Cobaltchat.com

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I believe one of our Cobalt owner's has been active producing some YouTube vids during our social distancing time. This one is/was listed for sale on Craigslist and some other sites.

Impressive blue engine machine with an interesting side exhaust note.

We shall give him some free advertising on the forum (although it most likely has sold already).

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Finally a walk-through for those interested. Sure wish it had the Bravo III XR drive. Never seen a blue motor with that option but it was available back then. Notice the single ram external hydraulic steering by Latham as an added safety factor.

She's mostly optioned out with the exception of a windshield wiper, transom shower, and table mounts. Heck of a unicorn 262 in very good shape that you don't see come on the market very often.
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It's pretty sweet. I bet you can hear it coming from aways away.

why would you want a bravo 3 on that? That would rob performance

Lockey14s wrote: Thu Apr 16, 2020 3:55 pm why would you want a bravo 3 on that? That would rob performance

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If all you want is top speed then you are correct L14s.

The beauty of the duo-prop though is it's ability to get these bigger single engine boats out of the hole quickly. That's where we use ours most of the time with water sports.

You can see in the first video below where the single prop higher (500HP) horsepower boat doesn't quite pop up on plane as quickly as a duo prop (although still much better than many water sport series boats out there.) And he's actually motoring around forward at 5 mph to do it. You'll really notice this from a stand-still to full throttle in this size category.

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Go to the 35 second mark of his Part 3 video below to see the time he takes to plane and the amount of bow rise....
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Now here's the same boat with a lesser engine and a duoprop. Drop in at the 25 second mark.....

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Again, quicker to plane with very little bow rise.
I'd sacrifice a little top end for the extra on plane performance of a duoprop to have maximum versatility....but that's just me.

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You gotta say that 525EFI beast sure sounds good though once on plane.


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Nice boat. Would have thought it would be a bit faster though.

If he is only seeing 60 MPH, the bravo 3 prob would be a nice option. I've read they only hold boats back around 65 MPH. If he's not reaching that, it shouldn't be an issue I would think.

I was watching the swim platform though, was wondering if it was dragging in the water? Didn't seem to be an issue on the Duoprop boat though.

Always a sucker for the blue 525EFI. I want a couple of them connected to my current B3 X1 drives.

Surprised too, he couldn’t get higher top end in video. At least someone knows how to make a proper sale video.

Awesome!

I know A7 and Yt can get over 60 and I was thinking the same that's not very fast. I think he was 62 to 64 when I looked. But I couldn't see the tach. So then I'm a hear the engine kind of guy. Then as I heard him coming around the bend when he got on it but backed off too early I thought. That engine was coming to life. I hate to say it when we saw the speedo at the 60mph mark that engine did not sound like she was coming alive yet. I want a full wot run baby. I don't know that hull that like A7 does but if it's like every other Cobalt she will hit the wall of shame. I'm saying 67mph.

xlint89 wrote: Thu Apr 16, 2020 6:59 pm Nice boat. Would have thought it would be a bit faster though.

If he is only seeing 60 MPH, the bravo 3 prob would be a nice option. I've read they only hold boats back around 65 MPH. If he's not reaching that, it shouldn't be an issue I would think.

I was watching the swim platform though, was wondering if it was dragging in the water? Didn't seem to be an issue on the Duoprop boat though.

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Hey Xlint89.

Yes, in all my years of stalking these models (2000-2007 260 series), I've never seen one with a Bravo III XR drive mated to a blue series Merc. This is most likely due to the fact that the buyer who loads this boat up with a blue engine ($$$$$$ ) is usually all about top speed in a Cobalt (vs family water sports) and wants the Bravo 1XR drive for that purpose.

His tachometer is pushing 4,900-4,950 rpm around 62-63 mph on the speedo. On a good day, with a slightly higher pitched prop, he could squeak a little more out of her. The extra 70 horsepower over a 496 magHO or VP GXI turning a single screw will get you close to 68-70mph tops with a slight chop, on a cold day and the right pitched prop...and even then hole-shot will be truly dismal. That was a fast hull (and still is relatively speaking) back in the day but by no means able to compete with the ventilated pads and notched hulls of the higher performance crowd.

The extra extended swim platform actually helps to plane the B1XR model acting as a giant trim tab to push the bow down. The drag from that is negligible. And you're correct, the duo prop characteristics of a BIII drive pushes the boat on plane with a flatter bow rise and keeps that swim platform higher.

So glad you chimed in and found us btw. Any pics of your rig?
....and welcome aboard mate!
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Thanks for the welcome.

Good call on the RPM. Didn't notice that. Another 3-400 RPM in there at least.

Nice....

Yes I'm trying to find what rpm they run and it's all over the place but I think 5400 is safe.

Big Block Power wrote: Thu Apr 16, 2020 9:01 pm Yes I'm trying to find what rpm they run and it's all over the place but I think 5400 is safe.

Very Nice Combo!
Yes 5300-5400.. if she can find it that would add about 4-5 mph. ( although he trimmed it very high as the tail of a slight rooster was growing).

Single 4 Blade is faster just in less blades over a B3. Cobalt runs the drives deep with the low “X” Dimension.
I’d Loc some shorties on the Volvo’s

cmattj wrote: Thu Apr 16, 2020 9:20 pm

Big Block Power wrote: Thu Apr 16, 2020 9:01 pm Yes I'm trying to find what rpm they run and it's all over the place but I think 5400 is safe.

Very Nice Combo!
Yes 5300-5400.. if she can find it that would add about 4-5 mph. ( although he trimmed it very high as the tail of a slight rooster was growing).

Single 4 Blade is faster just in less blades over a B3. Cobalt runs the drives deep with the low “X” Dimension.
I’d Loc some shorties on the Volvo’s

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Great point on the Cobalt X-dimension Matt. Wouldn’t expect anything less from a true performance guy.


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AsLan7 wrote: Thu Apr 16, 2020 9:27 pm

cmattj wrote: Thu Apr 16, 2020 9:20 pm

Big Block Power wrote: Thu Apr 16, 2020 9:01 pm Yes I'm trying to find what rpm they run and it's all over the place but I think 5400 is safe.

Very Nice Combo!
Yes 5300-5400.. if she can find it that would add about 4-5 mph. ( although he trimmed it very high as the tail of a slight rooster was growing).

Single 4 Blade is faster just in less blades over a B3. Cobalt runs the drives deep with the low “X” Dimension.
I’d Loc some shorties on the Volvo’s

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Great point on the Cobalt X-dimension Matt. Wouldn’t expect anything less from a true performance guy.


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Let's figure out a Jack plate for this thing. Oh wait now I'm thinking 7 marine. Lol

Big Block Power wrote: Thu Apr 16, 2020 9:37 pm

AsLan7 wrote: Thu Apr 16, 2020 9:27 pm

cmattj wrote: Thu Apr 16, 2020 9:20 pm

Very Nice Combo!
Yes 5300-5400.. if she can find it that would add about 4-5 mph. ( although he trimmed it very high as the tail of a slight rooster was growing).

Single 4 Blade is faster just in less blades over a B3. Cobalt runs the drives deep with the low “X” Dimension.
I’d Loc some shorties on the Volvo’s

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Great point on the Cobalt X-dimension Matt. Wouldn’t expect anything less from a true performance guy.


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Let's figure out a Jack plate for this thing. Oh wait now I'm thinking 7 marine. Lol

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Ya wrong drive type.
Loce those 7’s.

AsLan7 wrote: Thu Apr 16, 2020 9:39 pm

Big Block Power wrote: Thu Apr 16, 2020 9:37 pm

AsLan7 wrote: Thu Apr 16, 2020 9:27 pm
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Great point on the Cobalt X-dimension Matt. Wouldn’t expect anything less from a true performance guy.


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Let's figure out a Jack plate for this thing. Oh wait now I'm thinking 7 marine. Lol

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Ya wrong drive type.
Loce those 7’s.

Ok let's get a 525 in a outboard. Lol them twin turbo those and bam you got a beast!!