Advice on a New 38
 

I'm looking to drop some scarey money on a new 38 Lightning. The 29 Fever I bought 2 years ago will go on the block. On paper I am looking at a pair of 525's with 2" shorts on the back. I am not sure if the short drives will give me more top end with the 525's nor am I sure I shouldn't go for the 600's. Lastly, does anyone know what this ride will run in the top end? Oh yea, should I get the fridge??? :rolleyes:

Re: Advice on a New 38
 

wouldn't Fountain have the best advice on the drives and power? What did they say?

Re: Advice on a New 38
 

We have a left over Custom build W/575s (what a boat!) The one We Have in stock I would Buy If I could swing it! and Ya get the Fridge! I can send you pics If you like!

Re: Advice on a New 38
 

Good question.
I am waiting for an answer through the dealer from the factory on the point. Meantime back at the ranch, I am asking for real life experience. I will post their answer once I have it.

The order sheet says 525 only - next to the Sportmaster short drive upgrade. I thought it curious, why not for the 600's. etc.

Sometimes the dealer gives an opinion or an interputation of what the factory thinks. We have some bright guys out here with knowledge. Just trying to tap into that.....

Re: Advice on a New 38
 

Please send pictures! [email protected]

Re: Advice on a New 38
 

As far as I know...they are not dropping 600's in those unless Reggie signs off on it.
Maybe an insurance issue?
I would jump on the boat mentioned with the 575's you could upgrade those with carbs and up the boost...maybe a cam swap also.
Go alot faster for alot less coin. :cool:

Re: Advice on a New 38
 

I was told the 600's are available and on the order sheet. Thanks... I like the idea of the 575's.... I agree easy to add ponies.... cost effective....

Re: Advice on a New 38
 

600's are great but you can't run them like the 525's. the 525's are a wide open motor with little maintanance. The 575's suck HUGE and that is why they didn't make them very long. On a hot and humid day a 525 will kick ass over the 575's. the only way the 575 is even remotley a good angine is if you put a chiller on it..then you have no warrenty unless you pay fountaiin to do it. they were affering that from factory to try to get sales up.

Re: Advice on a New 38
 

look in powerboat ....i think it was early last year they tested a 35 with 575's and chillers that were installed from fountain...10,000 each!!! Also YES they do offer the 38' with 600's.

Re: Advice on a New 38
 

My bad on the 600's being availible in the 38... :p

Re: Advice on a New 38
 

THe 575 Is a good motor and does not suck huge!!!!!! the reason Merc raceing went to the 600 is the HP desg changed from 500-575 to 525-600 to keep the same 75 hp gap.. I know of several that are in boats we have sold that are turn key and have 150 plus Hrs on them (Strong Motors) Super chillers will enhance the perf but are good out of the box.

Re: Advice on a New 38
 

No Limits... Info Will come to you From Our Sales dept (Doug Emery) Good Guy Knows alot! We are setting up for the Norwalk show and you are welcome to come in and see Us there! (East coast flight craft Booth) Doug Will Be in Touch
Thanks! :drink:
Bob Jordan
Service Manager ECFS Inc.

Re: Advice on a New 38
 

About the 575. What are you smokin fountainracing65, I would have to agree with blownincome. I have a 575 in my 29 and it is a very strong motor. The 525 is newer technoligy, you really have to compare the 575 to the 500, and the 525 to the 600.

Re: Advice on a New 38
 

Thanks!
Steve

Re: Advice on a New 38
 

Your Welcome Steve.. Enjoy! And Note,, Its a Staggared setup! :D
Bob :drink:

Re: Advice on a New 38
 

Might want to try Matthew Smith at Pier 57. I bought my 38' from him and last time we were talking (last week) I think he mentioned he has/had a 38' with 525's and shorties as his personal boat. Want to say he said he was also looking at a 38' with 575's and superchillers, so he may be able to give you some real world info on both.

Re: Advice on a New 38
 

Call Mike Livorsi, he is selling his 05 38 with 525's, nice boat and runs over 90

Re: Advice on a New 38
 

No Limits, another issue is fuel usage, you can run 87 octane regular as you know on the 525's, while the 575's & up are 92.
That's if fuel price is an issue...

BTW, my dealer has an 06' 38 Lightning w/525 power.
Beautiful boat, tearaway flag graphics, blue carpet, monster gauges, billet throttles, you know the drill.
It's on a Myco Trailer as well.

I would upgrade to this boat from my 29' if I had the coin.

Tell Joe Mark D sent you.

Powerboats NW
253-627-4600

Re: Advice on a New 38
 

I'm at work...here is Livorsi's rig. It is sharp.

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/a...hmentid=158766

Re: Advice on a New 38
 

We have a 38' on the way with 600's, shorties & herrings. Should be here soon. Projected speed is about 98. The 38 w/ 525's, XR, Bravo props runs about 88 with freinds and fuel. Livorsi 05 38 w/525 was traded in today on a fish boat. We also have a 2006 used 38 and a 2001 38 w/500EFI coming in this week.

Feel free to call us @ 847-336-9037 or check our website

www.chicagofountain.com

Thank you
Shogren Performance Marine

Re: Advice on a New 38
 

Well hell, if we are going to make it a bidding war let's just drop-trow and evryone gfax him their best price. WTF????????????????

Is this the way everyone wants to keep playing? Fine by me.

Re: Advice on a New 38
 

I thought Fountain was enforcing territories??

Re: Advice on a New 38
 

Hey Steve,

It seems that your wanting performance info is turning into a feeding frenzy among the Fountain Dealers...

It's like putting your hand into a tank of pirhana..... OUCH !!!

Hey Fountain dealers.. What are the rules ?????

Can you sell '05 leftovers and used boats outside your area ????

Re: Advice on a New 38
 

CMG,

You are correct, Fountain dealers are to abide by the rules to sell "NEW" boats within their defined territories. Although we are unable to sell new boats outside our territory we are able to sell used boats anywhere we choose.

Hope this helps you.

Shogren Performance Marine

www.chicagofountain.com

Re: Advice on a New 38
 

I will say Shogren is a class act. Who stands behind verbal promises these days??

Shogren is my dealer and glad to be in his woods. :D

Re: Advice on a New 38
 

Thanks Shogren, for the input..

But what about 05 leftovers ???????

Re: Advice on a New 38
 

Sorry, we don't have any leftover 05's. We have the following used 38's:

Used:
2000 38 Lightning, Vangard Trailer, 500EFI
2005 38 Lightning, MYCO Trailer, 525EFI, 40 Hours
2006 38 Lightning, MYCO Trailer, 525EFI, 45 Hours

New:
2006 38 Lightning, MYCO Trailer, 525EFI
2006 38 Lightning, MYCO Trailer, 600SCI's

The 2000 & 2005 will be on our website by this weekend.

Hope this helps.

Shogren Performance Marine
www.chicagofountain.com

Re: Advice on a New 38
 

Hey dealers...
Just becareful on this site with the bidding etc... on new sales, especially! The factory check this site now... Dont get caught with ya hand in the cookie jar!

Re: Advice on a New 38
 

Well, I spoke with Tim at Fountain who recommended I get the 525's with the sportmaster shorties with a 1 inch spacer with Herring 34 p - Just over 90 with low fuel etc. I would do the 600's but the mark up is ridiculus. I thought like the 575' there might be cheap horsepower gains with the 600. But at a 40k upgrade cost I think someone lost their mind. I'll play with Wipples later on, just need to decide if I should go with a 1.3 rather than 1.5 drive ratio.

The base price of a 2006 38 Lightning with 525's is now 317k. :eek: The discount seems to be around 15 percent. But I have found those who can get an 06 with 05 pricing. That gets you to 275k. I am still LOOKING at 05's.. I will deal with the dealer in my area for an 06, unless he changes the deal.

Just went over colors with the wife..... :rolleyes:

Re: Advice on a New 38
 

WOW!!!! 98mph.....that is great.

Re: Advice on a New 38
 

fountain does have rules about dealer areas! the dealers have to follow them but, the factory can land a boat anywhere they wish! If you live within a couple hundred miles of a dealer buy from that dealer, If your in no mans land then shop! shop! shop! The closest dealer always can give the best service. Last year we built a 38 with 575's, chillers, imco's, hering's,genset and extra battery that ran 102 on the performance report. I could tell you the X dimension but Your not in my area!

Re: Advice on a New 38
 

If someone wanted to buy a set of 600's from Merc, how much are they asking for a pair -without the drives?

Re: Advice on a New 38
 

True to an extent, but the person looking for the 38 is from Babylon, NY. There is a dealer with multiple Long Island locations to serve him. The "grey area" thing is a stretch.

Re: Advice on a New 38
 

I was looking into 600's also but . I went to a poker run and saw a bahawith tripple 600's and it did not run like it should. I would bet that the same boat with 525 efi's would out run it. At this point I think the 600's are over rated. I am going to watch them a little longer before I jump. A good engine builder could build more for less. I could be wrong.

Re: Advice on a New 38
 

I'm seriously thinking about selling my 525's and getting a set of 625 Ilmors. I've heard great things about them in regards to performance, fuel economy, and reliability. They say you can run them 400 hours before even touching the top end.

I'm on Lake Cumberland and Lake Cumberland Marine has sold a few boats with Ilmors and they just love them. They said a 39 Outerlimits with twin 600's ran 101 mph. An identical GTX with 625 Ilmors ran 108.

My only concern is in the rigging. I don't know if the motor mounts would match up or if it would have to be a total redue on the rigging.

Re: Advice on a New 38
 

The purpose of this thread was not to publicly shop for a new Fountain as I think we all know. I just wanted that to be clear. If I am going to buy a brand new 38, then I will look to the local dealer and mostly because that serves me the best. If he losses his mind and treats me bad, then I would shop elsewhere.

Heres why -
While I understand that Fountain wants to protect the network, not all dealers are the same! That means the dealer that works best for me, may or may not be the guy closest to me. So, if I did have a problem with the local guy but Fountain wanted me to deal through him anyway, I would buy a used or different brand boat. So the dealer who screams foul but offers bad service or doesn't discount - they are screwing Fountain. THere is a line that should be walked and in my opinion, Fountain should let the market dictate it - otherwise you support the weakest dealer and starve the better ones.

Whats more -
When I call and ask questions of some of the dealers, a few guys out there can't even answer the basic. Seems to me, this is a niche market with a relatively small but knowledgable buyer base who are willing to spend crazy sums of $ in order to go fast. THere are many choices out there and ALL come with compromise. I like dealers who are willing to help me more than slash the price. The smarter dealer can charge a bit more but his advice can still save me coin down the road. But, since this will be my 4th new boat in 8 years (this is how the jag-off buyer like me becomes smart) a good deal wouldn't hurt. I could give two poops for the dealer who wants to get over only because "this is my area". Frankly that guy should be selling Bayliners.

Last thought - the guy that sold me my 04 29 Fever that was my area dealer is now not because of a new guy. He still sells Fountains but is no longer the closest. What happens if I want to go back to where I bought my first boat? Fountain is going to have a problem with that and screw with an established dealer client relationship? Forcing the old dealer to "pay" a cut to the new one means I pay more - or the old dealer loses money. That genius idea is good business ...how??

Anyway, this is a great thread but I still want to know why Hustler charges 24k to upgrade to 600's but Fountain wants 40k. Something smells with that.

Steve

Re: Advice on a New 38
 

Steve,

I Can Promise You That No One Can Service You As Good As Mariner's Cove. If You Don't Believe Me Then Give It A Try!!!

Re: Advice on a New 38
 

Fear not Vinnie fear not..... :D Besides, you have already serviced me on a few things. You are never a problem.

Re: Advice on a New 38
 

No Limits-

My comments were directed at the dealers, not you. It is not your problem to control, it's ours.

Re: Advice on a New 38
 

All I have to say about this BS with Fountain territories is: Bill Harris was at the Fountain dealership 2 miles from my office but I drove 600 miles round trip multiple times to Pier57 before I bought my used Fever. The Fountain rep was encouraging me to buy local, but this dealer was involved in so many scams it was pathetic. Why would Fountain want to support this kind of behavior? If and when I buy a new Fountain, I know where I will buy it. They have worked for my business and should be able to benefit from it without sharing with a local dealer.

Hopefully someone from Fountain will see this and can explain how this is going to help them with boat sales. How many long standing dealers are now frustrated?