35' Classic VS 35 Lightning
 

i see they have the special executioner w/ 496's for $149,995. it may be a great deal, but if you look a5t fountain's speed charts the classic is 5 mph slower than the lightning. WOW. 5 mph in the hull is quite a bit. i wondered what a 35' lightning with 496's rigged the same as the executioner would cost. i wanted to see how much the 5 mph costs.

I think they list for about 180k with 496's. I believe they run up to 200k with the 500's. People will buy the classic for the looks not the speed. a couple of whipples will fix the speed!

The Ex looks cool though. I need that red panel and wheel to go with my carpet, that would be a little HOTTER than what I have. Midnight:cool:

I have a buddie that just got his new Ex a couple of weeks ago he absolutely loves it. 496's and ran 77.5 on gps in Fla after changing to 26 Hydromotives. He thinks he has more speed with more dial in time as he is on the limiters. The red dash is pretty cool I would like one too. The pics he brought back to MI it looks like a very nice boat. I can't wait to take a ride next time I go down. I'll have to do some upgrading this winter so I can beat his new one just like his old 32.

I have a 1999 32 and I want to upgrade so off to the dealer I go. I drove both boats (Executioner and lightning) Both boats had 500EFI's. The water was rough with 3-5 footers plus a few big rollers thrown in to keep you busy. It was 91 degree and I ran with the same three people each time. The Lightning , with both tanks 1/2 full, ran 86.1. The Executioner, with both tanks full, ran 81.2. Both boats had less than 1 hour and stock props(30 bravo and 28 bravo). The ride of the Executioner is better. The Lightning feels and is looser, thus the speed increase. It's more of a drivers boat. I want to drive the Lightning under better water conditions. Also, the Lightning didn't accelerate as fast as the Executioner. The props seem to slip more. When you accelerate the RPM's come up fast but then you wait till the boat catchs up. The Executioner stays hooked up.

I have a list price sheet order form for both boats. The listing price of the Lightning with 496"s is $$220,012, and with 500's it's $252,038 and with 575's it's $290,251. Remember those are the LIST prices.

Fever Mike is right. The Lighting has more interior room and is more ccomfortable to drive. I'm not a big fan of the pump out head and refrig stuff. It's nice if you over night on your boat but we don't. Tough decision.

roger that on the fridge deletion.

I test drove both a 35 one-step and than a 35 two-step the following day. Both had 500's. We thought the one-step was a bit slower - not exactly sure how much because we didn't have a gps - but thought the one-step rode much better and was WAY better in the turns.

The two-step tended to bounce thru a sharp turn, while the one-step could be whiped into a high-speed turn and come around like it was on rails. We bought the one-step and have been very happy with it.

We also thought the one-step was a much better looking boat. DO they now offer the cut-down winshield on the 35 like they do on the 38? That's a much better looking boat than with the taller winshield.

I'm not sure how much difference there is in price but I think it's like 30K +. We bought the one-step and figured we'd put the money we saved into operating the boat and making it go faster in the future.

Marginmn

Sounds like you had the same results I did. I like the ride better in the single step but it is 5MPH slower. A couple of blowers can fix that. Yes, they do offer the cut down windshield on the 35 now.

There is a pic of a 35 twin step with the cut down window in the General Discusion section under "35 foutain single or twin step"

Enjoy your ride.

Gig