389 avenger top speed improvement
 

Hey guys, 03 avenger 380 running 496's ho. With 28 bravos. Looking for some more top speed. Thinking of labbing and cmi's instead of motor swap only have 109 hours on the girls. Looking for advice. Thanks

Depending on what w.o.t. r.p.m. you are seeing, labbing your existing 28p Bravo props or labbing 30p Bravo's would be your best bang for the buck. I wouldn’t expect more than 1-2 mph gain though. Save your money on the exhaust, I bet you would see zero gain on those stock engines which already have a decent exhaust.

Thanks for input. I see 47-4800 rpm WOT. Currently I GPS 75-76 good conditions. 73-74 all day... LOVE the boat just always wanted to see 80.... guy at cobra marine in ft Lauderdale thought bblades was a joke and the ones they run are what he recommended 27-28 please 4 blade.. for around 3500 for set minus trading mine in so around 3k... just trying to do reliable changes. Boat runs too good to F**k up.. he tried selling me a pair of 650 cobras.. :daz:

I take it that you are running in salt water? Cobra calling anyone a joke?...that's a joke itself! LMAO. You want reliable, lab the props and leave the motors alone. You will likely never see 80 with 496's. a 380 with 525 runs 84

LMAO I agree. The guy I can't remember his name, was pretty errogant. I've heard good things about bblades other than cobra marine. I run fresh water. Northern Michigan. So there is no safe way ton gain 4-5 mph?? I feel the hull will respond well to some improvements . Love the hull. I was hoping some labbing and Dana or cmi would get me there. I think they figure 18-20 hp per mph. I mean if I have to go to the motor what is safest bet? Raylar kit? Prochargers with addition of beefingetting up internals? New motors? Or just keep it as is aND look bada** and still run fast, just not super fast for my area...?

if you are getting 76mph on GPS I would leave it alone,most 380s with 500s get that,I know I have driven them.

as far as exhaust I would leave that alone as well,the 496 has good exhaust with good flow stock from the factory,putting on aftermarket exhaust will get you BLING but no performance gains,

Thanks for input. So if I just labb my props and so now I'm 77-78 conservatively... that's sooooo close to 80.... there's gotta be a way

Maybe I sell it and just get something not as comfy but screams... it would be hard to part with it tho.. she's a beauty. Above was a link of a pic of it. If I decide to sell is there any interest in these boats.. I've seen a lot for sale that were older with 4-500 hours still getting mid to upper 70k

asking or selling?
it better be a nice one to get upper 70s

Not sure what they are "selling" for. Those were asking prices. I know i purchased boat this year and bank priced it at almost 90k.. i have the documentation that they presented me for proof. I mean its an 03 with 109 hours.. in amazing condition.. heck the trailer is prolly worth 8-10k... like i said i would inly consider selling it if i decide speed is more important.. if i could just hit 80 i could live with that.. but speed means eniough to me to where i would consider. Let me know if link i sent above doesnt work

I was in your situation 2 boats ago. You have to decide if you can live with the boat you have or modify it. A few MPH means zero to your passengers, its all for you. Decide what is the wisest use of your $ and your time. As far as selling your boat, the market is hard to read. My advice is take the emotion out of it, look at the hard "real" numbers, and price it as a serious seller so you attract a serious buyer.

Voodoo rob thanks for your advice. U are exactly right about my friends and wife could care less. I care, its abiut me on this topic... well it seems like i would have to do work that could cause some unreliability to hit the numbers i want. I just wish i could fet 5 mph without digging into them.... if i decide to sell, i would hope low 80 wouldnt be too wild of a number.. with the low hours and additional 20k paintjob uograde from factory etc. We are all bias of our boats but it is one of the nicest boats ive seen in wster.. ive seen some nasty boats on trailer tho.. for sure

If you decide to sell consider a broker. I never used a broker in my life to sell anything but a house. I recently learned that you need someone to critique your boat for what it is, have the ability to finance and take trades, and the net they can cast will be much larger than yours. The trade off is commissions. Your price point is something to consider that most people will not be able to pay cash or may not want to pay cash/ cashiers check/bank check to a private party they have never met. This is not the rule of thumb of course, but will help you to sell faster. I used Greg at Shogren and sold our old boat very quickly, I tried it on my own the year before and no dice because I couldn't finance or take trades.

Shogren is where this boat came from. Original owner bought it. Said not fast enough and bought some crazy 47 fountain with 3 big motors for like 700k. I should contact him

In my experience, these boats are hard to move. My boat had new paint, new interior, new manning aluminum trailer, new covers, new stereo, etc... and the number that I ended up taking would make you puke. But I just wanted it gone. Had tons of offers, but when things got serious, most of them couldn't get a loan because of the age of the boat (2000) or had no down payment. If you get a solid offer, I would sell it and move up to something that is faster, trust me, you'll never be happy with it. And getting that boat to 80 or above is going to be expensive. I also did the bblades thing, didn't gain any speed. just my .02

Sell the HO's and power up if you are serious about making a 380 move. Some 525's would be nice but not necessary. HP500 carbs would get you to 80 likely. That's too much to ask of 496 HOs. you could blueprint the lowers and see if that gets you anything but that's 4k you could have added to the price you sold your HO's for to buy bigger power. If you ever want to sell it, stay with Merc power. Non-merc power in a 380 will detonate the resale value.

I agree to stick woth merc if going to sell. Ive been talking to greg at shogren performance marine. And he is trying to get me a real value of my boat since such low hours.. i wont give it away. He has a 39 superv nortech with 8o0 zul's.. they just got rebuilt but we are talking 135k... with 250 hours... decisions decisions..

I still want to know how you're getting 76 out of it. All of the 380's with 496's that I've heard of usually run 72 or so.

With all the research ive done before i bought boat, im not sure either.... and the previous owner said hes had it faster than that... but the boat gps and a handheld gps cant be wrong... i see 74 everytime i take it out. Raced a 27 fountain the other day and he either has a 502 or 500 merc . Either way atleast a 72mph boat... and i crawled by him.....

And also, after talking with wofe, decided to keep boat. Runs too good and in great shape. Couldnt replace it for 70-80k.... ill just lab prips and maybe a few tweaks and leave it alone...

And yes... ive seen 76 several times on it.... NBS

Agree, think I had one of the fastest vypers and ran 79.5 on its best day in fresh water with HOs. Don't see a 380 going the listed speed.

Also, not sure anyone in their right mind would pay in the 80s for an 03 380.

Carry on......

This isn't a fishing forum about that record fish that got away with no pictures.. It seems to me a forum about asking questions from ppl that have been there done that and have learned so they can share knowledge. I have ZERO reason to be dishonest. With all the research ive done prior to buying I would have agreed with u, but now I that drive it every weekend. I know what it is. If you don't belive me and can't inform the conversation with knowledge than maybe it's best you chime in on someone elses... what would I gain to ask questions if my starting point was inaccurate???!!!???

Carry on........

Sounds like it is running good as it sits, I wouldnt touch a thing or tweak the props, you might end up going backwards. Keep the $ in your pocket.

The experience I have seen with my 2000 380 is that as soon as there is a bit of chop on the lake, top speed falls off dramatically. I have been trying props and chasing a bit more top end but no matter what I put on, I end up with close to the same top end in the chop. Have yet to have a flat day to try my 30p labbed Bravo I props. Always choppy on the bay.

If I continued with stock 502 mpi, I would probably be happier with the labbed 30s. Since I have messed with the tune on my motors with slightly raised rev limiter and a bit more timing at WOT, I am actually better off with my stock 28s spinning higher rpm but can still tag 5300 limiters occasionally. Just much more acceleration, out of hole power with the 28's even though the 30's give a pretty perfect WOT rpm. I have yet to see 70 mph with my boat on GPS even though I have sheet saying factory ran it with radar at 71.8 mph. I have gained 2-3 mph across the board so far. Started at 64.5 mph when I bought it and after correcting bad injector and melted piston issues I can hit 67-68 regularly on chop. Takes a bit to get there though. Accelerates to 63-64 real quick then creeps on on top speed over a couple minutes. I get horrible prop slip numbers though.

But your hull is much better than mine given the year so that anecdotal experience may be irrelevant.

I will have a completely different setup next year with more HP and Bmax drives, and more than likely 5-blade props.

I have had mine to 82.6 GPS with 12" boxes and i run 29P 5 blades i hated the 4 blades, way to much slip. Sorry to tell you but your boat is worth maybe 70k if you are lucky. I have had mine for sale all summer and it is down to 65k with bigger motors and drives then you are running, but you do have 4 years on me.
I was also looking at the 39 Nor-tech but have decided I want a cat next.

Sounds quite possible. My 2001 with 502 mpi's, CMI exhaust, Vortech flame arrestor, and Bblades labbed 28+ bravo 1's ran a best of 75.4mph gps.

Traded boat for a chaparral... for tubing for kids.. verg hard decision. Actually an emotional one. Love my PQ. Pissed i feel i gave it away. They gave me 75. Have it for sale for 100k.. think they will get it???? Feedback would be nice so i feel better ablut it... haa

I already gave you feedback, it just wasn't what you wanted to hear.

Just keep asking, maybe you will get the answer you want.

Good move on the new boat so your family can enjoy it, if they aren't into it you wouldn't be either.

I was just having some sellers remorse. No feedback required. I got fair price for the 38. And great deal on chaparral. Kids will enjoy. And wife saw my sadness and promised me i could get back to speed in 3-5... prolly go fountain . Nortech. OT.. something fast fast. Dont worry keith, i listen. Nothing wrong with some sellers remorse. We all go through it

She is done and ready to come home. Original strakes were trimmed to 21" from transom. They have been removed to 34" from transom now. All edges in the back are now sharp and surfaces very flat. No hooks found anywhere. Will be interesting to see what happens with this early 2000 hull now.

Steve at Mid-Michigan Fiberglass in Bay City, MI does fantastic work by the way. Does things the right way only. Very pleased with the quality.

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97 380 avenger bottom
 

looking forward to seeing the results of the bottom work, I'm plaining on have my 97 bottoms fixed up and pull the hook out and everything else that's slowing it down!

It helped for sure on my early 2000 hull. Total of 34" of strake removed now, was 22" from factory. Bottom was solid and no hooks were found. Back hull section still does not have the added rocker of the 2001+ however, but it is now as close as can be. Few gelcoat blisters from carpet trailer bunks though, had some fixed, fix some more next year when budget allows. Turning stock Bravo 30p props now to 5000-5100 rpm. More bow rise getting on plane without tabs however but less prop slippage as she noses over. Noticeably more bow trim control, actually makes a difference now. Still likes the trim to be 7-8 on indicators for best top end. Boat accelerates to 67 mph quickly and creeps up to 70 GPS from there, where as before accelerated to 64-65 and took forever to hit 69 mph. Could have gotten a bit more if I stayed into it but didn't want to push my extremely tired 502 MPI engines haha. Water was about a solid 1' messy chop when I tested WOT. Mind you these speeds are with nearly full fuel tank, half water tank, full crapper tank (come to find out), and packed to the gills with weekending gear, full fridge, 2 coolers, all cast-iron exhaust yet, and 3 deep cycle batteries on that day. So essentially, FULLY TOURNAMENT LOADED in fisherman terms. Cruises great around 48 mph at 3700-3800 rpm. Surprised a couple friends that they couldn't creep past me anymore since they knew I didn't touch engines.

Overall I am happy with the work, got another couple MPH with ZERO horsepower gains. Boat rides with bow-up much better and balances nicely on the pad. I'll take a solid 70 GPS any day on this size boat with tired low HP engines. Be interesting to see what happens if I ever run on a day with light gear and fuel.......rare occurrence haha.