97 GTX want a little more speed

[Carguy89]

I picked my 97 GTX up at the end 08 with 0 hours on the rebuilt motor. The one season warranty is over, and I was wondering what you recommend. Not looking to make it 2000 hp, just want a little bit more pep. I don't really beat on it much, usually just cruising around, ~4200-4800 rpm.

Ideally, I was equating my car background...intake/exhaust type stuff which help efficiency and power at the same time, but I'm still very new to the PWC arena, so I'm up for anything that you may suggest.

Also, it has around 50 hours on the rebuild thus far.

 

[JoeZ]

There are few quality performance parts for your PWC, as most of the focus is now on 4-tecs. Now with the two strokes it is really hard to make great power, but you can still optimize the jet flow to make better use of existing power.

96-97 GTX/GS/GSX 97+ GTI Performance Intake Grate


Many people consider this a must have:
Sea-Doo GTX (96-02) / GTI (97-00) Hydro-Turf

Also, if you haven't replaced your wear ring you might want to check to make sure it is in good condition as well as your impeller. If the wear ring is bad, you'll lose a lot of power. You can get a replacement wear ring on seadoowarehouse.com.


Hope this helps

 

[Carguy89]

You're saying that engine mods aren't really worth it?

I was actually looking at that grate yesterday, it improves flow that much?

And those mats were the first think I did when I got my ski 2 years ago, I love them.

 

[JoeZ]

Not saying the mods aren't worth it...but they are much more limited.

The intake grate will help both performance and handling and is a pretty good mod for the money.

I noticed your listing 155 hours on your GTX. How are your spark plugs? Wear ring? Itmes that could deminish performance over time should be looked at and restored to make sure you are not losing power.

 

[Carguy89]

Not saying the mods aren't worth it...but they are much more limited.

The intake grate will help both performance and handling and is a pretty good mod for the money.

I noticed your listing 155 hours on your GTX. How are your spark plugs? Wear ring? Itmes that could deminish performance over time should be looked at and restored to make sure you are not losing power.

Gotcha, I was just wondering if anything besides the grate would have much of an effect/worth the money.

Spark plugs have 2-3 hours on them. Engine only has ~50 hours, and I have no idea what the wear ring is or its condition.

 

[JoeZ]

Actually Dr. Honda just made an amazing thread on the wear ring.

How To: Changing Your Wear Ring

Your plugs should be good then. An impeller could always help as well, but I'd definitely start with getting everything back to at least stock condition. Wear ring is next step, imo.

 

[Carguy89]

Actually Dr. Honda just made an amazing thread on the wear ring.

How To: Changing Your Wear Ring

Your plugs should be good then. An impeller could always help as well, but I'd definitely start with getting everything back to at least stock condition. Wear ring is next step, imo.

Thanks! And yeah I change my plugs every 15 hours or so.

 

[Carguy89]

How is the performance grate in relation to seaweed?

 

[6KJR]

Ive found, as you will too, that great HP gains can often cause a lot of money for the little HP you gain. And aparently your reliability starts to decrease. Usually a good improvement for the machine would be a new head, to increase the compression.

 

[Carguy89]

How is the performance grate in relation to seaweed?

Bump.

I'm guessing my wear ring was changed when I got it - also because it said I hit 60 mph this past weekend.

 

[Dr Honda]

Bump.

I'm guessing my wear ring was changed when I got it - also because it said I hit 60 mph this past weekend.

Well...... the stock speedo's lie... but, if you are hitting 60 on it... then that ski is running in top shape.


OK... the truth about an intake grate. There are a bunch of different styles, and they are all a "Give and Take." If you ride in smooth water, then a shallow grate will help keep the hull in the water, and improve overall handling. If you are running in choppy water, a "Top loader" grate will be best for you. The top loader design helps keep the pump loaded as the hull bounces off the tops of the waves, and in turn, you achieve a better top speed. BUT.... an aggressive top loading grate will slow you down on smooth water.

I recommend at least a deep single scoop as a replacement from the stock as it will significantly ride better, and stay hooked up better.

A word on engine mods....


Yes... they are wonderful, but for the average person, the money spent isn't worth the performance gained or the reliability lost. Group K has been building race engines forever, and they know their internal mods... but even if you buy one of their "Hammer kits"... you normally gain about 5 mph up top. Plus you have to burn premium fuel, and the life of the engine will drop. AND (here is the give and take thing again) you normally start to have low to mid RPM drivabillity problems. It's kind of funny... if you look on their site for boat mods, then have a very long technical document... and in the end it basically says... don't do any for reliability.


OK... I know that's not what you wanted to hear... so here's what you want. The best bang for the buck is having the head shaved. If you bring up the compression slightly, it will make a noticeable difference out of the hole, and give you few MPH up top. Also, an after market impeller is almost always a good investment.. (Skat-trak swirl for out of the hole, and Solas Concord for top speed and fuel economy)

If you want to get crazy... but a new tuned pipe from "Factory Pipe." They are getting about a 20% gain in power over stock, with no other mods. They are expensive... but work very well.


So... there you have it in a nutshell.

 

[Carguy89]

Well...... the stock speedo's lie... but, if you are hitting 60 on it... then that ski is running in top shape.

OK... the truth about an intake grate. There are a bunch of different styles, and they are all a "Give and Take." If you ride in smooth water, then a shallow grate will help keep the hull in the water, and improve overall handling. If you are running in choppy water, a "Top loader" grate will be best for you. The top loader design helps keep the pump loaded as the hull bounces off the tops of the waves, and in turn, you achieve a better top speed. BUT.... an aggressive top loading grate will slow you down on smooth water.

I recommend at least a deep single scoop as a replacement from the stock as it will significantly ride better, and stay hooked up better.

A word on engine mods....


Yes... they are wonderful, but for the average person, the money spent isn't worth the performance gained or the reliability lost. Group K has been building race engines forever, and they know their internal mods... but even if you buy one of their "Hammer kits"... you normally gain about 5 mph up top. Plus you have to burn premium fuel, and the life of the engine will drop. AND (here is the give and take thing again) you normally start to have low to mid RPM drivabillity problems. It's kind of funny... if you look on their site for boat mods, then have a very long technical document... and in the end it basically says... don't do any for reliability.


OK... I know that's not what you wanted to hear... so here's what you want. The best bang for the buck is having the head shaved. If you bring up the compression slightly, it will make a noticeable difference out of the hole, and give you few MPH up top. Also, an after market impeller is almost always a good investment.. (Skat-trak swirl for out of the hole, and Solas Concord for top speed and fuel economy)

If you want to get crazy... but a new tuned pipe from "Factory Pipe." They are getting about a 20% gain in power over stock, with no other mods. They are expensive... but work very well.


So... there you have it in a nutshell.

Thanks a lot! Yeah I figured the stock speedo's lie - I don't think it's capable of 60 but if it's quasi-close, then my GTX is in great condition as thought.

As for roughness of water, I go in Barnegat Bay occasionally venturing through the inlet into the ocean for a bit. It could be 6" waves, it could be 2' waves (not sure what you consider rough but it tends to be 1-2' on average). I like my reliability too much, but it sounds like I will definitely be looking into the tuned pipe - it seems more worth it. Will the shallow grate hurt lubrication in rougher water? And will the deeper one be more affected by seaweed? There has been a decent amount this year compared to last.

I run premium anyway, but it doesn't seem worth it to spend money to decrease reliability as drastic as it seems to be. I will, however be looking into the tuned pipe if it helps that much with no decrease in reliability.

I'm not sure if my head is shaved since it was rebuilt, but I would think it'd be more worth it to just wait and do it when it needs another rebuild.

As for impellers, how big of a difference is it in the loss of top speed/out of the hole?

 

[Carguy89]

http://pwcmuscle.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=79 - The only intake grate I see that fits my ski?

And as for impellers, what size? I see various sizes like the 13/19, 13/20.

As for the tuned pipe - the top one you mean?

http://www.factorypipe.com/p_seadoo.php

 

[Dr Honda]

That intake grate is perfect. It's a single deep grate. That is the best compromise between all the styles. As far as seaweed... there is nothing that will protect against that. BUT... there is one thing that can help......


That brings us to impellers....


The Skat-Trak "Swirl" impellers are known to be able to cut, and clear most soft materials like seaweed.

Keeping everything the same, the swirl will only drop your top speed by 1 or 2 mph. BUT, they are also known to prevent cavitation, so... if you have a slight cavitation now... you could gain speed. Regardless, it's minimal. The big thing with a swirl is that the hook up great, and give you the acceleration boost that most people actually want. Acceleration is what puts a grin on your face. 1 or 2 mph up top isn't even notable for most people. I almost always recommend a swirl, in the pitch that Skat-trak recommends.

 

[Carguy89]

That intake grate is perfect. It's a single deep grate. That is the best compromise between all the styles. As far as seaweed... there is nothing that will protect against that. BUT... there is one thing that can help......


That brings us to impellers....


The Skat-Trak "Swirl" impellers are known to be able to cut, and clear most soft materials like seaweed.

Keeping everything the same, the swirl will only drop your top speed by 1 or 2 mph. BUT, they are also known to prevent cavitation, so... if you have a slight cavitation now... you could gain speed. Regardless, it's minimal. The big thing with a swirl is that the hook up great, and give you the acceleration boost that most people actually want. Acceleration is what puts a grin on your face. 1 or 2 mph up top isn't even notable for most people. I almost always recommend a swirl, in the pitch that Skat-trak recommends.

Excellent.

Skat-Trak Swirl definitely seems to be the best for me, as mine does cavitate a bit coming out of the hole, but I only see Riva-R's by Skat-Trak on PWCMuscle, and they're not even for a GTX.

Looking on the company website, I found this http://www.skat-trak.com/seadoo_app2.html . I found the 97 GTX with 800 (guess they round 787 off?) with a 17/22 Swirl* for a stock motor, or 17/23 for a limited motor.

The exhaust that I posted prior - that's the one you mean, right?

 

[Dr Honda]

Sorry... yes, that's the right pipe.

So... if you are going to put the pipe on it... get the limited impeller... if you are going to stay stock... use the 17/22.

Honestly... either way... I would stay with the 17/22. That impeller with the Factory pipe will make for one hell of a ride.

 

[Carguy89]

Looking forward to it!

Don't forget it'll be intake grate plus those two - eventually.

Thanks again for answering this 21 year old's persistent questions :cheers:

 

[faded]

a lot of good info. :hurray:

 

[DSengineer]

OK... I know that's not what you wanted to hear... so here's what you want. The best bang for the buck is having the head shaved. If you bring up the compression slightly, it will make a noticeable difference out of the hole, and give you few MPH up top. Also, an after market impeller is almost always a good investment.. (Skat-trak swirl for out of the hole, and Solas Concord for top speed and fuel economy)

Have to agree. I had a 96 GSX back in the day and my local dealer shaved the head for me (not sure how much) and it was noticeable quicker out of the hole as well as midrange. I also put a swirl prop and top loader intake and it hooked up really well. I also put a set of Vortex flame arrestors and removed the restrictive factory butterfly chokes and replaced them with a primer kit. I did all the mods at separate times but the cylinder head was by far the most noticeable gain. Just make sure you don't have too much taken off our you'll quickly have detonation issues running pump gas.

 

[skimsucka]

Awesome

This is awesome thread I was searching for this info for my GTX found exactly what I needed! should be a
STICKY!

 

[rnewman0811]

Thanks

Thanks all, this thread was very helpful.
I should have read it prior to purchasing my Solas Dynafly 14/20 for my stock 2001 GTX DI. It only turns 6250 RPM's now at WOT. Although I did get the impeller used, probably from some guy who did the same thing as I did.

Does anyone run the Solas Dynafly 13/19 on a 951?

p.s.
cleaning rave prior to giving up on impeller.