outdrive question
 

Hey guys I have a bravo 3 looking to switch to a one what gear ratios are you running I have a 26 legend with a 454 carb also what kind of speed are you getting.thanks

You'll go with a 1.50:1 ratio in a Bravp I drive. What year is your boat?

It is a 95.

Standard 7.4L carb motor? 330 HP? If so, then go with a 1.50:1 Bravo I drive and a Mirage Plus 3-blade prop. I'd start with a 21" pitch loaner prop and see where you are at RPM and performance-wise.

Just curious what are you running boat wise, rpm and prop thanks.

I don't own a PQ. Own a 260 SSi Chaparral with a 496MAG. However, I'm very familiar with your boat and my suggestions apply to most any boat of your boat's size, weight, and HP. You'll want to shoot for 4,500 - 4,600 RPM at WOT with a light load. You should see mid 50's for speed. With your boat's X dimension, a 3 blade Mirage Plus will give you the best all around performance for hole shot/cruising/top end.

Right now on speedo I am at 50 with full tank and 3-4 people is it really worth the expense to change?

You would gain some top end but lose some hole shot and manuverability around the docks. Not sure I would change to a Bravo I unless top end is what is of most importance to you and you plan on adding more HP in the future. How many RPM are you turning in the scenerio above?

i think the top end of a 3 is the same as a 1 . you may want to see how much it would be to convert your lower half over. give water and wheels a call, he could answer all your questions...........

I belive knot would be correct on the top end. You should see about 55mph. I have a 454 mag efi and we run a consistent 60mph and have seen as high as 62 on the perfect day (once). I maybe selling a 21 or 23p mirage plus as I'm going to pick up a Hydromotive Quad 1V X prop. My guess is a 21 would be the right match. You'll have a better resale with the bravo one as well.

B1 should be better top end, but I don't think 5mph better. I went through this exercise with my 270 laser. Ended up choosing the B3 for better manueverability around the dock and better hold shot. Also get straighter idle steering. When I looked into it PQ told me I would be trading 1-2 MPH top end.

Not sure it is worth the cost of changing regardless of which one you have today.....

We still don't know how many RPM he is turning at WOT today to know if he is propped right now. That boat should do 55MPH with that motor when propped correctly. That is what both FF and I are saying...what his top end should be, not what the gain will be going from a Bravo III to a Bravo I.

If he is at 50 GPS with 3-4 people and a full tank of gas, he is not that far off, maybe a couple MPH. My 270 385HP ran mid 50s at best with a load like that.

Hey now, we are not discussing a 1998 270 Laser with a 454MAG... :rolleyes: And he said he is running 50 MPH on the speedo so my guess is that is not a GPS speed. You cannot baseline anything without know RPM at WOT.

That's why I said if he was at 50 GPS - you know those pressure speedos - just like Wally's, mine was 6+ MPH happy. And we don't know what RPMs he is turning yet.

I think I am about 4200 but have not paid much attention will check it out next time i go out. The pitch on my props are 28.

28????That's way to big for that setup.You should be in a 21-23p.Assuming the Bravo 3 props are the same as a standard.Which I'll admit I don't know much about. That simply sounds like one big wheel.

Seems too big to me too, but I haven't run B3s for a long time. K4M has them on his Chap and can chime in on what pitch the are. He had his balanced, polished and thinned which helped him.

If that is truly the case and its simply a matter of oversized props. I'd try swapping them out 1st and see what the results are. You maybe able to get pretty close to that 55mph mark at which swapping drive may not make economical sense.

It's all that paint and not enough HP:cool-smiley-027: