35 flame vs 35 fountain
 

Whats the difference ride, size, speed, quality. Say a ten year old boat from both manufactures.

Are you scoping both out seriously or just wondering? I dont know a lot about Fountains, and I am new to Nordic, but I am very happy with my Heat. I am sure the Flame would not disappoint. Were I you, I would get into both of them, see if anyone around you has one or the other and get a hands on feel for it. Thats how I bought my Heat. Just some friendly advice. Happy hunting!

Nordic Flame 35' hands down, :)

I would prefer a 10 year old 35 Fountain than a brand new Nordic. "Hands down". If the Nordic was a good hull, why didn't you see any running 10 years ago in the Factory 2 class when Fountain "Hands down" dominated the class.

:popcorn:

:boat:Flame great looking boat don't know anybody that has one I'd drive both!10 yr old boat they are both going to be side by side not staggered?I'd go with the Fountain just for the speed!

I am definately a "Nordic" guy.

The fit and finish of a ten year old Flame is definately better than a ten year old Fountain in my opinion.

Performance wise...the Fountain will kill the Nordic.

A new Flame with 525's is a mid 90 mph boat. (92 ish)
A new 35 Fountain with 525's will do 102-103 all day long.

The hull on a 2001 35 fountain is the same as it is on the 2011 model...the hull changed in 1999.

Them is just facts,

Chris

P.S. The winshield on the flame just flat sucks! ... it throws the wind right in your face...

The Fountain is actually a 32' hull and running surface running a 35' deck. That is an old hull designer's trick, making the hull run on a smaller boat's running surface to reduce drag. Their step angles and narrower transom width also make the boat faster. The Flame is a full length 35' hull. It runs in the low 90s with stock 525s.
It takes about 700HP per side to run 100 consistently.
One I am familiar with running 725s runs 104 in summer heat with a full load.
Styling is a subjective thing, but I lean to the modern convex lines of the Flame.
I would look at and ride in both.
Steve

Thank you for your informed and expert opinion bar3.
I'd say it's worth your post count, maybe less.
Steve

Hi Steve, Yes, I usually do refrain from posting on here. Although your buddy Chris poked at me on this subject matter so I had to chime in... I have "a little" experience with the Fountain's.

Best Regards
Ben Robertson III

Ha Ha Steve...I love your charming wit!

bar3 is Ben Robertson of Hering propellors.

He used to build boats for Fountain.
His dad built and drove/throttled the Cat Killer.

I think he knows a little about Fountains and boats in general.

Chris :kiss:

P.S. a 38 Fountain will do between 96-100 mph with stock 525's...with one doing 103 in Greenville NC with Herings new 7 blade props....still faster than the better looking Flame.

Benny,
Of course you are familiar with Fountains, and obviously you like/prefer them. Rather than give flyingJ some objective information on both boats (which I did), you took the low road and made a sacastic remark about them not competeing in Manufacturers 2, which has been dead for years, and that you would rather have a 10 year old Fountain than a new Nordic.
I didn't tell flyingJ Nordic won men's and women's open at Catalina 2 months ago, against competition from Fountain, Cigarette, etc., nor did I tell him to buy from the company that is still in business. I didn't tell him to buy from the company who had the fastest single engine tunnel at LOTO. That's not what he is looking for.
It's possible to talk up your products if you want to, without denigrating the competiton.
I do respect your tunnel racing skills, and although it's history now, Reggie's too. He, Earl, and Bill were the best in their day.
Regards,
Steve

If LOTO is as rough as they say I wouldn't pick either. The Fountain is small and the Nordic is a better flat water boat.

Steve,
FlyingJ asked about ride, size, speed, quality... You are correct in your statement that a 35 Fountain is about a 32' hull, and I will add that a 38 is a more like a 35' hull length. The cockpit on the Fountains are a little more narrow than the Nordic, but I cannot tell you how nice it is to be able to walk around it when you need to dock it. As far as speed, handling, and the ride go, a Fountain will not be beat by anything else.

My reference to the older, "dead", factory 2 class was brought up because flyingJ was asking about a 10 year old boat, and 10 years ago factory 2 class was great, over 30 boats at the bigger races. I don't remember seeing a single Nordic competing. So that is my "objective" information which pertained to where the racing circuit was the proving grounds for the "Factories" in these classes.

Nordic builds a great boat I will not take that from them at all. I was not being negative to them either, but if you are talking about speed, quality, and handling there is no comparison. If you are boating in the lakes and rivers they are good. The ski race is more about the skier and not the boat. Most of the boats that run that are capable of almost doubling their average speeds if it wasn't for a skier behind them, I am pretty sure that the Nordic that won could also run quite a bit faster than they did too.

I do love Nordic's 28 cat, that is a VERY nice boat. I like Chris's 28 too, and if I was in the market for either a 28 cat of v, I would honestly buy a Nordic. I just don't think that their 35 compares to any of the competition.

Best Regards
Ben

I have owned three 35 Nordic's and wouldn't have traded any of them for a 35 Fountain (any year). Fit, finish and better overall looks is one of the reasons another is Nordic is still making boats\replacement parts. I will say however,the 35 fountain has much better manners in big water.

The 100 mph plus speeds Chris is referencing was the staggered version which was basically to two seat boat. No room in cockpit or cabin.

Just my 2 cents:bsflag:

Flying J to sum this up so far. "Brand A is unquestionably superior to Brand B because I own Brand A and anyone involved with Brand B is to be considered a diptard." For our lake, you will want to make a decision about how important the ride is from 4pm Friday to 4pm Sunday from Memorial weekend to Shootout Weekend. (The rest of time it's irrelevant.) If you want nice ride during those times, go big, deep, conventional and heavy. If you want fun and air time, go smaller, lighter, stepped or cat. For the record, I own Brand C which is the perfect LOTO boat and unquestionably better than both Brand A AND Brand B. :evilb:

Wow, all of that said by everyone, and still, the only thing the guy needs to do is get in one of each. Everyone can talk till they are blue in the face about their brand (I am a Nordic fan), but it is all subjective. F J may not give a darn about top speed, he may not care which has the better hole shot. If we were all concerned with having the top speed, having the best hole shot, handling the water the best, well, there would be one manufacturer or boat and we would all own it. Same in the car world. Cant say a Porsche is the end all of sports cars, because obviously people still buy Vipers and ZR1 Corvettes for the same price.

F J- Take a small vacation and get your self into one of each. If you are considering buying one or the other, then you can more than likely afford to take a trip and do some testing. Good luck with your purchase either way you end up!

x2

When looking for a large single engined family/fast boat...it took me almost a year of arranging test drives of the various boats I was considering...Eliminator, Howard, Lavey, Nordic, etc...I drove six or seven competing brands with my wife before settling on what we wanted.

Definately go drive them both.


Chris

If the busy weekend rides are important, buy a Cigarette!

APACHE someone had to say it :grinser010:

I knew i liked you...:drink: See you in Miami

See ya there Carry

Cheers!