Knot 4 Me

I'm just saying if you are looking for speed, the Bravo I is the way to go. Especially on a boat such as this Cobalt that is going to have the drive deep in the water. You can't add a shorty lower to a Bravo III. They don't exist. A Bravo I gives you options on how deep the prop is in the water without having to fill the transom and raise everything up. Even a standard Bravo I lower should be faster and you have way more options in terms of props.

To the OP, this boat appears to be very clean. I believe it is priced to try to recoup the cost of the upgrades and in the used market, you have to accept that you cannot pass along certain sunk costs to the next guy. IMO, this boat's value is no more than any other clean, used Cobalt of the same year, engine/drive combo, and options. The add-on's for the most part probably hurt the boat a bit in terms of shrinking the pool of prospective buyers. If it can be bought as such, and you are willing to accept the probably added costs/headaches down the road of associated with the Whipple'd mill, then I say go for it if you want the boat. The setup will need to be modified for the change in elevation.

Too Stroked

There is no doubt that the boat in question is both beautiful and very well cared for. With a bone stock 502, that's probably a mid to upper 50 MPH hull. And if it was bone stock - and priced to reflect it - it would be a very nice boat for somebody willing to pay for a well cared for boat. But adding a supercharger to a family boat adds a bit to the top speed, pushes the hull into instability territory, and actually hurts the resale value.

Most experienced high performance boaters here know that the best way to go faster is to start with a hull designed and built to handle that kind of speed, then power and rig it accordingly. That absolutely includes hydraulic steering if the boat is to run over 70 MPH. And it doesn't include a drive that was designed for family boats - like the Bravo III. As nice as that boat is, I'd stay away from it. You - or somebody else - is going to pay a fortune for something that will cause nothing but headaches - or injury- somewhere down the road. Just my 2 cents.

Dave M

Not so sure about that...LOL! Lots of threads on here about people putting ridiculous power in a turd of a hull.

Knot 4 Me

Where's that 100 MPH Chaparral build thread when you need it?!

Too Stroked

Well, I did say most high performance boaters.

Notice how the 100 MPH Chaparral kind of faded (or crashed) into oblivion? And there was also the guy with the black Four Winns hell bent to drop a big blower motor in it. Of course he's probably pushing up daisies about now ...

Papasmurf

You need to read my "Building a Sleeper Thread " on here.

The short story: 252 BR Formula with Bravo 3 454 EFI 52 MPH

Added 540EFI 720 HP Ground up performance engine, XR Drive, Dual Ram Hyd.Steering, Bblade 25P Labbed Mirage Plus 3 blade Prop, and the best Ive seen so far is 75, and 76 down wind, with me and half load of fuel GPS
Bravo 3 X dimension is set VERY low. even with the XR drive, we are looking at a 2" shorty lower this summer for some test hits.
Tried a Bravo 1 28P Prop and above 65mph, it would start lifting the stern and got crazy out of shape.
No way he is anywhere close to 85, and if he is bull****ing about that, he's full of **** about the rest of it

If you look at my thread, its all documented. Dyno Sheets, which you will never see on here, video. I'm, not a keyboard cowboy like most on here
I've actually done it.......................and Love it !

Too Stroked

Congratulations! But I do have a couple of questions:

1) How much do you figure you've spent so far?

2) How much do you think the boat is really worth if you went to sell it? (Be realistic here!)

Papasmurf

Who gives a crap............. . No one ever gets out of their boat what they put into it.......
Anyone who says different is full of it

You mod your boat for the same reason you mod your Car, truck or Harley................To have something different from the other guy which I do

I'm not hiding anything on here.................read the thread if your that interested. Its all layed out.... every dollar and where it went... The frustrations, the setbacks, the over budget, the loss of a boating season.......
Was it worth it?......................... Every time I blow past one of those factory go fast V hulls, with the fat old rich dude, with the fake big tit blond. Its PRICELESS !!!

Knot 4 Me

To the OP, I want to clarify something in case you are unaware on the outdrive. If you buy the boat, you do not have to replace the entire drive if you want to test out a Bravo I lower vs. a Bravo III lower. You only need the lower unit as the upper is identical between the two drives. So when I say a shorty Bravo III doesn't exist I'm referring to the lower. Meaning you cannot raise the drive depth and retain the dual props simply by swapping to a shorty lower like you can with a Bravo I lower. On these runabout types of hulls I've found the same to be true that Papasmurf has in that you do not want to run any kind of stern lifting prop as the back end gets flighty on them. Bow lifting 3 blades seem to do the best at stock drive heights. That might change with a shorty lower.

Papasmurf

Well said........... I didn't get into, because I didn't want to cause confusion, but that's what I did. Exchanged the Bravo 3 lower with an XR Lower to achieve higher speeds and durability. The 1.25" prop shaft also helps save those high dollar labbed props from ending up on the bottom of the lake.....

Props: Mirage Plus (3 Blade) has given the best top speed, so far. Hydromotive QIV (4 Blade) has given the best all around performance and a top speed of 74 Drive X dimension is still at Bravo 3 level, which is very low.