Home › Forums › Bass Cat Boats › 2009 cougar ftd speed
have read impressive numbers on this board about speeds in high 70s and low 80s..have manual jackplate/250 pro xs/26 fury..best performance so far is 76 @ 5800 rpm..learned to drive boat pretty good but would like little faster..if trim up past 1.5 on smartcraft gauge starts to get lot more bow lift but no speed..actually start losing..tried raising plate but works best when plate is @ 1/2″ above them being even..any suggestions would be appreciated..p.s. runs about same fully loaded as 1/2 load…this is my 12th boat and is the finest boat and trailer i have owned..love it!! Dougie, You are running fairly well now, and these rigs all vary in performance. The range of about 45 MPH to 80 MPH is all regulated by your thumb, not your throttle. If you run nose tucked at 45 to 50 MPH, then all the rest is tweaking the trim button. Lift the hull to pack up up and hold air, then tip it down a touch and you should be getting all you can. Then you need to tweak the jack plate to achieve the rest of the performance. Raise it to where you have a touch of steering torque at the fastest trim range, then lower it about 1/4″, with a full load also. No pansy lightweight loads, weight it down with you, partner, gear, fuel and water to set up. Once you get it all tuned and you are used to it, then you can lighten it up sometime to have fun. Though be sure you are able to handle the boat safely. You cant jump in Mark Martins race ride and go full out first time, so be careful! BCBLast edited by dougie on October 17th, 2009, 3:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I have read impressive numbers on this an other boards as well. It will depend on what prop you are running, but 76 is probably within a mile or two of the best you will get. I have read a lot of those numbers too, and have decided that most times people are listing their best case, best weather, best temperature, light load speed, perfect prop for speed, etc when they show those huge numbers. Its my understanding that the 27P Tempest is the fastest standard prop for most guys, and that the 26P Fury is the best compromise for speed / holeshot for most guys. I actually got my Cougar FTD (2004) over 70 once or twice with my 225 (plain Opti), but that was with perfect conditions, freshly balanced and polished prop, 8 inch chop on the water, Temps in the low 70s, at low elevation, and with a tail wind. Normally best speed was 67-68 and best all the time loaded speed was around 65-66. I had guys tell me they got 72-74 out of that boat motor combo. I did too… behind my truck. I suppose if I had ran the boat empty all of the time I might have got a couple more, but I bought it to go fishing. Ive got a new 250 Pro XS on the back. Ill let you know what it does for me. Maybe Ill have one of my 25P Tempests repitched to 27 and rebalanced and polished to see what it will do with that. Ill be starting out with a 26P Fury.–Bob La Londe Forums, Free Lures, Product Reviewswww.YumaBassMan.com CNC Molds N Stuffwww.CNCMOLDS.com
Come on. Somebody tell Im wrong and it must be my inadequate boat driving skills or lousy setup or bad attitude. LOL.–Bob La Londe Forums, Free Lures, Product Reviewswww.YumaBassMan.com CNC Molds N Stuffwww.CNCMOLDS.com
Im hitting 71gps with my 04 CougarFTD 225 Opti, and I cant drive the boat very well at all yet… Im running a 25p trophy plus. I will admit those numbers are alone w/all my tackle and 1/2 tanks of fuel. I feel like once i learn to drive a little better and stretch her out, Ill get a little more out of it. I wish I had a 250 Pro XS. That would be the cats azz….(ok pun intended)Bob, Id say you have a bad attitude, cant drive, your setup is wrong ect…..but I just dont know you that well …YET…
CriggVA wrote: Im hitting 71gps with my 04 CougarFTD 225 Opti, and I cant drive the boat very well at all yet… Im running a 25p trophy plus. I will admit those numbers are alone w/all my tackle and 1/2 tanks of fuel. I feel like once i learn to drive a little better and stretch her out, Ill get a little more out of it. I wish I had a 250 Pro XS. That would be the cats azz….(ok pun intended)Bob, Id say you have a bad attitude, cant drive, your setup is wrong ect…..but I just dont know you that well …YET… I think Im gonna like you when I get to know you better. Funny that you are hitting 71 with the Trophy. I always got better speed out of the Tempest. Better holeshot too. Which surprised me.–Bob La Londe Forums, Free Lures, Product Reviewswww.YumaBassMan.com CNC Molds N Stuffwww.CNCMOLDS.com
I havent run a temptest yet. I do plan on trying a 25 fury out that my friend has but I feel more comfortable with 4 blade right now beings that im just trying to figure out how to drive it (chine). I am a little concerned that with the cooling temperatures that my rev limiter and I will have issues as well. Im at 5710 rpms right now. I may have to step to a 26. Im really surprized not to see same numbers out of the same set up.
Guys I am getting about 73.4 from my ride. 06 CougarFTD and a 225 ProXS. I even had Ivan at BCB run this boat a couple of weeks ago and he said that was what it was suppose to run. I have a 25 Fury on it right now but think I could maybe get 1-2 MPH more with a 26. Ivan also said if I removed a lot of my tackle and rearranged my load I could maybe see that 1-2MPH more out of her. Let me tell you 73 is plenty fast. I am not in that big of a hurry to get there. Besides the gas gauge moves faster as the boat moves faster.
08 Cougar FTD w/250 Pro XS manual plate, 27P trophy. Hole shot was not great but top end WOW!! I have seen 82.4 on the GPS with half fuel and light on tackle. Granted I only weight 170 but have seen 76-78 with full Tournament load and fuel two anglers. That boat ran great. Loved passing all the other brands on my way to the first hole. Sure hope I can get my 2010 Puma FTD to post some similar numbers. Jamey
My cougar loaded me 325 co angler 260 full load of tackle plus 40 gals fuel runs on a 90 degree day at the delta 72 pretty consistantly but it take a little to get there. Running a 225 opti 27 tempest at 5700 RPM (yes I know seems like a lot of slip) but comes out of the hole well, the prop is not perfect condition either. In the am about 65 degrees with that load I can see 73 to 74 Irv
Bob you are 100% Correct…..When most guys post the 80+mph speeds on here the boats are new and run light, even though its not a Tourney load for these 250XS and 250 HOs to push these boats past the 80 mark is remarkable….If you talk to most of the Go Fast guys the Allys,Bullets and Gamblers are running about 4-8mph faster, and most of those are Tweaked, meaning running setups that have been Time Tested by guys like Darius Allison, if you sat and perfected the setup on a BCB, and added all of the Go Fast tools it would post faster than 80+ speeds, but thats not what they are for….You guys are all runni faster than most, but have the perfect fishing machine also, pretty cool setup if you ask me, especially passing certain brands that may be way overpriced, kind of humbling….BrannonYour Signature …
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