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  1. #1
    Member River Rocket's Avatar
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    Fastbass Marine TV - 300R 32P Shootout

    FYI, I'm in the middle of pulling my carpet. It looks bad and this was the first run without it and I was a little worried the livewell would fly open so I taped it down.

    Prop Test: 32 Max 5 ST vs. 32 Bravo vs. 32 Promax vs. 32 P4 BCAllison XB21 Prosport Mercury Racing 300R and 1.75 gears running 13.5" of setback.
    Temp was low 70's and 100% humidity.
    The props were each run back to back in the same conditions, so its a fair test between the 4 props.
    The test was run on a lake with no current and minimal wind. I actually ran into the wind to get some lift.

    3 Tests
    -5mph start first to finish line (1-mile)
    -15mph start first to finish line (1-mile)
    -Top speed (3 hit top speed in less than a mile from idle start. 1 needed a few more feet)

    Props
    32 Max 5 ST (Stock) 5 open PVS holes Thanks Tim Powell and Fastbass Marine
    32 Bravo (Worked - 14.75" diameter, sharpened blades, 8 open PVS holes, and the standard workup from Josh) Thanks Josh at Steve's Custom Props
    32 Promax (Stock) - 4 open PVS holes
    32 P4 BC - (Worked)


    5 mph to 1 mile
    -The bravo was the clear winner and it felt that way from the drivers seat. I knew before looking at the data it would be close with the Promax, but the holeshot held the Promax back. The Promax had a lot of bow rise and just didn't get spooled up as quick. The Promax needed 2-4 more open PVS holes. Holeshot is everything in this test. It would take miles for the much faster P4 to chase the Bravo down. More than likely you would have to get off the gas for wake or a turn long before that (unless you drive like Tim Powell). The Max 5 got out the best. It had very little nose rise and pulled out level. After that it was dead. It really runs like a 34. The added diameter and extra blade pulled the RPM down I think. The only thing that saved it was the very low slip numbers. I'm a huge fan of the Max 5, but this one was just too big for the motor.

    15 mph to 1 mile
    -The Bravo and Promax are close, but the Promax just pulls too well in the mid's to have anyone stay with it. Even the slightly faster top speed of the Bravo would take a mile or two for it to close the gap. I like this comparison as it's more real word rally running when you pull up to someone and say hit it from a slow speed. You can see the rest of the pack is much closer now without the holeshot. The P4 will overtake the Promax in less than 1 mile based on its closing speed.

    Top Speed
    The P4 took this one and it probably would have taken it by more if I wanted to play with it. I ran it out of water pressure at the mile mark on the rolling start. Of the 3 it was the only prop I didn't max out. I have a manual plate and I didn't feel like messing with it. I know what it can do, so since this was really a different shootout (1 mile runs) I let it be. Plus, its honestly difficult to start from 5mph and bring a prop up into the low 100's quick. It takes some driving to get it to all happen in one seamless pass to show acceleration data. 5-95/96 is much more forgiving. This prop went 102 with a stock 300XS and 103 with a DBR 300XS. The only thing holding it back on the R is the limiter.

    I also repeated the same tests with the batteries (140lbs) in the nose of the boat. It didn't go well on top. While the 5-70/80 times were awesome and much faster than above the top end was down 2-3mph. For that reason I didn't post results. I probably could get a little more out of the props in this configuration, but I would have to lower the plate. It seemed pointless to test more so I let it be.

    Allison XB21 2+2
    Mercury 300R




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    #2
    Awesome data! I'd love to see one of these on the bassport 2 seater with a 250xs (just being selfish)

  3. Member River Rocket's Avatar
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    #3
    I have another video that I plan to put out next week that shows gear ratio tests on a 2+2 250xs
    Allison XB21 2+2
    Mercury 300R




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    #4
    Geoff, it amazes me the time and effort you, Jay, Tim and ? put into this testing. To be young again with that talent and resources. Keep up the great testing.

  5. Member white gambler's Avatar
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    #5
    Nice work!
    24’Bass Cat Puma Sts-300 Proxs
    23’Gatortrax Gt tunnel hull-200 Suzuki

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    #6
    Great work! Keep 'em coming.

  7. Member River Rocket's Avatar
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    #7
    Thanks Dean and guys.
    Allison XB21 2+2
    Mercury 300R




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    #8
    Wonder how a stock bravo would compare to a max 5 st. Great information and effort put in this!

  9. Member River Rocket's Avatar
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    #9
    rclark1, The 32 Max 5 was just too much. It wasn't a good wheel for this test. The motor saw it as a 34. I think Tim is sending me a 31 Max 5 standard barrel to test. I tested one on his boat with 300R and it was much quicker, I didn't test top end on it but he ran it up to 100. It should compete. When I logged his boat I also ran my 30 Promax back to back with the Max 5. The Promax was a little quicker, but as I said I never maxed it out. Just made quick pulls up to 93/94 to log acceleration of the R.

    A few years ago I tested the heck out of the Bravo XS and Promax trying to decide which one to standardize on. The Promax and Bravo XS actually accelerate the same out of the hole. The Promax just always had a little more on top and drove better. Not to mention the Bravo blades suck out of the box. It has to be worked to get them all to match. Then it also needed work to stay with the Promax on the top. In the end it didn't make sense to me to buy a prop and work it just to compete with a stock Promax on my boat. I standardized on the Promax, sold all my Bravo's and now have a 28, 30, and 32. I had a 26 as well when I had the 300XS.
    Allison XB21 2+2
    Mercury 300R




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    #10
    Geoff, when we ran all the collective props that the guys brought to my place last week we only paid attention to holeshot and top end. But the 5 blade props are incredibly level running as you mentioned. That surprised me probably more than about anything else. That and the need for more venting when Johnny Johnson tried running the CNC 32. His stock Sport 250 couldn't muster it out of the hole. But oh my if he could have his boat is one of "Those" special fast runners and he is a driver. We all wanted to see how it would have performed. I am pretty sure it was the CNC Johnny couldn't spin up. Johnny or Tim can chime in and correct the record if I'm wrong on which of the 5 blade props it was that he was trying to run. Tim brought both of them to test. Woody's 250R with liked the 5 blade props and the Hydro QIV's too. Heck, the R motors never seem to see a prop they don't like! LOL

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    #11
    Quote Originally Posted by River Rocket View Post
    rclark1, The 32 Max 5 was just too much. It wasn't a good wheel for this test. The motor saw it as a 34. I think Tim is sending me a 31 Max 5 standard barrel to test. I tested one on his boat with 300R and it was much quicker, I didn't test top end on it but he ran it up to 100. It should compete. When I logged his boat I also ran my 30 Promax back to back with the Max 5. The Promax was a little quicker, but as I said I never maxed it out. Just made quick pulls up to 93/94 to log acceleration of the R.

    A few years ago I tested the heck out of the Bravo XS and Promax trying to decide which one to standardize on. The Promax and Bravo XS actually accelerate the same out of the hole. The Promax just always had a little more on top and drove better. Not to mention the Bravo blades suck out of the box. It has to be worked to get them all to match. Then it also needed work to stay with the Promax on the top. In the end it didn't make sense to me to buy a prop and work it just to compete with a stock Promax on my boat. I standardized on the Promax, sold all my Bravo's and now have a 28, 30, and 32. I had a 26 as well when I had the 300XS.
    Thanks for the info. I'm running a stock 32 bravo fs and have a 31 max 5 st should be here this week. Just not a fan of any stock bravos

  12. Member K-DAWG's Avatar
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    #12
    I see a lot of the Bullets with the 300R really run big numbers with the Max 5. Could it be the Bullets like the increased diameter because they run a lot higher than the Allisons?

  13. Member River Rocket's Avatar
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    #13
    Quote Originally Posted by K-DAWG View Post
    I see a lot of the Bullets with the 300R really run big numbers with the Max 5. Could it be the Bullets like the increased diameter because they run a lot higher than the Allisons?
    From What I hear the 32 is different from the smaller pitches. Every boat it has ran on it hasn't performed as well as the lower pitch Max 5's when compared to comparable pitch props like in this shootout. In other words I expect the 30 and 31 to be at the front of the pack. They made the 32 just too stiff to compete head to head with other 32 pitch 4 blade props.

    Some of this stuff I would never catch if I wasn't data logging and putting in spread sheets and making graphs to see how the speeds and acceleration numbers translate to performance in a race. I could have got off the water and said the max 5 launched good, but felt a little slow in the mid range and fell 1-2mph off the other props on top. It would have got a mixed review. Then you look at what the data logger shows and make a image like this and you are WOW. That is a big difference. It got smoked. My favorite P4 did as well, but it pulls huge topend so it always gets a pass.

    Capture.JPG
    Allison XB21 2+2
    Mercury 300R




  14. Member River Rocket's Avatar
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    #14
    Here is a 31 Max 5 against a 30 Promax on the 300R. This is Tim's green boat. The data is compared against a 30 Promax on my boat with a 300XS DBR 1.75.

    On Tim's boat the 31 stayed right on the heels of the Promax despite being a larger pitch. The graph shows time to distance and time to speed. Times are close and in 1700' the Promax is in front by about a half second. At the end of a 1700' race the half second translates to around 50ft (about 2 boat lengths). That is very close if you are watching it in real time. Compared to the 300XS 1.75 running the same Promax the 300R Promax was in front by 120'.

    Capture2.JPG
    Allison XB21 2+2
    Mercury 300R




  15. Member tritontr21's Avatar
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    #15
    More testing head to head this fall/winter. Nothing like a ProSport 300R and a 2+2 300R shootout that is brewing!!!
    Jay McDaniel
    2003 Allison XB21 BasSport Elite 2+2
    2019 Mercury Racing 300R

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    #16
    Thanks Geoff for the great information about these props. I still like the Bravos for my everyday running on the river. The ones I have now come out of the hole so much better than the ProMax they just work better. Sending my ProMax to Josh next week for work maybe then I will change my mind. The ProMax is faster top end and is easier to drive. Sound like I should just switch to the 300R instead of doing the DBR mods.

  17. Member River Rocket's Avatar
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    #17
    Horse power is horse power Kevin. The R and DBR have to be very close. I have put 50 hours on the R trying to get it to run better than the DBR on my boat.
    Allison XB21 2+2
    Mercury 300R