verbi69

I have set foot in a '99 Vyper but never ridden in one.

I am looking to move up and was leaning towards the Vyper.

Wondering if those of you in the know could give some input.

I trailer my boat everywhere and like to spend weekends out in the boat, so overnighting room is essential, along with a windshield.

I am limited to the 34 or 35 foot length for storage.

How would the Vyper compair to lets say a Baja 342??

Thanks in advance.

Mike

diggin H20

The Vyper is definitely hard to beat in that size range for overnight comfort. We use ours regularly for weekend trips and LOVE it! Plenty of freeboard so the kids feel safe too. The Baja 342 does not have anywhere near the headroom of the Vyper and the fit and finish is not near as good either. We trailer everywhere also and I have no problems tugging this boat around.

verbi69

Diggin, thanks for the info.
We spend alot of time on the boat for weekends at a time and think that the 340 would be a great move up from our 280.
We absolutely love our 280 but always said "if it was just a bit bigger" when we weekend on it.
Running 80 mph with twin 496s would make for a great all round ride as well.
I like the fact that you have had both boats and can compare the two.

Macklin

Had an '02 340 with HO's. I don't know of a 34' boat with a bigger cabin. But as I said in the 280 thread, the huge freeboard/high bow scrubs on ride quality. The Baja 342 was on my list when I was looking to move up from my 272, but there were none available locally to look at. Top end will be no comparison because of the twin step on the PQ.

Yes, they are capable of 80 with HO's, but only under perfect conditions. My biggest complaint was the chine walking. Can be controlled with tabs, but they scrub speed.

Depends on what you want. If you want a nice weekender this is your boat. If you want a true performance boat you might want to look elsewhere. Go take one for a ride in the snot...would be my best advice.

Oh, and do a search on here about this boat. They retooled the hull around '00 if I remember correctly to work out some bugs and make it faster.

Did they even make the HO's in '99?

verbi69

Macklin, there are limited PQs in my area so trial runs are next to non existant so research on here is my only tool...
The 340 I have my eye on is a 2002.
I spend too much weekend time on the boat to go for an all out performance boat and I am not ready for the "cruiser" style yet......I think you are correct with this being the boat for me. My 280 chine walks a bit as well so nothing new there....

performancemary

I had the 28 the 34 and the 38 Size matters. The 34 was a fantastic move up from the 28. The space in the cabin was is great as we did a lot of overnight stays. The 2002 would be a good one as they fixed the bottom in 2001.

I had the hp500s and got it to 77 mph The guy I sold it to got 80MPH once on a perfect day.

The 38 was the best. The ride was rock solid, no chine walk no bow rise and out of this world handeling it had the 575'S and did 85 mph with less than the best props. With better props I believe it would have been an 88 MPH boat.

Good luck on your search, the 34 and the 38 are both fantastic. With either one you will be blown away!!!!

Jim

Macklin

Hmmm, I believe the guy that finally bought mine (traded on the AT) lives in Canada. What colors?

verbi69

Same graphics package as mine but colours are black instead of red.

verbi69

This is the one.
2002 496 Ho's 345 hrs.
$89,900

Powerquest_Baby!!

This is just my uneducated response but that seems like alot of money for a 8 year old boat with 496 power (cast iron internals) and 345 hours.

Personally, I would rather save the $40,000 and buy this: http://www.boattrader.com/listing/19...carab-97448338
Looks like you would have to buy a trailer so maybe its $35,000 less but still....4 feet longer...twin 502 power (forged internals) and its a Michigan boat so its a freshwater boat.
I LOVE Powerquest boats but $90K for that Vyper seems like alot.