Propeller fro 26 ZX..

[integra]

Hi to everyone! I'm asking you this question, since after about 35 hours of ride in my fantastic 26 ZX, I realized that speed (top and cruise) is a bit slow, compared with yours and with Donzi estimates:

in my owner's manual I read:

26 ZX 496 MAG HO top speed 66 mph 5000 rpm
crusing speed 46 mph 3500 rpm


Actually I only could see once 60 mph(trim at 6/7 position) at 4900 about, with only 2 people on board and only 1/4 fuel.
With more than 2 peple or more than 1/2 fuel only got 56-58 mph.

cruising speed is still worse: at 3500 rpm I can only see 32-36 mph depending on sea and trim.

Now my questions are:
Should I need to boat on a lake to see those performances??
is the antifouling to reduce so much??
Am I running the wrong propeller??

----Now I have a Bravo one 4 blades, 24 p

I waited to ask these questions because the engine was new and so I thoght performances were worse for this, but now I'm so happy for the ride and excitement and so I'd like to understand why there is a difference in numbers...!

thanx, FEDE

[Morgan's Cloud]

Glad you're finally having some fun with the boat Fede .

One thing that I've learned over many years in this pastime is that you can rarely believe other's claims when it comes to how fast their boats really are. My 50 Mph St Tropez passed many a 70 mph boat over the years :rlol:

There is no doubt that you could benefit from some prop experimenting (maybe difficult because of availability due to your location.. like me ) but I would not expect miracles in an 'apples to apples' comparison because you have paint on your bottom. This COULD cause you to loose 3 - 4 mph.

Just make sure you know exactly where your peak RPM's are so you have an exact starting point .

Steve

[olemissalum]

Integra, you should be seeing the speeds in your manual. You have the right prop for the boat, maybe you have it trimmed too high. It is very possible to overtrim the 26, it really does not need all that much. Try bringing the lower unit down and see if your speeds increase. You will lose some speed with the anti-fouling paint but not sure how much. Hope this helps.

[boxy]

Fede, try to contact Frank Civitano, he is Shanghied Again on the board, he is seeing consistent high 60's with a full boat, and full fuel load.

Good luck
Boxy

[undertaker]

Get rid of the bottom paint, bottom paint on performance boats is no good :frown: NO bottom paint and a clean bottom you will see the same MPH as everyone else who has a 26ZX, IMO. Good luck and yes talk to Frank Civitano or Bryan Tuvell these two guys have gotten the most perfromance out of there 26ZX's. :biggrin:

[mattyboy]

Fede, try to contact Frank Civitano, he is Shanghied Again on the board, he is seeing consistent high 60's with a full boat, and full fuel load.

Good luck
Boxy


Ummm,
Steve don't forget the the 81mph gps reading we got in Frank's boat this weekend ;)

[boxy]

Well now that you mention it, I did drive Frank's boat almost 10 mph faster than it has ever gone before on a down river run to Singer Castle ...... :D :D

[Morgan's Cloud]

Get rid of the bottom paint, bottom paint on performance boats is no good :frown: :biggrin:

I agree , everyone knows that :wink: Unfortunately some live in less than ideal locations for boating and like Integra said some time ago (same situation for us out here in nowhereland) He has no choice .

Matty .... yes , I know gps has made many a liar look foolish... like they say .. " show me the video "

Steve

[Shanghied Again]

You will loose 5mph right off the bat with bottom paint (weight and drag) the 24 pitch is the correct blade, I am running a 26 Labbed prop from Full Throttle that works well. I don't know if Bryan still has his but he did have it for sale.
I ran 70.5 was my top speed on GPS, Actually we ran 81 GPS against current in ABay we laughed when we saw the numbers. Never thought GPS could be tricked but there were many witness thats seen my screen.

[The Hedgehog]

I have a 97 27ZX. It is a non-stepped hull with the original 502mag (for now). I am seeing cruise at 41 and WOT of 57 on the GPS. I see this consistantly with a wide array of passengers and fuel. I have a 23 pitch Mirage that needs to be cleaned up.

I am hoping to see some better numbers once I get the engine freshened, blower installed and new prop. :crossfing

[integra]

thank you to everyone for the answers.

maybe I will try to trim it less,for example at 5.

I hate as you the bottom painted,but I have no choice since the boat is on salt water for at least 3 months a year...

maybe next year I'll try for a while the bottom without antifouling.

my doubts apart from top speed are overall for cruising speed, since I lack about 10 mph. top Rpm I saw for now is 4900, don't know if the 496 mag HO can do better..

Ciao FEDE

[Jim]

Fede,
I have been in the same situation with my 26ZX, I will give you what I found.

I have a 26ZX with a 502 and a Mirage Plus 23P

When I first got the boat it was late spring, I had about half a tank and was able to get 62mph on the speedometer and wasn't fully trimmed out (4700 rpm's), still getting use to the boat.

I would say around the June time frame I was pretty comfortable with the boat and really started trying to get the most out of the boat as far as top end. I could only get about 4600 maybe 4700 rpm's and my speedo read around 56 or so, I plan on installing a GPS this winter so I only had the speedo to work with so I wasn't sure if I had a problem with the tach or the speedo. I spoke to Bryan and Frank for sometime in regards to the low rpm's and speed. So I upgraded the Air Filter which I don't think it really helped but it might once I put the stainless steel exhaust on this summer. Bryan mentioned that he was around the same rpm's until he updated the exhaust and labbed his prop. I will tell you that the Mirage Plus which is a 3 blade prop blows out all over the place. I spoke to Throttle-up in regards to prop selection and rpms's, Julie mentioned that the weather can very your RPM's by as much as 200 rpm's and by the way I don't have paint on the bottom of my boat.

So just this week I purchased a Bravo 24P prop and plan on putting it on the boat this weeknd, I planned to have it labbed since it will probably drop my rpms down to about 4500 and once I lab it I should get about another 200 back. I then hope by updating to Stainless Exhaust that it will give me another 200 on the rpm's which should get me to about 4900 or so. Your getting a little more RPM's then I am so I'm surprised at your speed.

Throttle-up said that a 24P Labbed prop is like a 22P Mirage,
I think this is why some board members are running a 26P Bravo and getting them labbed, I was just woried that my motor wouldn't be able to turn a 26P at the correct RPM's.
I guess Mercury says the motors can very by 10% on the HP rating so I figured maybe I had one of the weaker motors.

I will end with this, I went out for a quick ride last night. Boat was light on fuel, 1/4 of a tank and I had two 13yr olds sitting in the back seat. Remember I could only get about 56mph or so over the summer and by the way I'm located at sea level pretty much. Last night it was probably the coolest night that I had been out since spring and I got 4800 rpm's and 63mph on the speedo, this was still with the 23 pitch Mirage. I really think the temperature and being really light on fuell helped with the speed and RPM's. Bryan T. also mentioned that he saw his best speed when having 4 people in the boat with 2 sitting in the back seat so maybe having the two boys in the back seat helped as well.

Sorry it was so long, Jim

[Jim]

I forgot to mention that I was running just a hair below
6 on the trim indicator so I don't think your running your trim too high.

Jim

[integra]

thanx a lot Jim, maybe I'll try to lab my prop, but now I know my ZX is not the only one arriving only at 60 mph! :wavey:

[Shanghied Again]

Integra, I run my boat at 7 on the trim gauge. I will raise my trim until the boat hist max speed, I have been up and down the prop scale and tried everything, Now I am running a true 415hp out the prop, So I labbed a 26 to a 25pitch, If you raise your trim to 7-9 do you hit the rev limiter?

[integra]

I Don't know, I remember top Speed and rmp were 60 on GPS speedometer and 4900 rpm.

I'm still waiting for a very calm water day to make some experiments, since here water is almost always rough... :frown:

[Bryan Tuvell 33ZX]

Bob and I just sold our 26's
Both 2001's, he was 496HO, me 502
Him MerC Racing Lab 26
Me Throttle Up 26 Lab
Neck in neck in the 66 to 67 range.
SOMETHING is slowing you down.....................

Those published numbers seem about right to me, we had our occasional 68 to 69 but not often.

I am looking for a spare set of props Bravo I 28's, Merc Labs are $ 1050 each, compared to Throttle ups $ 750 each.
Guess which way I am going. Repeat customer, Throttle Up.

SOLD my prop to Fast Trucker.

Bryan

[integra]

maybe my painted bottom is slowing me down...

I'll try next year to replace my gelcoat, but now is very difficult.. :bawling:

or my engine is false and they put me on a 496 MAG (not HO) :confused: :idea: joking...

and maybe trying too a 26 lab prop...

[integra]

one info:

everytime you speak about top speed, I guess you are on lakes or calm waters, aren't you?

[Bryan Tuvell 33ZX]

I live on the bay, about 5 miles from where we launch to the ocean.

On a lake we were even slower, on the bay, trim till she will trim no more, WOT, the hull needs air, and 2 people in the back seat help.
Bryan

[Shanghied Again]

Bryan is right the boat loves air, trim the boat until she starts to blow out and then trim back in slightly . I am to in salt water and rough conditions 2 to 4ft water constent

[fasttrucker]

I bought the 26-lab prop from bryan.He got it from throttle-up call and order one.I love mine.Ive got a 28zx 1998.bilt motor 500hp+ iam doing 75 every day and sometimes close to 80 when its cool outside.

[integra]

today I got my best performance ever:

I reached 60-62 mph at 4900 rpm(maybe 5000 sometimes). trim between 6 and 8.
I'm now quite sure the other 3-5 mph lacking are due to bottom painted and propeller quite dirty...

next season I'll try to replace gelcoat and a labbed prop too, so the boat will be ready for its best performance.

overall I'm very very glad of riding,in corners too, it's more than exciting!! :biggrin:

only hope 496 mag ho is strong enough for my constant 5000 rpm rides!! :rolleyes: :smash:

[fasttrucker]

I would go just with the lab prop.Replacing gel coat wouldnt be worth the money and you do keep the boat in the water for longer then a few days at a time,so you need the bottom paint.