What kind of top end should one expect out of a '06 35 ex. with 496s? I have a friend who bought one and gets about 70 from it. My 27 fever is faster and that kind of suprised me.

Mid 70's. What drive ratio and props?

Your friend's test report will tell you what the factory was able to achieve and at what drive/tab settings. Call the factory for a copy if he doesn't have it.

78 MPH Gps. Takes a year & a day to get there. Bravos
stink mid range and bang the limiters at wot. 10 mph
gain @ same rpm with 30 maximus but loose 2mph
@ wot

I think seat time and dialing in will get him where he should be. It's taken me awhile to get mine to this point. Thanks for the response.

So what kind of cruise speed to you have now at say 3000, 3500, and 4000 rpm? 10 mph is a huge gain.

the maxes usually give you 8-10 in the cruise over the 4 bld.

we have delivered about 9 35 singles steps with 496's the slow end was 77 and the fastes was 81 and change.
all same ratio, just lil differences in the bottoms.
meng is wright as for the max's but if your patient you can tweak them to get your cruise and the 80 mark.

I noticed the same thing with my 502s in a 35 Classic. It would run 75, but took forever to get there.

I had the maximus's labbed every way possible. Never
got the top end back to 78 and lost 4-5 mph at cruise.
Settled for stock maximus's as they perform better
than all the labbed versions I had. The fuel milage
increase is substantail. Cruises at 10 mph faster
in the 33-3800 rpm range and stays on plane at
lower speeds. The 32 bravo really is not the
best prop for this boat. I have wondered how it
would run with a 34 bravo,but I suspect getting on
plane would be difficult.

What props would you run on a 96 35' Lightning single step with stock 502's

Probably 26 bravos. They raised the X dim on the
EX and went with a 1:65 drive ratio, thats why they
can run the large props. What are you running now?