arneson vs bravo??

[Planetwarmer]

After watching the formula w/ Arnesons vid posted on another thread, I started wondering what the advantages and dis advantages of running one vs a bravo or bravo/shorty.

Big boat (38ZRC) or small boat (22C). Would it make a difference in handling? Need huge power to run well? Will a boat cruise as well as it would with a Bravo or Alpha?

[gcarter]

Jeff Hall (HallJ) has an Arnesson on his Minx. He should be able to give some input.

I think the main problem is maneuverability around tight quarters, etc.

[seabuddy]

On another brand of boat, I understand that out-of-the-hole acceration suffers, but pure top speed numbers increase. Note that I said on another boat brand other than a Donzi. It may/may not apply to a Donzi or work better with one model Donzi or another. Most drive styles work best when the boat hull running surface was designed with that style of drive in mind. If you have a stern drive boat, most likely you will get the true performance max of a I/O drive and not from a surface drive without a major re-design of the running surface of the boat bottom.

There was a Mercury Marine Manager that did some work on a surface drive in a Donzi, and he got far better results after he re-did the boat bottom to make it match up better to the surface drive needs. He got some top speed improvement without the major bottom re-design, but top speed really took off after the boat's bottom shape was redone. In both cases, before and after a re-designed boat bottom running surface, the ability to pull up a skier or to quickly get up to a cruising speed was an issue.

I hope this helps.

[VetteLT193]

Planet, don't you have an '87 22? If you are asking for your boat I'd leave it alone. The raised X in 1987 puts the 22 at the just right sweet spot.

[smidgen too]

Here are utube links to Jeff's Donzi with Arneson drive. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sApJw...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBGMlOBHnY0

[MOP]

Dig up the posts on Donzi`s 22 he lost quite a bit of speed going from an Alpha SS to the Arneson, on 22 you need a ton of power. He has gone onto building a big cube twin turbo setup, not sure of his results but do you home the project WILL be very costly on a 22. Also look up what GEO went through with his 18 to where he got, the drive provides no bow lift a 22 needs a lot. I had a BH on my 22, I have neaer 400 hp my top end was 59. I swapped to a Bravo and my speed went to 65.5, surface drives are good in many applications but not good on many single deep V apps.

Phil

[mattyboy]

here's a shot of Ken's arney 22 it is still a work in progress but I think he is happy with results so far. the boat is cool as hell

http://www.lgdonziclassic.com/galler..._5722.JPG.html

this is not a bolt on upgrade and go, for those looking for a few more mph or better handling ,the more common and more economical route route would be prop,steering,shorty hp

[gcarter]

"the more common and more economical route route would be prop,steering,shorty hp"



Or, HP, more HP, then some more HP!
For some reason, shorty's by themselves many times don't add a lot w/o the extra ponies.

[mattyboy]

George I wasn't just referring to speed I also said handling which was part of PW's original question . yes throwing HP at any thing is fun but it seems to me there are enough people running shorties that also improved their boats handling as well. Cause if that doesn't improve the speed gains might be a little to scary.

[younger]

Stock to mild perf. motor bravo all day. You will have the handling and good top end to enjoy the boat. The surface drive config is going to require lots of power to have great resaults. The classic hull with its rounded 24 degree bottom is not comparible to other design performance hulls as far as being effiecent at high speeds. Takes power to make them run. The surface drive works best when running fast. Moving around tight areas with single surface drive not the best. If money was fallin from the tree out back, try an Arenson with an all aluminum say 632ci bbc. Get the comprible parts swinging a massive cleaver prop to about 5400rpm. Reliable, fast, cruise at freeway speed, and be way cooler than a bravo. When I went to the surface drive in the 16 picked up lot of speed, my cruise and fuel eff. increased. The handling has improved on the top. I am now at the limitations of this hull.

[Ghost]

Younger, quick sidebar question: curious if you have enough slip at idle that you can creep at 6 mph, or if the boat won't go that slow without going in and out of gear.

[younger]

Turning a set of custom Hoss props 30" on the bh at 1.65 gear. The motor in gear pulls 600 rpm so there is no such thing as a no wake zone. Once the drive goes into gear those props fully submerged are hooked up.