353 Sport/496 HO's
 

Finally got it in the water,Dano said he was very impressed,and he doesn't impress easily. Our handheld GPS for some reason would not lock on a signal,but the speedo read 80-81 in glassy smooth water so I figure easy mid 70's or maybe better with a little chop and a lighter fuel load. Will try to get a more detailed report with a GPS tomorrow but I have a feeling Rippem was right all along,maybe everybody doesn't need blue motors :drink: BTW,I don't really consider this a Sport since I ordered it with most everything a regular 353 has including Lathum steering,so it's really just a 353 with smaller motors and a pretty good price savings. Thanks,Formula.

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

what props did you choose for that run Robert? :)

Mine'll do 77-78 on the speedo in a little chop with all the options, 2 people or more, 1/2 or more of fuel, and a full water tank up front. I call it 73 real MPH.

So 75/76 GPS is a good number for that boat I'll bet.

30K for 5 MPH didn't make sense to me. :D

not to mention the 20-30% less fuel burn across the board, and the couple hundred less for insurance with the black power.

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

Boat was shipped with non-labbed 28" B1's. Dano said acceleration,rpms,good bow lift, was right on the money. I will run it tomorrow myself. Unfortunately my GPS has permanently OD'ed,if I can't find one Sat it will be speedo and seat of the pants only,but I should have some good input,especially if my buddy comes by in his 525/Stellings 353. Robert

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

You may remember my opinion of 28's on my boat. The 26's are zippy and run 5000 on the nose. I'd like to know what WOT RPM you see in that boat with the 28's. Take note and post please. Thanks.

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

all things considered I don't feel too bad. :drink:

you and I'd be pretty much a dead heat in a race huh? :eek:

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

Just ran it,5100 RPM,that's very close to the rev limiter,probrably 28 labs would hit the limiter,stock 26's would be way over. Will have a new handheld GPS Tues and can get some real speed #'s, but it is pretty impressive,jumps right up on plane and has a nice sound with Corsa thru hull mufflers instead of the Silent Thunder box. I still prefer my motors blue and I never stocked 353's without them but I will now stock both. The 600 boat will be here in a few days and there is about 100K difference in actual selling price.For that kind of difference you could get an extra 271 for your wife or girlfriend :D :D Like someone said a long time ago "You pays your money and you takes your choice". I see a market for the 496 boat,the 525 boat,and the 600 boat.All in all,pretty nice choices. Robert :)

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

no kidding...maybe my tachs are off (or yours?). Can't imagine I'm hitting limiters 'cause I got no tach needle stutter. If yours will pull box 30's, they painted 'em the wrong color. :eek:

I gotta look more into this on my end...

of course engines differ, looking for speed #'s regardless of RPM.

I'm doing the Corsa bit myself here soon, thanks Troutly. :)

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

Read the earlier post,mine are stock 28's,not 30's. The Sport uses non labbed props.

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

I was just saying IF it could pull 30's (in jest)...as the 28's are damn near the limiters.

be sure and post that speed when you get one Robert. :)

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

We'll see Tues. :p

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

I have not GPS'd my boat. I run side by side often with a 303 with 502 Mags. He has a GPS plotter. His boat is a very consistant runner. 69-70.x MPH. It's most often a dead heat...I mean we can run for miles and nobody gets a half a boat length. I have finger walked him a once or twice...but I tell ya it ain't a mile an hour. In almost all cases our top speed contests have been in small chop or less. Give me a 2'+ chop and I know there's another mile or two in mine based upon what I've seen on the speedo for reference. His straight bottom shorter boat running Mirages carries the nose well. My boat being more of a level runner needs some water for that last 2 MPH (if they are going to be there that day :D ) I still say the most mine'll do (light) on it's best day is 73.

I just don't get the experience Robert is having with those 28's. Mine was a P I G with them on, and no faster @ 47-4800 max, than the 26's I'm running now @ 5000+. In fact it was the lack of acceleration, poor low speed/midrange performance, and want of tab at those speeds that put me on 26's. I now have good acceleration, and the boat will stay on plane down in the mid/high twenties with very little tab. In fact the boat carries it's tail much, much better at all lower and mid speeds.

How that Sport's turning up 5100 RPM on 28's is beyond me!

With all due respect, Robert, I don't doubt your word, but I'm scratching my head as it seems something is amiss here. :o

I have the formula test team report from '01 showing 28's turning 4900 RPM and a two-way avg. of 73 MPH on salt , in a chop w/75* air temp, low humidity, less than 1/2 fuel! :confused:

did they build Robert a "ringer"??? :eek:

or paint the motors the wrong color??? :eek:

tune in Tues. to this Bat Channel at a similar Bat Time for an update! :evilb:

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

Ran it again today,crappy,overcast weather,60 degrees but nobody out,dead calm slow water(fresh of course) 510' above sea level. Added some fuel,had maybe 3/4 tank.Speedo reading solid 79,#5 on mechanical indicators,just me and one lab(dog not prop)5100 rpm on both tachs.I have no idea if the 2005 496HO's are any different from previous ones,but sometimes Merc makes a subtle change or 2 without saying anything,who knows?No ringers from Formula,they just don't do that,not their style. I will do the GPS thing Tues,but seat of the pants feels that this boat is pretty strong. As far as the Hot Boat Mag test goes,they carry lots more weight in their boats,my yellow lab weighs about 90#,Hot Boat has way more than that in each set of silicone enhanced bolt-ons :rolleyes:

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

LOL (Silicon bolt-on's) Are both of you running with the bimini's down?:D

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

perhaps I've misunderstood... the dog had a bikini on? :eek:

I usually run pretty heavy too. :D

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

it's Tuesday...the suspense is killin' me. :D

Got my Formula Action news letter today. Robert is quoted. :D

and the first blurb about the Sport is in there too...specs say 9100 lbs. :eek:

either the 353 has gained 500 lbs. or the quoted approx. weight of 353's since '98 has been wrong at 8600.

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

While you were surfing OSO I was running the boat :p Dead calm water,no wind,68 degrees,just me and slightly over 3/4 tank fuel. 75.2 GPS all day long,not a flash reading,ran maybe 1 mile at 75.2 solid,flash readings of 75.3 and 75.1. Robert

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

NICE :cool:

whoever predicted 75/76 GPS anyway??? :D :D

almost 40* here today. :rolleyes:

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

I wonder if the 496 likes a little back-pressure downstream in the exhaust?

I'm going from Silent Thunder to the big Corsa transom mounts myself.

Not uncommon in the vehicle world for mufflers to make power on a moderately tuned engine, as opposed to NO muffler.

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

Glad you are making that 353 a little nicer for when you trade it in on Dukenrock's '01 382 :drink: :drink: Can you say genset,A/C,and 500's? :p

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

Robert, I thought that guy from Florida was coming up to look at it? Nice numbers on the 353!

On another note...

I was hoping you might have Byron Wink's home phone number or cell phone number. He's coming out tomorrow AM to look at the trailer. I picked it up tonight to bring it to my house where he's going to meet me, and on the way home I figured I'd check the air presure in the tires. They were around 50#, so I topped them off to 65#. Got on the road and the problem went away! :eek: Pressure must have been low coming back from your place. I need to get ahold of him before he makes the trip. Any help would be appreciated.
KC

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

shame on you K. :eek:

I always check trailer tire pressures before I leave for the road, and at every fuel stop after a cool down. ;)

and carry a dedicated grease gun full of Mystic JT-6. :cool:

Mystic is the chitz.

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

My bad! I've never seen one track sideways like that with low pressure. Tires weren't that low, tracked real bad! Shame on me for not checking something as simple as that.

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

Don't have any phone #'s but you might go on their website and post on the Forum.Byron runs that and I bet he checks it often. If you don't contact him,knowing the Prestige crew like I do,he won't mind making the trip in the interest of customer service. If Formula built trailers,they would be Prestige. I've dealt with lots of trailer builders in 37 years as a dealer,nobody is as dedicated to the customer as they are. Robert

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

sounds a bit like an axle alignment issue...no doubt exagerated by those less than optimum tire pressures.

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

Thanks Robert.

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

I'm not kidding when I sad it tracked bad. I would never have though tire pressure would make that difference. I'll keep an eye on tire wear for axle allignments. Coming back from Robert's I was taking pictures of the awesome scenery. I happen to catch a shot in the rearview mirror. I was going straight. Look at the angle of the tire vs. the lines in the road. Wierd?

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

under-inflated tires are harder to "pull" and offer more rolling resistance. Therefore, resistant to being pulled straight, if indeed the setup has them going anything less than straight.

This is why 65 lbs from 50 makes it feel and seemingly track straighter...it's easier to pull straight even if it still has bad axle alignment geometry. Not saying this is your problem, I'm sure they make a fine trailer...

did you note any variations of more than 5-8 lbs side to side, or front to rear? This can also cause poor tracking.

That was a 1000 mile trip wasn't it? The tires should be showing some "feather" or cup even now, if it pulled that bad.

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

Not any signs on tire wear. Boat pulled jsut as nice as when I pulled my 01 down there. Problem is that I can't even tell it's there with the Dodge :rolleyes: I think I will see a difference on fuel economy. They were very close coming home, but now that I think about it, I had a completely full tank of gas in my '01 and less than a quarter in the new one. Hope that's all it was. I wasn't worried too much. Everything I hear about Prestige is as good as Formula and Nelems. :D Ya learn something every day!

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

Hey Robert:

75 on the GPS is unbelievable! I've got one here that I'm getting ready to splash this week, and another under construction. I hope mine run as well. Were you running the stock "non labbed" props, or were you using different wheels than the boat came with?

I will let you know how mine runs next week, but if it is mid-70's my customer is going to be thrilled. Kind of makes you question the need for blue motors at the upcharge they get for them.

Thanks,

Tom
Total Marine

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

box 28's I believe.

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

Tom,Rippem is right,stock 28's shipped with the boat,I didn't think they would pull them,but if the motors loosen up any and with a light load on fast water they might be on the rev limiters,which is perfect. BTW,Dano said he could get more out of it than I can,when he ran it without GPS he got 80-81 on speedo where I only got 78-79 speedo. He was trimming the SB drive further than Port drive and got the boat cocked just right.Guess I'm more suited to my 1968 Switzer Shooting Star,it doesn't have power trim and still runs 80 after all these years :eek: I may be too old for the new stuff,so I'll let Dano dial in the 600 353 when it comes in :drink:

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

well...having just split with the GF you've seen elsewhere ;) ....



I'll try to keep the new ballast..uhh...how do we say...just as trim :D

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

Robert,
That 353 with 600's wouldn't happen to be spoken for, would it? :D

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

ooh...ooh, fresh boat buying fodder!

Dukenrock, do tell! :eureka:

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

Yes,it is spoken for. It's mine. I have an empty Hydro Hoist just waiting for it :D :D

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

I keep having these visions of a new 353 with 600's heading to the land of the Vikings, being towed by a Ford, only to tow it back to a southern state where the lake has 4 initials, where a new condo awaits, where all his newfound friends will be hanging out. :evilb: Call me crazy. Oh, the visions also include having to give up one of the most awesome looking Formulas I've seen. My visions are quite detailed!!!

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

I had a few not so well detailed visions in the mid 80's. :drink:

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

I'll take bets starting right now :D
I give my vision 2 months! (An I don't drive a Ford)

My vision has a slight blur. It can't quite make out whether it's a 353 or 382. It's quite possible it may be a 382.

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

Ran the Sport again today in the kind of water a 353 likes,nice chop and some wind,lite load. 79 GPS upwind,77 GPS downwind, and just hitting the rev limiters with the stock 28's. I would not have believed it if I had not seen it myself. :eek: :D

Re: 353 Sport/496 HO's
 

Always playin, aren't you! :D