Sold my Donzi 27 ZR 496HO a couple of days ago and was set on ordering a Donzi 35 ZR with twin 496HO's........ad now I came across the Sunsation 32 SSR which looks very cool also.

Anybody can chime in on major differences and advantages on one over the others ?

The Donzi 35 ZR does seem quite a lot larger on the pictures and I have no possibility of test driving or evaluating at a dealer cause none have dealers in my country...

All thoughts highly appreciated

Going to be real tough to compare size based on pics and specs. I'd never even think about buying a boat based on pic's alone. Donzi can't direct you to a 35ZR? Have you been able to see a SSR yet?

One thing will be a certainty and that is Sunsation Customer Service. No one will come close to taking care of you like the Sunsation clan will. Awesome people and awesome Customer Service! I highly doubt Donzi can or would come close. Very down to earth people who truely care about their Customers well past the sale.

I've been on a Donzi last year at the boat show and it was a very nice boat. More of a sit down boat though but I'm not sure if it was a 35' ZR. Can't remember for positive. It was a staggered set-up though and 30' something. Overall the Sunsation 32SS felt more polished (so to speak) to me and deeper as well. Liked the Donzi, just would not be enough to get me out of a Sunsation.

Never been in a Donzi and I'm sure they're good boats, but I have nothing but positive things to say about Sunsation and our 32SS.

Freeboard is excellent on the 32SS. Probably has more than the Donzi and a few other brands too. This tends to offer a more secure feeling when running the boat hard. Rough water handling is at least on par with anything in its size range, maybe better. Cabin is excellent and has more headroom than some 38 footers. Quite functional in my opinion.

Don't let anyone tell you this is a lake boat. Simply not true. It is a deep vee'd, twiin stepped tall hull that can handle quite a bit of pounding and still keep people dry. It hangs with any other boat in this size range with similar power and does it smoothly and in style. It's no 38 footer, but then again it doesn't cost like one or require silly power to hit 80 or 90. The 496's are about as reliable as you can get.

John

I could not have said it any better J.G

I think the Donzi is more of a large scale production boat too vs. the Sunsation which is more of a custom boat. I think Sunsation is only making 75-80 boats a year compared to a couple of hundred. Some of the SSR boats out there are over the top. The Donzi is nice but Sunsation seems to have them beat on fit, finish, and rigging.

That pretty well sums it up. IMO the fit and finish on the Sun is far superior. And the factory support from Sunsation is as good or better than anyone, Donzi won't be close in that category.

The 35ZR is an overall nice package, though I think they're also a little more proud of their product (=$$). If there was one thing that stuck out for me when climbing on one at the Miami boat show a couple of years ago was it's man-hole cover sized cuddy door. It's a tight squeeze for an above average sized man. ZR's were originally designed as sit down boats, and the transition to bolsters makes it feel a little small for a stand up boat, but no doubt the ZR bottom makes it run great in the rough. BTW i have logged several hours behind the wheel of a friends sit-down 38ZR w/ 575's, so i have a little insight especially to the 35's bigger brother. I don't honestly think you can do wrong on either, but it's definitely a personal taste & practicality decision which requires touching/feeling both boats.....Good luck.

Have not been seated inside cabin on Sunsation, the 35 Donzi cabin has very low headroom and your head hits the headliner when sitting down.

Most people are surprised at the amount of space (including headroom) in the cabin of the 32SSR. This is partly due to how tall the deck and hull is on this boat. One of the recent powerboat mags reviewed the 32SSR and noted the same thing. What's funny is that the hull, deck and cabin space in the 32SS / 32SSR has remained largely unchanged since 2006 I believe, but Powerboat acted like it was a new feature in the recent article even though they already reviewed one of these configurations a couple years back. Glad they're paying attention.

John

i love the dash and cockpit on the Donzi, but there is no headroom in the cabin, depends on what you are looking for.