Four Winns Horizion 170 Top Speed

[ziggy]

Re: Four Winns Horizion 170 Top Speed

fwiw.
generally speaking....

1'' of prop pitch, up or down is worth aprox. 200 rpms..

so if your running a 19p now @ 5500 rpm. a 21p should bring you down to 5100 rpm.

if ya know your gear ratio. try plugging the info into one of them prop slip calculators.

 

[Joshua Nichols]

Re: Four Winns Horizion 170 Top Speed

Josh-
What is the weight of our boats?

also when you say neck snapping what do you mean. i would like to time my whole shot to see how I am doing. It feels ok but not great, but I do not have a lot of experience with boats, so maybe it is in fact good!

My boat jumps out of the hole.. Lots of power.. I haven't timed the to plane time but it's pretty quick..
I have a copy of the sales brochure you can look at.. Kinda neat..
I have a copy of the owners manual too but is too large to send..

Do you have a prop shop local? Mine will lone ya out a prop till you find one that you like..

 

[bulachip]

Re: Four Winns Horizion 170 Top Speed

WOW i did not realize you could get the 170 with a 230hp 5.7l!!

That must have been a rocket!

 

[bulachip]

Top speed 4 Winns with 4.3l

Top speed 4 Winns with 4.3l

Hi everyone

I feel like a little kid. All I seem to want to do is see how fast I can get this thing to go. Ahhh life's simple pleasures.

My wife, would be happy just bobbing around and talking.

Maybe I like the speed because it is too loud to talk over?!

Anyway.
The boat is a 1987 4 winns 170 horizon with a 4.3l 2bbl carb and a mercruser outdrive.

With the 19 pitch prop top speed with two people and a dog was roughly 40 with RPM too high (5200!)

With the 21 pitch top speed is 43-44 with two and a dog at 4900rpms

Do you think I should go to a 23 pitch?

Is something wrong with my boat, or is it just perhaps a bit tired?

Some claim 50mph from simmilar set ups

I

With the 21 pitch top speed

 

[bow wow rider]

Re: Four Winns Horizion 170 Top Speed

i have a 2004 four winns horizon 170. it's a 3.0, I4, 135 hp. I top out around 44mph. So yeah I'd be underwhelmed too?

 

[bulachip]

Re: Four Winns Horizion 170 Top Speed

Granted I did hit 44 in choppy water with a full tank of gas a 90 lb dog and two people on board. I am hoping with one person on flat water to hit 48ish.

 

[Piece715]

Re: Four Winns Horizion 170 Top Speed

I would still look into that foam under the floor... if its soaked ur adding hundreds of pounds of unnecessary weight... and the only way to rid yourself of that situation is to replace it... won't dry out

 

[AZSenza]

Re: Four Winns Horizion 170 Top Speed

WOW i did not realize you could get the 170 with a 230hp 5.7l!!

That must have been a rocket!

My '85 170 had a 5.7 260 in it. Bennet trim tabs and thru hulls, GPS'd well over 60MPH (Like 65) with a holeshot that would yank your arms out! I had a stilletto 14X19, then went to a Hill Bros Racing prop 14X19 when I bent the stilletto (Who says you cant bend a stainless prop and not damage the drive) When I went to replace the deck, I found wet foam and rotted stringers, I gave up and sold her. As far as the OP, I'd go with a 14X21 aluminum, make sure the hull is clean. Verify the trim is working, Visually see it go up and down. Very important its working correctly or you'll be back here asking whats that Awful noise coming from my drive!

 

[bulachip]

Re: Four Winns Horizion 170 Top Speed

My trim is not currently working. I can only lower the prop with the trim. In order to raise the prop I have to use the trailer button, which raises it very quickly so i have to just give it a quick tap. Is this causing damage? How can i fix the trim?

Also the trailer button only works intermitnetly

 

[AZSenza]

Re: Top speed 4 Winns with 4.3l

Re: Top speed 4 Winns with 4.3l

Id say first things first, fix the trim, Its very important to have the drive in the proper angle. A properly working trim system is a necessity! The last thing you want is for it to completely fail at the worst time (It will). Try weighing the boat and trailer at a public scale, This will give you a rough idea of total weight vs adverstised weight back in 87 just to make sure you dont have 400 pounds of water on board hidden safely in your foam! See if a friend has the size prop you want to try and borrow it for a day, some prop places will sell you a prop and let you exchange it for a different size within a week.

 

[bulachip]

Re: Four Winns Horizion 170 Top Speed

Where can I find specs for this boat?

 

[bulachip]

Re: Four Winns Horizion 170 Top Speed

I guess, I should just be happy with 45ish, it is an old boat after all!

 

[canyonken]

Re: Four Winns Horizion 170 Top Speed

I'm hoping to get on the water this Sunday with my GPS. Last time out I had 4000 RPM and the dash spedo was right at 41 MPH.
I will check the real speed with GPS.
1996 Sea Ray 175 XL with a 14X23 aluminum prop.
4.3 Liter V-6, 2 barrel Mercarb
190 H.P.

 

[bulachip]

Re: Four Winns Horizion 170 Top Speed

From the sound of this, with a 17ft FW, 175hp 2bbl 4.3l and a 14.25X21 prop, 44mph is ok but not great.

How far off am I?

I want to maximise preformance but I also want to enjoy the boat without worring that something needs to be fixed

 

[Joshua Nichols]

Re: Four Winns Horizion 170 Top Speed

From the sound of this, with a 17ft FW, 175hp 2bbl 4.3l and a 14.25X21 prop, 44mph is ok but not great.

How far off am I?

I want to maximise preformance but I also want to enjoy the boat without worring that something needs to be fixed

44 is fine... You wanta go faster? Install a bigger engine..

Wanta go fast and not worry about fixing stuff? HMMMM go boat shopping.. Buy a new boat... Tell the salesdude you want to see the fastest stuff they got..

I hardly run my boat WOT.. Not really into speed much these days.. At least not on the water where you can drown so easy.. Still yet.. If I was, I would build one of those jet-boats from the 70's and 80's.. Throw a narley blown big block on and have fun with the butt puckering factor of it all.. Keep the Four Winns for the days when ya wanta just ride in comfort.. If yours is like mine.. It rides good in the chop or the glass..

 

[third times the charm]

Re: Four Winns Horizion 170 Top Speed

i got a four winns candia 210 4.3 175 2bbl. Before i screwed up winterize 2 years ago, mine would run 40 with full tank and semi smooth water(after I installed the new prop). When i got the boat it had a 14x19 prop running 5200 rpm. Bought a stilleto 14x21 stainless and dropped down to about 4500-4800 rpm. That was flying to me and the kids.

 

[canyonken]

Re: Four Winns Horizion 170 Top Speed

got on the water today.
my engine tops out around 4200 RPM.
I was getting 42 or 43 on the GPS.

1996 Sea Ray 175 XL with the 4.3 V-6 and a 14X23 aluminum prop.
I suppose if I tweaked the trim a bit it might get 44 tops.
Engine runs smooth and sounds great for the short time I run it WOT.
I just go at 3000 RPM everywhere. It gets 27 or 28 MPH at 3000 RPM.
ken