13 replies to this topic

[thumper]

last trip i filled tank until the gas pump clicked off - then went boating for about half an hour - it was a bit choppy - still went to otherside of ski area and back a couple of times - at least 5 miles

on way to ramp this morning at same gas pump it clicked off at 4.42 litres - so thats half an hour of racing around for say 4.5 litres which makes say 10 litres an hour - we crossed the bay at wot and came back at wot with the rest at half throttle - i would say that is pretty good for a 215hp skiboat

because of stop starting i would recon on say max 10 litres an hour water skiing - so i recon i d get a whole days skiing on a full tank no probs - not that im fit enough to do 30 mins skiing - but you know how it is with boats - you got lots of friends who wanna have a go

[BigRed]

I have had my new boat in the water the past two weekends and have accumulated aprox 4-4.5 hours of run time. Mostly between 4500rpm and 6500 with a few moments at WOT. I have consumed about 70L of gas. This is about 15-18L an hour. A little higher than I had hopped but similar to test results on boattest.com. This boat is a blast! It handles great even in some chop. A downwind run on 3ft rollers is about the most fun I have had in a long time. One question to other SCIC owners out there is regarding top speed. I haven't had the opportunity to GPS my speed yet nor have I had the chance to run WOT with just me in the boat but I haven't seen the speedo go over 50mph. Can I expect much gain in speed once the engine is broken in or when I remove that second person (140lbs). I thought I could expect 54-56mph on a regular basis.

[BigRed]

Just read the posting regarding "break in chip". Man, I hope this is true. It would explain the performance I noted in my last post. Can't wait to surpass the 5 hour timer! Just to note, my dealership also said that the 10 hour service was only optional. Since my boat is at the cottage and 3 hours away from the dealer I think I'll wait to bring it in for a once over till the end of the season.

[D Lo]

I hope that break-in program is true as well ! I took mine out for the first time yesterday and had a BLAST! That was my first time ever driving a boat. I do a little trick I call the "Grand Entrance" that a guy from the dealership showed me; just a gear drive & throttle combination to create a wall of water behind me as I pull up/slow down.. Anyone doing tricks with theirs?

I ran WOT for a few seconds and needle showed ~52 mph. Still need to get a GPS reading, but hell this is my first time owning/driving a boat so I'm new to these gadgets. What's a good GPS to pick up?

I ran my boat yesterday for nearly 4-5 hours. It won't be till next weekend before I go out again....keep us posted when you hit your 5 hr & 10 hr increments to see whether or not the mystery is true!

[Yuji]

I just surpassed the 10hour mark and I'd have to say there is a definite difference...especially RPM. Before I would gun it out of the hole and it would maybe climb to 7300, now it goes right 8000. Throttle response and acceleration have improved...as for fuel mileage, I filled her up and drove for 3 hours straight averaging 6500-7000 rpm with some wot bursts. When I loaded back on trailer I had maybe 1/8th of tank left I'm going to be doing my improvements after my service/oil change and we'll see how it performs...will keep everyone posted.

[thumper]

mine felt different yesterday after the 5hour mark - as for speed guys - just nail it - mine has revved to 800 rpm from day one - on a flat - and i mean flat i have had 62mph from my gps - it was noted at the time that the speedo also read a constant 62ish - yesterday it was off the clock - so either my speedo is bust or this is the fastest 15footer on the bayou - maybe even faster than 'billy-bob'!

will check with gps

that ws running with 2 pax - full tank and all the necessary kit to keep the coastguard happy

[BigRed]

62mph? Thats great. Mine after 4 hours of use is no where near that mark. I'll wait to see what happens after 5 and 10 hour marks are met. I'm getting the 8000rpm but not the speed. Hope this improves.

[stevenh]

62mph? Thats great. Mine after 4 hours of use is no where near that mark. I'll wait to see what happens after 5 and 10 hour marks are met. I'm getting the 8000rpm but not the speed. Hope this improves.

Have you checked with a GPS? The Speedo's are not great on these boats. My 4-tec Sportster read a bit low (I know it could be adjusted, but I never bothered). If you are running 8K RPM, you should be at top speed unless there is a problem with your pump (air leak, alignment issue, ...).

Steve

[BigRed]

Haven't had a chance to check it with the GPS.....look forward to getting the opportunity.

[keviseeb]

Speaking of the speedometer.....it has become necessary to calibrate EVERY speedometer on EVERY jet boat. In the case of the Speedster 200 we have to relocate the sender up a little as it is installed sticking below the boat too far at the factory. It is not unusual for a speedometer to be 5 to 20 MPH off. The worst offender seems to be the Challenger 180, WOT speeds I've seen are around 30 to 32 indicated while the GPS says around 46 on a brand new 215 BVIC engine. There is an easy pot adjustment at the dashboard to dial up the indicated speed reading.

[thumper]

is the adjustment something that the user can doo easily?

[thumper]

having monitored flue and running times on last four trips - my doo averages approximately 8litres/hour -

2 pax - (300lb approx)
full tank of gas
anchor & chain
lifejackets/fenders/skiis/ropes/offshore flares

we generally doo about 45 mins of waterskiing and then hack about like loonies for 45 mins or a combination of all the above

either way its a very economical engine to run

i guess in the us you arent so bothered about fuel costs but at $9 a gallon in the uk we are!!!!

[BigRed]

GPS'd my boat this passed weekend. Got 56mph with two of us and 3/4 tank of gas.

As for fuel economy. I'm getting more like 12L/hr. Generally running 5k to 6.5k RPM.

Lovin it more and more with each outing.

[thumper]

cool - these sportsters have got to be the most economical ski boats - having filled up again at the weekend i now reckon on 8.5l/hr as an average since new - the engine is shut off to pickup and change skiers - so its not on all the time - but hey the test results in boattest still said 5gph at 5000 rpm and i am getting better than that.