My first Sonic
 

I just stepped up from a 23' Rinker to a 31' Sonic. It's a 2000 with 454 mags.

How much HP do these motors have?

Also, I've put 21 hours on it and burned 305 gal. of fuel. That's about 15 GPH...Is that normal? I may have burnt a little less but I wound up getting into a little race with a 29' Baja Outlaw coming in from the Thunder on the Chesapeake Poker Run and to my suprise I was able to catch and pass him. It was kind of rough out, the boat seemed to run better wide open than at 3200 rpms. I love this thing! The rest of the time I never went over 4000 rpms and cruised around 3200.

Any ideas how fast it should run? I'm going to GPS it soon but am guessing in the low 70s. The speedo reads 75-77 but I never believe them.

At WOT the boat ran at 4800 rpms. I'm happy with the performance for right now. Are there any simple little tricks to making the 454s run a bit better?

Congrats on the boat! i have a '90 30SS. I would say low 70's with that power. But that depends on the conditions. You will be faster in rough water.

I would think you would want to be at 5000 rpm at WOT.

Good luck and please post some pics!!!

Hey Andy,

Welcome to the list.

I have a 35SS with 454 Mag MPIs (385 hp each). I think the Mags are 330 hp. My top end is around 70.

Hey bn. Salt water gave me a couple more mphs. Schweeet! Andy is going to ask you about those hatch screens I got with your boat.

Welcome to the owners forum.

I got my 31 SS about two months ago and love it. Mine is setup with 502 EFI's and Blackhawk drives. Taken a while to get used to the drives, but now that I have had some time on them I like them.

How about some pictures of your boat?

Why on earth would you be surprised at smoking a baja? I do it all the time!! Doubly so in rough (4' or better) water. 15 gph is pretty reasonable fuel consumption. If your 454 mags are 2000's also then they are the same 385hp EFI motors as LoveMachine has, excellent motors. Don't be afraid to run fast, especially in rough, sloppy water, the faster you go the more stable the boat is. Your WOT rpm's should be 4600 to 5000, 4800 is OK. If I had to pick an exact speed for your boat I would guess 72 mph.
Congratulations!!

Have fun we all do!!! on the speed 68-72....

Good choise Andy

This is the first year that I have owned a Sonic too. Its hard to believe that these boats ride better the faster that they go and they like the rough stuff.:D

When you get board, put a set of Whipples on those 454's.:cool:

Congrats, I had a 31 for nine years and loved it.

Thanks!

I'll get it on the GPS this weekend and report back!

I like the Whipple Charge idea, maybe when the warranty is up! :eureka:

I got a scare this week though. What I thought was a rod knock or water circulating pump with bad bearings turned out to be the Corsa Exhaust. When I turn off the "mufflers" it made a bad rattle. When it was quiet though, no engine noise. Is this common with the Corsa exhaust?

I found myself dissapointed in the water conditions last night as I was giving some friends a ride. It was smooth as glass and I was hoping for a good chop. Never wished for rough water before, I thought only the "rag flappers" did. :D

Congrats!! I'm sure you will love it.:D Let's see some pictures!


Hey Bill, good to hear that the salt H2O gave you more speed. :)