P5X on a Rage
 

I just finished testing a 26" P5X on my Raylar 496 powered Rage. Without a doubt it works as well as it does on the Heat! It's a little under propped but the acceleration is great and it will hold plane several MPH lower than a Bravo prop. Top speed is easily equal to a labbed Bravo prop. I could spin it to 5300 RPM at almost 78 mph in the hot weather. That is about as good as this boat will do under those conditions. The boat carries and handles beautifully.

Bob

So the P5X is box stock? I've been wanting to try one on my boat. Looks like that Rage is running pretty good.
Hope all is well, Bob!

Clark Bird

bobl,

What would you recommend I try for an 03 Heat, Raylar 525 with a 1 inch spacer at both sea level and at 6k+ feet. I have the stock Bravo 26 right now. I was planning to test the PX5 26 for sea level and a bravo 24 for 6k+ feet. Any insight would be appreciated.

In my opinion a 25" P5X would be the best prop at sea level. It will turn about 100 RPM less than a stock 26 Bravo 1 prop. At 6000ft. you'll need to drop down about 4" in pitch.

Bob

Hi Bob,
Good news it works on the Rage as well. That's all I run anymore.
The first time I tested a box stock 28" P5-X on my Heat, it had a much better hole shot, acelleration, midrange MPH, and 1 mile an hour on top vs my Merc blueprinted 30" Bravo. I had the Bravo modified locally after the Merc blueprint to cut down the slip and blowout. After having Throttle Up blueprint the P-5X, it was 4 MPH faster (85 to 81, light load) than the Merc blueprinted 30", which to me was a more apples to apples comparison.
The other thing I like about the 5 blades is they are much less weight sensitive than 4 blades. Like a lot of us, my load ranges from just me and light for testing, to 4 or 5 people and their gear, and full gas tanks. The 5 blade does lose a few mph with a heavy load, but it just kills 4 blades.
Regarding top end handling, I just ran the roughest poker run I've ever been in (KYLPR). I was thinking this is not going to be fun, I'm going to tear the boat up and we are going to be miserable. The water was so rough (wind generated 3' 5'ers) I had to follow a friend with a 35' Formula for the first several miles. Eventually, it "smoothed" down to 2' 3', I pulled out of his wake and ran with bigger twin engine boats (31' to 39') that should have been able to run off in those conditions.
The P5-X stayed hooked up and handled flawlessly (stability, lift, acelleration, top end). I only used tabs once, when it was really rough to keep the nose down.
The only "damage" was a few loose screws in the engine compartment and under the dash.
Regards,
Steve

For everyday cruising, and pulling water toys... I find the P5x impossible to beat so far. For all out top end... my boat likes the Bravo's

Chris

P.S. Steve... I love running with (or better) than the twin engined big dawgs also. Passing a twin engined performance v-bottom is down right fun. Waxing some of the smaller single engined cats is also a blast.

I hear you on both. This run was about 90 miles (from KY Dam, 10 miles from Ill, to 5 miles into TN, and back) so we couldn't run wide open, except for short blasts. We had to conserve fuel running both ways. I was running 65/70 and a twin engine Eliminator came blistering by WOT. I hammered down trying to catch him. All I could do was close distance and pace him. Oh well, as a friend riding with me said "it's a cat with 2 engines, relax and have a beer" :grinser010:..........
Steve

I know the 496 hits rev limiter at 5150, does the raylar get more Rpm?

Raylar makes peak HP at 5200, rev limit is 5400.

Steve, By "blueprinted" do you mean made to be a perfect stock prop or does it mean it was labbed i.e. blades thinned etc?

Labbing and blueprinting are interchangeable terms for performance modifications to a "stock", out of the box propeller, new or "used".
Different shops have different recipies.
Usual mods for a high perf/poker run prop would be:
Pitch matching each blade (B1s are notoriously bad here)
Static and dynamically balancing (reduces vibration and stress on drive line components)
Thinning
Sharpening leading edge
Modifying cup (+ or -)
Modifying diameter (+ or -)
For a full race set up the above +:
Razor sharpening
More thinning
Heat treating
Cad scanning (also done by some shops like T/U on PR props)
Some props need more or less work depending on how well they are cast or CNC finished from the foundry.
When TU was working on other brands props, their "blueprint service" was $100 per blade, and included all the Poker Run mods + Cad scanning, so they could replicate your mods on other pitches or L & R if you have twins.
They are making their own CNC props, so they are no longer working on or selling anyone else's props. Hering does great work, as does BBlades. I haven't used Tom's blueprinting service at Hydromotive, but I am sure they would do a nice job too.
There are less well known, but good local shops around the country. We have some great local guys here that used to build props for me when I was racing (Performance Propeller). I had them build B1s for Butch's Heat (supercharged 496") and the Hart's Heat (stock 502 Mag) and they both run very well. And like eggs, props are cheaper in the country :D.
Regards,
Steve

Thanks Steve!