merlin 320 aluminum heads, a hotter cam, ported efi intake, and throttle body etc.
Maybe i wont be as bummed out at 70-75

Ihave a 2000 271 and have never had any of these problems. The boat will run as smooth a glass at about 3500 without a lean to either side. Have seen 67 once on my gps. Ialso changed my prop to a 28p within the first week I bought the boat. Dropped the rpm down to 4700 wot . Added this year stainless marine headers, arizonia speed ecu, and vortec flame arrestor. I still have the (bad) gas from the winter, Iam only getting about 5100-5200 but am going 73 on the gps last weekend. Hopefully will get a few more r's out of it with fresh gas. Iam also playing around with the fuel pressure. Back to the subject, my boat has never come close to spinning out and I do run with negative trim. Will try running the (RIGHT) way with the trim now, thanks for the suggestion guys!! I have had the boat in all kinds of conditions, and I am not dissapointed at all!!! If any thing all the boating buddies that run next to me all say the same on how smooth the boat handles. [QUOTE]

I can't see anywhere where Formula was claiming 67 mph...In my '97 spec guide, I can see where we estimated 66 mph, but that was probably after testing in some dense, autumn/winter air. In 1999, we started estimating top-end range, at that point 63-65 mph with 502s.

I have several articles and a Formula factory test report that all claim 67 as the magic number not 65, not 66, not 68.
The factory report reads as follows
boat serial# TNRD6074F697

July 20 1996
Fort Myers
Salt 1-2 foot chop
86 Deg.
10-15 mph wind

MERC 502 SN XXX
BRAVO 1 1.5:1, 4 BLADE 24"
RPM MPH GPH
1500 - 8 - 4
2000 - 16 - 6
2500 - 25 - 10
3000 - 36 - 13
3500 - 45 - 23
4000 - 53 - 30
4500 - 60 - 33
4900 - 67 - 35
however it does state at the bottom of this sheet that formula does not guarantee the speeds, but I was told to expect similar performance by both my dealer and Formula.


Also Powerboat and Hot Boat publishedFormulas results
on all models
I wont include all the models but the 271 is as follows
power 502 mpi B-1
RPM 4900
prop 24" 4 blade
zero slip 74.24 mph
spec guid perf. 61 ( whatever that is)
SR-1 hull 62
FASTECH 67
improvement 5
% improvement 8.06%
slippage 9.75%

This is all info that was supplied by Formula to me during my decision making process.

I understand 3-4 mph may not seem like a lot but when it costs thousands of dollars to acheive 3-4 mph it becomes alot.

Actually the speed was not the biggest concern the handling was

I have a '99 271 Fastech with a HP500EFI. I have not had any of the handling problems you discussed. I would be curious if these problems have been there since the boat was new.

If not, I would look at the hull and trailer. I have seen a few hulls get distorted by trailers that were not fitted properly to the hull.

Sure seems like there are hooks or rockers in the running surfacel that are causing the screwy handling. Putting a 4-6 foot straight edge down the hull on and in between the strakes near the transom should identify any rockers or hooks. Note that mine has a designed in hook (wedge) between the outer most strake and the chine on each side in the last 6 inches of the hull (I think that is where it is, I am doing this from memory as the boat is at the lake)

As far as speed, I run a reworked 24p Bravo prop (thinned, added cup and repitched to a true 22P) with a 1.5 gear ratio. I see 69mph on GPS at 5300rpm. I had the prop reworked to improve the hole shot.

I have seen 70.6mph with the stock 24p prop and I am currently trying several Bravo and Hydromotive props trying to find one that will get my speed back and more for poker runs (but still get it on plane with the lighter load).