Sorry for the confusion Mike ,
The speeds were with a 540 600+ hp.

OK thanks for clearing that up. I was starting to get excited about the speeds I might see in mine with a 525. I know the 525's are supposed to dyno around 540 to 560 something like that, and I thought if you were getting that good of top end with a hp500 that I would expect about the same if not a little more. I know that Ron Lombard(has a 525) on this site is only seeing around 70 or so with some fuel and couple of people. I think he even had his prop labbed to get him there. I know that these boats aren't the fastest, but I guess you sacrifice some top end for the great rough water ride. I hope they come out with a procharger for the 525 one day. That would be a power maker for sure.
Mike

Mike:

I'm going to try what Bruce stated...get a QIV Hydromotive 25p. I think the 26 labbed is great, however, JO always thought that the 525 should run best with the 25p. I have a 24 which originally I saw speeds of 71.4 gps but I hit the rev limiter a few times. JO had my drive set higher when I hit that speed. Now the drive is a bit lower, and the hole shot is great, but the top end is down. All in all a few extra out of it would be great, but I'll take the safety of the ride any day.

If Mercury Racing ever made a 600 EFI internal cooled engine, that is the way I would go. I don't have the ability to constantly flush the system.

Hi Ronnie,

The trim pin was inverted on the drive so it would tuck in further down which would get you up on plane faster, and handle better in rough water.You just need to trim the drive out at WOT a little further now.The drive height is the same as it was before.

A Bravo 1 25 pitch ( which you need to cut back from a 26 pitch ) will work fine on your boat.You want to turn 5250-5350 RPM consistent depending on fuel and passenger load with the 525 EFI Mercruiser package. A stock 24' Bravo 1 does hit the limiter quite easily with 71-72 MPH performance on GPS. The limiter kicks in at approximately 5400 RPM.The 26' Bravo 1 labbed you have now should get you 5300 - 5350 RPM light on fuel and result in 73-74 MPH top speed trimmed out perfect in a light chop.Remember your 28' has a 140 gallon gas tank so an extra 80-100 gallons in the tank can make a huge difference on your RPM and top speed.

The "full pleasure" version is quite a bit different than Bruce's 28' race due to the cabin weight and sitting further forward in the boat.

Bruce is right : The Carrabbas 28' powered by a single Mercruiser 500 EFI will turn a labbed Bravo 1 26' at 72-73 MPH at 5300 RPM on GPS with a full pleasure configuartion like yours.

Hey Fever Mike good to hear from you !!!

Regards,

Jo - Pantera Boats

fullthrottle, i heard there was not much more speed to be had with the merc 600 over the 525 package. anyone know what the real speed difference is i heard 2 -3mph?

Most of the 525EFI's dyno closer to 540hp and the 600SCI is computer controlled to produce 600hp all the time. A 60 hp difference would net about 3mph.

Hi JO..

Happy New Year to all in Miami.

Thanks for the info. I think I'm always running with too much fuel. I'm going to try the 25P soon and will post the results. I should be back in Naples by March. Should have the prop by then.

Best to all,

Ron

FYI, I see up to a 5mph difference in speeds when running near full on fuel and with 4 people compared to just me and a 1/4 tank or less. I vary between 63 and 68 with about 550hp. It also depends on the chop. A 1-2' will add a couple mph also.