mittenbass
Active Member
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2012
- Messages
- 77
- Points
- 8
Ok, so I finally had a chance to do some quality prop testing this weekend....with and without my Allison foil bolted on. All runs were made with around 3/4 of gas, very light load, solo, with the propshaft 3/4" above the pad (yes, very high - I don't go this high unless my boat is unloaded).
With the foil:
- 29p Hydromotive XOB, 91.0 mph at 5750 rpm
- 30p Bullet Cut Performer 3, 91.5 mph at 5900 rpm (on the soft limiter - I have the 250XS with the low limiter at 5950 rpm)
Without the foil:
- 29p Hydromotive XOB, 92.5 mph at 5850 rpm
These runs were made back-to-back so same conditions, load, and engine height. By removing the foil, I gained 1.5 mph with the XOB. Holeshot was about 1.5 to 2 seconds slower without the foil and bowrise on holeshot was noticeably worse. I did not try the 30p BC Performer 3 without the foil because I was already on the limiter with it when the foil was on.
I did not notice any handling difference at top end when the foil was off. The Performer was extremely easy to drive at speed. Not so much with the XOB. The XOB was fine up to around 89 mph. Above that it wanted to lean the boat to the right (drivers side). I moved some ballast over to the left, which helped some. It wasn't anything terrible, but was definitely more work to drive. Oddly, I have not noticed this lean with my 27p and 28p XOBs, even at the same propshaft height. I tried lowering the motor some, but the tendency to lean was still there. Might try even more ballast next time.
Ultimately, I will probably run the foil on most of the time because of the holeshot improvement. When I get the chance to really stretch it out and make a good top end run, I will just take off the foil before bolting one of my top end props on. It only takes 5min or so.
With the foil:
- 29p Hydromotive XOB, 91.0 mph at 5750 rpm
- 30p Bullet Cut Performer 3, 91.5 mph at 5900 rpm (on the soft limiter - I have the 250XS with the low limiter at 5950 rpm)
Without the foil:
- 29p Hydromotive XOB, 92.5 mph at 5850 rpm
These runs were made back-to-back so same conditions, load, and engine height. By removing the foil, I gained 1.5 mph with the XOB. Holeshot was about 1.5 to 2 seconds slower without the foil and bowrise on holeshot was noticeably worse. I did not try the 30p BC Performer 3 without the foil because I was already on the limiter with it when the foil was on.
I did not notice any handling difference at top end when the foil was off. The Performer was extremely easy to drive at speed. Not so much with the XOB. The XOB was fine up to around 89 mph. Above that it wanted to lean the boat to the right (drivers side). I moved some ballast over to the left, which helped some. It wasn't anything terrible, but was definitely more work to drive. Oddly, I have not noticed this lean with my 27p and 28p XOBs, even at the same propshaft height. I tried lowering the motor some, but the tendency to lean was still there. Might try even more ballast next time.
Ultimately, I will probably run the foil on most of the time because of the holeshot improvement. When I get the chance to really stretch it out and make a good top end run, I will just take off the foil before bolting one of my top end props on. It only takes 5min or so.
