New guy from Maryville, TN

[Beaty6]

Hello everyone, I am excited to say that I have purchased my first Cobalt and I am extremely excited to be a part of the Cobalt family. I have been on many but never owned my own. I purchased a 2005 246. I would love to hear your thoughts on this boat. It comes with a 5.7 Volvo Penta engine......your thoughts and suggestions and concerns are greatly appreciated.

[Big Block Power]

Welcome from Wisconsin. Great boat. Is it a gxi or gi.either way reliable. It all depends on how your going to use it?

[jhnmdahl]

That 5.7L seems to be a rock. There's the odd fuel pump or riser issue here and there, but the engines are great. Should be a solid boat for a long time to come.

[Beaty6]

hey big block power and jhnmdahl, thanks for saying hello. big block, honestly I am not sure if it is a gxi or a gi, maybe you can tell me the difference so I will know which one i have. engine has around 563 hours and seems to be in awesome condition. going to use it for skiing, and tubing, and maybe a little wake boarding.

jhnmdahl can you explain the fuel pump or riser issue?

[Big Block Power]

Normally the engine cover will have a 5.7gxi or 5.7gi
320hp to 300hp I think it was rated in 2005 or 280hp. Otherwise find the serial number on the front of the engine it will say on there.

[liquid]

Congratulations and welcome to the forum.

[Beaty6]

thank you liquid, and to answer your question Big Block Power, it is a GXi, got it out of service on Saturday morning and did some riding on Saturday afternoon. Lake down here is pretty dirty with all the rain we had last week, but was able to get away from the trash and had a nice ride.

[Big Block Power]

Very cool. That 5.7gxi 320hp is a good set up. Should do ok. If you get on plane nice your OK but you could always add trim tabs. Makes a huge difference.

[Beaty6]

big block, i would not call myself a guru of boats, so what does having trim tabs entail and what does something like that cost

[TommyTahoe]

Welcome to the forum- that's a nice boat you have. I have the little brother to your boat (226) with the same power package. Mine jumps up on plane without hesitation, little bow rise, and has been very reliable. I've topped out around 48MPH WOT at 6200' elevation spinning F4's- you should have better top end performance at sea level. Good fuel efficiency if you can keep it under about 3600 RPM. Let's see some pic's.

[Big Block Power]

http://www.lencomarine.com
Go to there site read up on trim tabs. First drive your boat and see how it performs. See how it gets on plane. How much bow rise, how slow can you go to keep it on plane, how is it in rough water. Tabs will help with all of that. It looks like the kit is about $400.
I was in not a Cobalt but another brand this last weekend and it was a 230 and had a 350 mag and I'll tell you that boat and a 220 or a 226 are totally different when getting on plane. So I've never been in a 246 but I can't believe tabs wouldn't help it. I like a boat that jumps on plane. That 230 took forever. Like I said drive yours first and get your own opinion. Fill it with gas, gear and people like you would normally have on board. If the hull wasn't curved on my 200 I would have added smart tabs to that boat. They need a flat surface. I have a buddy that added them to a R5 and wished he would have added it when the boat was new. Handled like a totally different boat. But let know how it performs.

[Beaty6]

Hey thanks tommytahoe, i had it out for a test drive and then for about an hour last weekend. it seems to run great and planes quickly and very little bow rise, the dead rise degree was one of the things that made me always want a Cobalt and I have not been disappointed, I know i was running 51mph a couple weeks ago when i tried it out and there were three adults and three children on the boat, pics to come after this weekend, hopefully with some sun

[Big Block Power]

Well that sounds like a good report then.

[Beaty6]

pics coming soon tommytahoe, haven't had a lot of time with it (which is killing me) but hopefully i will get some good ones this weekend. She really seems to come out of the hole quickly and plains quickly and had her up to 51 on a test drive with 3 kids and three adults, supper excited about it.