Hey guys, hows it goin? I have a few questions as I begin to start thinking about a fountain purchase. This is a purchase that will take some time as other than my house it will be the most money I ever spent.

List of questions as I believe I want a lightning or ex 35 or 38.
I know the lightning is twin step vs single on ex.
I know the lightning has, vacuflush, fridge, swim ladder and anchor locker and the ex does not.

Has anyone added anchor locker to an ex?

Did they stagger the 496 in the ex?
Did anyone ever get a 38 lightning with 496's?
Did they make 38 ex's?
Is it true in 2007 they stopped using real wood in construction?

Anything else I should know about major changes between say 04 and 07 or so.

Im leaning towards 496's because of the gas and go reliability Ive heard of. reading on this board a lot it seems to be the most economical engine put in the fountains. Anyone with better info please chime in.

Any help from the fountain experts would greatly be appreciated.

Thanks,
Mike

you have to get a 2007 38 with 525s 97 mph best boat fountain ever made! Ok just sayin that because mine is for sale!

I have 496's in my 35 Lightning and couldn't be happier

Good luck in your hunt.

Techman thanks for your reply. Answered everything. Looks like I'll be saving a little longer for the lightning.

If you narrow the choice down to a 35 Lightning or 35 Executioner, there is no question the Lightning is the better boat. It is more modern in every aspect and the benchmark for performance boats in the size range. With the 35 Lightning you also get a few more choices from side by side to staggered and the later models have the newer style cockpits and interiors.

There Executioner is a great boat but based on a much older design. Not that there is anything wrong with that. But the twin step on the bottom of the lightning is like getting more speed for free.

Keep us posted on your hunt.

Techman,

What does your boat run with the 496's?

I seen that 38 for sell again, I'll try to look it up.

Seemed to me that it would be a great combo if you put a lot of hours on the boat.

My boat runs 81 WOT at 5150 rpm's running 1.50 XR's and stock B1 28" 4 blades. Most 496 boats run X's not XR's with 1.36 gears and larger props but do about the same top end maybe a little faster since the X's don't have as much parasitic losses as the beefier XR's.

I went with the XR's in case I wanted to up the HP someday. Since these boats have aggressive X-Dim's its easy to surface the props and you have to be your own rev limiter in rough conditions. So having the beefier XR's gives me a little more peace of mind when loading and unloading the props when flying across the wave tops.