Help my 26 is a turd!!!
 

I am new to boating and my 26 prowler is getting real boaring. My question is should i make it faster or just step up to something bigger? At what speeds does this boat start getting hard to deal with? The boat has a 496 ho and only has 80 hrs. If i keep it what would be the first thing to do to get some more speed out of this thing. Any help would be very helpful.

raylar kit.

Thats kind of what i have been thinking. Possibly the raylar kit but replacing the intake with a whipple kit and building the bottom end. My question is can this hull take that kind of power and speed and still be safe.

i know of someone on the board hear that has a 500efi pro charger set up and he is running low 80's :)

If you are going to upgrade to a bigger boat eventually; DON'T modify your current boat. The 26' Sonic is a great boat, but its not known for speed. Its big, deep, and heavy. I needed an HP500EFI in my 26' Sonic to keep up with the 502Mag powered dime-a-dozen boats several years ago.

If you take your current boat any faster, you REALLY NEED hydraulic steering, and you will probably want bigger trim tabs/K-planes.

Stock powered boats sell faster than modified power boats; be it internal/external motor changes and/or superchargers.

Put your boat on the market now. Find someone who is ready for their first offshore type go-fast. Interest rates are going to get more favorable now that fall and winter boat shows are coming. Get aggressive on selling your boat now, and then you can find someone else that is aggressive on selling their boat.

There are a LOT of boats out there for you to move into; I may even know of a couple that would suit your bill just fine. :D

I fully agree w/ Sydwayz!
Sell it and get something bigger and more powerful.
Something in the 28 range-30range big single.
Try to keep it around 600hp (or less)so a bravo can deal.

I'm with stormy and syd!

yep, buy a faster boat if thats what you want....

I dunno, I stepped "down" to my punky 26 Sonic from trwin 502's. It's got all I need (steering, smartcraft, shower)... I'm just waiting for the rebuild interval to Raylar it.

Would I want twins over the single, sure, but it's ALOT cheaper to own. (For those wit kids and collage)

What exactly is a Raylar kit? I too am looking for more speed, but want to keep reliability adn turn key of normal aspiration. Tired of grenades from my hot rod days.

I agree with the others,leave it alone and step up when ready

just sold my 26 after two years good boat but time to go.31 or 358 now.best thing to do is keep it stock sell and go bigger sonic !

Thanks for the info, but that is great for the 496. I have a 502 EFI, any other suggestions? How much should I expect from the reprogrammed module & flame arrestor? Tube Headers vs. stock manifolds? Any experience is appreciated.

What speed is the boat running. I am in the market for a 26 sonic or AT.

67 on gps. I love the boat it rides great but i just want to go faster. I think im just going to sell it. If your interested in a clean low hour boat let me know mine only has 81 hrs and it is stock.

Not sure about the 67 on gps ??? I have a 26' with the 496HO which is roughly 10 hp more and only saw 62.8 gps, and that was 1/2 tank,no equipment,and 1 other on board.

I put a whipple on it,started with 5 lbs of boost changed pulleys and am now at 7 lbs, had problems finding the right prop ended up labbing a 28 bravo1 4 blade.

I now see with this set up 76.3 gps at 5100 rpms which is rougly around 700 hp ?? Not sure I had it dyno'd with the 5 psi,and at 5100 it was 627 hp.....So I am just assuming that 2 more lbs. of boost would give me around 75 hp.

I would say either whipple it, or best bet buy a boat with the speed you desire.
And a true speed of 26' s are around 64 gps. Not what people want to hear, but it is a wave crusher.

When it's rough at 76 I am cruising by the boys that are running in the 80's because there boats do not handle as well.

Mine did 64 on gps with 4 people and 3/4 tank of fuel. 67 with 2 people running right at 1/8.

Those speeds are about right. Fully loaded with the family it's not more than mid 60's on a GPS speedo.

There are lots of bull****ters here on OSO. I bought it because it was a tank.

I have 300 hrs, at 500 it will be a Rayar kit. I want to keep it to 89 octane. I get it wholesale.

I've got a real nice '98 260 factory Merc Racing 525SC, full hyd. steering, K-planes and drive shower. 200 original/one owner hours; on '03 trailer. Very clean boat. 70 mph+ every day.
Eastcoastbrad...I've got two new 31SS' in stock.
Hugh

I am in the same boat(pun intended! :D ) you are. If I put money into my current boat I will never see it when I sell. So, I would like to move up in size BUT I will definitely need more speed in a bigger boat to keep the rush. Stepping up 4-5' I will need at least another 10mph. Which puts me in twins (for the boats I want) which equals more $$$ to buy, run and maintain. Plus I will probably need blue motors to run the speeds I want which again = $$$. So then I come back to keeping what I have. It's a viscious circle!

Bust Out Another Thousand

Well, All I can say is you should be happy if you're running 67 on your GPS, there aren't to many 26' that run that fast with 496 power! For a non-stepped V you're faster than most, quit your whinning !!!! Steve

I have an 01. With the 502mpi I saw 60 on a good day.
Took the 502 and made a 540ci. 600hp and 630lbs of torque. I keep the stock fuel injection. With 26 bravo 1 i'm getting 70 on gps at 4900 rpm. Motor made peak hp at 5300. I still have some room for improvement. Just need $$$$ for prop work.

Damn i guess i should stop bit#@ing. Went back out last sunday ran 65.8 at 4900rpm 1/2 tank and 3 people.

Do you know what your boat weights? Mine weighted in around 6000 plus lbs.

If your looking to sell your boat and upgrade, stop calling yours a turd.

It won't help you sell it if the word gets out.:rolleyes:

I was not going to sell i was asking about upgrades but have changed my mind. It sound like its not such a turd after all but still going to upgrade to something bigger and faster.

Just Blow it!!
 

Well, I was lurking at this post for awhile now, and decided since this weekend is probably gonna be our last for the year, I would get a picture of my 26 going along. The water conditions weren't great, lots of big whitecaps, and holes, so this aint flat out our trimmed up plus you can see I'm a little underpropped, I was running my 28 Bravo. At least you know it has a pretty darn good ride in the ruff over 80, since my wife took the pic. from her bolster seat.