I have been entertained with the purchase of a 2000 35 lightning recently. The purchase wouldn't take place for another year but I figured I would go ahead and do my research before really thinking about it. Couple of questions

*Could someone post some pictures of their boat so I can make some comparisons (I already searched all classified here)
*Right now I am running two carbed 454's. A 45 mile round trip at cruising speed (55-60 MPH 4300-4500 RPM)<--- Yeh I know I gotta keep up with the big boys. Will cost me about $80 a weekend. How would the 500's due compared to the 454's. I should be able to run lower RPM's and acheive the same speed which should help. But would operation cost be much higher?
*I have rode in this boat before several times and it just rides like glass compared to my 30ft sonic but I don;t want to get into a boat that costs tons of more money to operate. I am only 25 years old and have a newborn so spending 4-500 a month on gas just for my boat right now is about the top of my budget for now. I would appreciate any information. I have researched all the threads and seen great things about the lightnings. Just want to make sure I look into the deal well before I purchase.

I would stay with the Sonic. It has a deeper cockpit and is a heavier boat. The Fountain will be faster but it is lighter. Gas usage will be about the same since both have have big blocks. The Fountain will have an EFI engines since it is newer. The Sonic is more family friendly with a taller cabin and deeper freeboard.

Wannabe

Someone once told me "if you have to ask, you probably can't swing it". I'd stick with your sonic. It is a more family friendly boat.

LOL. Well I know financially what I will be making in another year due to a raise so I have some room to play on this. My son will also be getting out of day care which is costing me $500 a month and I will be paying off the 05 f250 which is another $450. So our family plan is to upgrade at that time even if it is just to a bigger sonic. We goto LOTO and other large lakes often enough that I want something that size to feel "safe" in. I ahve just never ran the 500s and wasnt sure how they were compares to my 454's. I know guys with 496's that get waaaaaay better gas mileage than I do.

The 35 will only be about 2-3' longer than your Sonic and the cabin will be much smaller.

This is where you lose me. You are considering locking yourself into a payment based on a raise. I don't care if you work for your family, you cannot move foward on speculation and promises.

Keep the Sonic.

What is it that you don't like and do like about your SONIC?

Write them down and then compare what you will get with a 35 fountain. Might not be what you want, if the cabin is a concern,,,,,,,,,,,, forget the Fountain.

The other thing, what fountain 35?

No Step, Single step, twin Step side by side, or twin step staggard?

no I'm not investing or locking into anything until these things happen. I am an accountant and deffinitely know how to handle my finances. I also ran and sold 2 successful companies outside of my familys business so I am not dependent on that. I understand your concerns but I have a child now and will always make sure he is taken care of first. The goal of this post was not to focus on my financial status. I was requesting information about a boat since this is a boating forum and how the newer motors operated compared to my old 454's. I don't have the privelage of living in an area where I get to see a ton of big performance boats so I depend on this forum for information like that. I always praise this forum to every boater I know and this is the first time I have had someone attack a personal descision rather than focus on the boating question at hand

if it was not meant that way I am sorry. No hard feelings that is just how I interpretted the post.

what is it I don't like....

*the motors will barely push 65 and have to be wide open to get there
*if I went to replace these motors with some 496 mags or 502. First I am not sure they will fit because it is a very tight space now and secondly it would cost me 15-20k to buy motors and I would maybe be able to get 6-8 grand out of my 454's still holding full compression in all cylinders
*the interior amenities are dated, no electric bolsters ($3k to upgrade), no generator, gauges need to be updated ($3k),

Don't get me wrong I like my sonic alot but I would love to have a little more space and power. A newer boat would also give me the confidence of a newer stronger hull and less things to go wrong sooner. I know that part is kind of if'y because on boats anything can go wrong at anytime. So basically I could drop another $30k in my 89 boat or sell it and spend $80 on a newer boat that already has these options. I wouldn't get my money out of the older boat but a newer boat would hold that appraisal value and already have the options from the factory.

The fountain I was speaking of is a single step side by side. But as stated it is just an OPTION

Have you spend any time in the 35 or even been in it at all? Like Griff said, it's not going to really be any bigger than the Sonic. It will be faster and newer if that's your goal.