Do Velocitys need a bow lifting prop. Being flat pad and a fairly high X dim I am confused. I seems that I am draging tab or trimming the bow down to keep from porposing and or beating the boat to death in the rough ass chop......so would a bow lifting prop help or hurt? How differently do the 5 & 4 blades effect the bow lifting?

I used to have the same problem with the Hydro prop, when I went to the 28 Bravo it improved the ride dramatically.

I tried the Bravo late yesterday afternoon and I was pleasantly suprised as I had always heard that Hydros were faster.

Rpms on the Bravo were between 5100 and 5200 rpm I hit a top GPS speed of 72.3mph. This is right in line with my old Hydromotive. However it <Bravo) hooks up faster and does not blow out if I throttle hard from the get go. As I am at the limiter, I am thinking that there might even be a little more in this prop.

Now I am wishing I hadn't waited 13 years to try a Bravo. <g>

Its always nice to find a prop that works better!

I think some people on here don't realize that you can't just say "Hydro" prop. They make a standard (non-X) and an "X" and they are different animals. Additionally, they make versions of each with different numbers of blades.

I bought my boat with a Bravo 28 that had bad blow out, awful cruise speed (high slip), and was very prone to chine walk above 70mph. I switched to a Hydro P5X 28 and got better hole shot, higher cruise, more stability at high speed, and higher top speed. Of course, some of that improvement was from the fifth blade. My prop also carries the bow higher.

As I understand it, the "X" Hydro is a bow lifter, the standard Hydro is not. Different animals...

I'm pretty sure when we say Hydro prop most are referring to Q/IV-CL, that seemed to be the favorite OEM for many years. Did you loose top end rpm's? I have heard that merc. props. are a little generous on their advertised specs. I went from 4 blade bravos to P-5 hydros and -2 lowers, both were 30 pitch and lost 500 rpm but ran 77 mph. @ 4700, I'm so confused, is there a lake X around here?

What motor are you running????

Mine came with a 28 Bravo 1 and I'm currently turning it at ~4800-4900 at 72 mph gps (full tank of gas, two adults and two kids, heavy tool kit and gear) with no hints of chine walking. My 290 SC doesn't have external hydraulic steering or trim tabs. This is with a Merc 496 HO (with 1.5 Bravo 1X); my slip is a bit high at ~17%. I measured my propshaft height and, if I remembered correctly, it is about 3.5 inches below the pad. I love the Bravo 1, it takes very little effort to plain and it doesn't blow out...unlike my previous outboard powered velocity 220.

is the bravo labed ? i run a 32 labed bravo but i have a non labed one as a back up , the non labed prop has a better cruise speed but the labed prop is faster. My labed prop is a merc. labed one not done by a aftermarket shop. Not saying that is better just stating what it is.

Mike, Kenny at Velocity set me up with a guy that had it on a 260 Velocity and it wasn't working well for him. It appears to have been mildly labbed. I have a call in to Kenny to get more info from him. I suspect Mike at Hall's maybe tweaked it some.

I am quite happy with although I need to get out in some rougher water and see how it runs.

:DI have a 525 EFI. I lost about 250 rpm with the P5X and my top speed went up about 2 mph. I'm at about 14% slip at top speed and my propshaft is about 3.25 inches below the pad. I've thought about putting on a 1/2" spacer to get less slip (and better mileage) at cruise but I'm not willing to lose much top speed. Just need about 700hp to be where I want to be--90 mph :D