looking to trade 2004 fountain 35 ex for 31 sonic 2001-2003 plus cashpm me for more information

Wow, I am really curious about this post. I am looking to move up to a 31 Sonic also (trying to sell my 2002 Baja 25 Outlaw for less than payoff on this site) as I have heard soooo much about the ride quality in rough water of the Sonics, and the cabin room too! Interested in your wanting to move out of a Fountain too. If you had a choice, would you go 502's or 496's??? I have a 496mag ho in my boat but they are not meant for whipples, not hearing too much about Raylar either so I figured a 502 should be able to be freshened up easier?

gcoutlasw for the amount of boating i do i don't need a 35-0.I owned a 28 sonic and loved it.the 496 are a turnkey motor that you just leave it alone reliable is the word.stay a way from the 502 they won't last as long.the 35 fountain is lighter than the 31 sonic and is faster if your looking for speed but the comfort level i would have to say sonic you get more bang for the buck.

Dock em side by side, not a whole lot different in size any ways

Well, I have a 496 mag ho in my 2002 25 Outlaw SST right now but just my .2 cents, I would prefer the 502....the 502 is the building block to all high performance motors. Put 500 hrs on a 502 and then a couple of thousand to refresh and you are rocking and rolling...later down the road, work on them and crank up the HP!!! The 496 is stuck in my opinion right where it is. If you modify the 496, how do you reprogram the computer?, Arizona Speed, Whipple???? NOT, the engine is built already to produce max HP and from everything I read, add to it and you will kill it (some faster than others of course but I am not seeing a lot of people modifying this motor and Mercruiser from what I read is replacing it shortly). Again, just my 2cents.....

I would have to go with the 502 so many people run this engine and i am running one also plus the rebild is never a big deal since parts can almost be bought at Stop and Shop thats how common and popular these engines are

does the 31 sonic count the swim platform in the measurement?

Yes, the 31ss is 30'6".