Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

Awsome .....

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

WOW !!

I still say it's a ringer. :D

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

No,it's the Alabama water :drink: :drink:

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

I just put a bid on your boat!

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

That's fantastic. I'm a big fan of the black motors. I even think the idle of the 496 HO sounds great.

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

We just ran our 353 Sport with 496 HO's. 73 on the GPS with full fuel tanks and three big guys on board. Not bad for stock power with warranties! Let the motors break in a little, maybe some prop work and a light fuel load and I wouldn't bet against 75 +!

Tom
Total Marine

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

that's 5 MPH under Robert's two-way avg. speed on a likewise not broken in boat (2 or 3 runs I imagine).

and about what my loaded H.O. 353 runs on it's best day.

how much fuel did Dano have aboard her Robert?

hmmmm. :confused:

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

My speed was with 3/4 fuel and driver only. Tom's run with all that weight is impressive,and if anyone knows how to get performance from a Fastech it would be Tom. The 353/496HO is a great combination :drink:

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

Thanks for the compliment Robert. Maybe I'm out of practice! It's been a long winter.

I'm going to run it again today with just me in it and see what we get. I will let you know.

I will say that I wish this boat had hydraulic steering. It was getting a little slpppy at speed. What did you think? I have a retail sold 353-Sport coming next month and we added the steering to it. It should improve handling a bit. The boat I just tested is retail sold, but this guy will never take it over 50 MPH so he doesn't really need the steering, but with the speeds these things are capable of I think the steering should be required.

Tom
Total Marine



Tom
Total Marine

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

My comment from the Sport announcement get-go was don't bring one in without it!

$175K performance boat without hydraulic steering? I don't think so. :eek:

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

Definately get the steering.

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

I have it on the boats under construction now, but the factory didn't offer it as an option (now I realize that you have to get them to install it as a "silent" option, and will do so from now on).

I just got back from running the boat with just me on board, still full fuel tanks: 76.0 and 74.2 on the GPS for a two-way average of 75.1 mph.

Not bad! When the motors loosen up a bit and the fuel burns off we should see a little bit more. I've got to get some of that slippery "Bama waterthat Robert has!

Tom
Total Marine

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

:D :drink:

I've gotta get some lab 28's for mine. It wouldn't pull the stock 28's it came with so I've been running stock 26's with excellent lower speed results.

Definitely giving away some top-end though. :(

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

I don't know what Robert's thoughts are on this subject, but all in all I've almost ALWAYS had better results with Hydromotive props than Mercs, whether it was on my F-2 boat or on customers' boats.

Any opinions?????

Tom
Total Marine

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

Tom, I've heard this in regards to the 353 specifically, but don't know where to start.

I'm somewhat familiar with the Hydomotive prop having run them on my Velocity's.

Care to share some of the positives of the Hydro vs. Bravo on the late model Formulas? How do the advertised pitches compare?

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

It seems that Mercury generally overstates the pitch of the prop, whereas Hydromotive gives a truer pitch. I've had 32" Merc lab props that actually scan out to about 29.5" to 30", and they will give the same general RPM and speed as 29" Hydromotives. The "labbing" process usually takes away some blade surface area, and this leads to having to step up a size compared to the Hydromotives.

I also thought that the Hydromotives carried the bow better (at least on my F-2 382 race boat). I have re-propped some 353 pleasure boats with better results using the Hydromotives as well. These were "worked" Hydromotives, in all fairness, but I just really liked the way they performed.

Just wondering if other people are getting the same reults?

Tom
Total Marine

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

well, having been a Velocty guy for 9 years...there's nothing that would unnerve me about a more bow-carrying, "looser" Formula. :p

The very flat running attitude of the bottom with wetted keel that far forward is kinda strange to me.

so on my H.O. boat...maybe try a set of 25" Hydros to start?

are the FasTechs more sensative to trim, have a wider or narrower trim window, with the Hydros?

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

25" sounds like they might be a tad too small. I would probably start with 27" Hydromotives, and then twist them down if you need to get some RPM. It is always better to twist a prop down than up. If you've got a good prop shop, that would be the way to go, IMHO.

I'll try to get the number of the guys that did our props on the F-2 boat, they were AWESOME! I got hooked up with them from my buddy Jim Arvis and they were incredible at helping us get that last 1 or 2 MPH out of the boat.

You may also want to try changing the propeller rotation to "inward" as this (usually) results in more bow lift. The 353 is a great boat, but it does run a bit flat, so anything that will get you bow lift is a good idea. Try inward rotation as well and see what you think.

What are your thoughts on all of this, Magicfloat? You have more experience with the 353 than anybody.

Tom
Total Marine

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

We changed rotation once on a 353,and noticed no difference in anything,very strange. Inward rotation makes a 312 a little crazy,but did not affect the 353. Would like to see how the new Maximas work on a 353/496 boat but hate to just buy a pair to try and see no improvement,they are kinda pricey, but they work well on 525/600 353's.