Craigmri
New Member
Guys,
Just got back from a nice day on the water. WE FORGOT THE DARN CAMERA!!!!!:ack::ack::ack::ack::ack::ack::ack: So, cant share any of the days adventure with you all....I'll try and paint the picture with words.
We arrived at Lake Tarpon about 8am and had the park to ourselves...it was awesome!!! This was the first real day on the Challenger 180 we just bought. While we did Sea Trial it when we got it, we experienced alot of cavitation on that sea trial but I was aware of massive silicone blobs that oozed out in the jet pump from the factory so this wasn't a massive concern to me. In retrospect I wonder if the original owner would have sold the boat had he cleaned that junk out of there?????
We quickly load the boat with our stuff and launch it. We idle away from the dock and got extensive low speed maneuvering experience on the single jet. It pretty much reacts just like my twin jet Utopia I sold except the Utopia responded quicker. Comparing the two, the C180 is just as maneuverable as the U205 but its a more sluggish response.
Idle speed the C180 is a little quieter and smoother(less vibrations) than the U205. The sloped down bow on the C180 is low enough to the water level that when your in rough wake from other boat you can take some water in when idling. Once your on plane the boat is well out of the water and completely dry.
Now its time to test the holeshot and test for cavitation. Once I'm out of the no wake zone I blast the throttle. By removing the Globs of silicone from the pump it has improved the cavitation issue tremendously as I suspected it would. Does it pull as hard as my old Twin jet 310hp U205? No way. Two jets just offer better thrust I think. No matter, the holeshot is acceptable the way it is. Eventually I'll install a Solos impeller for better low end thrust when the time warrants.
Now its time to test the supercharger and top speed so now its time to hold it wiiiiiiiiiiide open! I quickly hit a max RPM of 7940 and GPS top speed of 45.3 MPH. This is with four people on board, a bunch of gear, Wake tower with bimini deployed and full fuel load. I'm satisfied with this as its pretty much dead on what I should see. The U205 I had was a best of 52.8(GPS) with two adults and full fuel load. Not a huge difference considering how rare you run at wide open throttle.
It was quickly evident however that at cruise speed or higher speeds, engine noise in the C180 is louder than that of the U205. This is probably the single most disappointing aspect of this purchase. I assumed, a single engine vs. a twin would be quieter at cruise. Something to get used to I guess.
Now lets talk ride quality. You cannot cheat physics. The C180 is 2' shorter than the C180. You feel this when things get choppy. While the ride is still pleasant, its just not as smooth and refined as the U205 in same conditions. The C180 is a 17'7" hull and it is what it is. For lakes and rivers though its just fine.
High speed maneuverability is very similar between the two. Only difference is the U205 loses less speed in the hard corners and when in a hard turn in the U205, and you gas it, it just rips...The C180 is still a riot but just doesn't have the thrust of the Twin jet.
Water sports. Here is where the C180 picks up some points. Mine has the OEM wake tower and its very nice. The C180 has a removable bench seat center cushion that has non-slip under the cushion. This creates a great walk over transom design and ingress and egress from the swim platform is far superior than crawling over the bench seat and large sunpad on the U205.
Storage, The C180 has just as much storage only its in different shapes than the U205. On the U205 you have that huge sunpad that opens to a large open space for things like Wake boards, knee boards, folding chair and what not. The C180 doesn't have this big space but it does have extremely deep storage under two great doors in the transom as well as alot of under seat storage and of course the sole locker that can gobble up lots of stuff.
Trailering. Our tow vehicle is the Hyundai Veracruz and the C180 tows effortlessly. It has no brakes on this trailer and it doesn't need them. Since there is no surge brake you don't get that thud when stopping and accelerating away from traffic lights. Its a much easier boat to tow than the U205.
Fuel consumption. We did extensive wake boarding, knee boarding and just running around today and we used about 14 gallons. This is about what the U205 would have burned I believe. The twin non-supercharged U205 just doesn't have to work as hard as a single supercharged boat.
Issues. I've got a few now that I've shaken down the boat properly.
1) Radio reception sucks! The antennae is connected and even stations that are strong in my area sound staticky and weak.
2) When you turn the steering wheel at the helm, you can hear something creak as it rubs on the cup holder inside the helm.
3) Shifter is very difficult to actuate into Forward from Neutral and even harder to pull it back to Neutral from forward. So difficult that my wife was really struggling and gave up.
4) A few gelcoat areas where I have cracks.
5) A few snaps that are affixed to the gelcoat to secure cushions stripped and pulled out.
6) Optical distortion in windshield on drivers side.
That's pretty much it. The day was a lot of fun and just like my U205, I had to deal with getting the issues worked out and I'll have to do the same on this one. Fortunately I'm under warranty for a long time so it'll be covered less some $50 deductibles. Actually its still under the factory 1 year right now so I'm hopeful there will be no deductibles on this batch of issues.
Craig
Just got back from a nice day on the water. WE FORGOT THE DARN CAMERA!!!!!:ack::ack::ack::ack::ack::ack::ack: So, cant share any of the days adventure with you all....I'll try and paint the picture with words.
We arrived at Lake Tarpon about 8am and had the park to ourselves...it was awesome!!! This was the first real day on the Challenger 180 we just bought. While we did Sea Trial it when we got it, we experienced alot of cavitation on that sea trial but I was aware of massive silicone blobs that oozed out in the jet pump from the factory so this wasn't a massive concern to me. In retrospect I wonder if the original owner would have sold the boat had he cleaned that junk out of there?????
We quickly load the boat with our stuff and launch it. We idle away from the dock and got extensive low speed maneuvering experience on the single jet. It pretty much reacts just like my twin jet Utopia I sold except the Utopia responded quicker. Comparing the two, the C180 is just as maneuverable as the U205 but its a more sluggish response.
Idle speed the C180 is a little quieter and smoother(less vibrations) than the U205. The sloped down bow on the C180 is low enough to the water level that when your in rough wake from other boat you can take some water in when idling. Once your on plane the boat is well out of the water and completely dry.
Now its time to test the holeshot and test for cavitation. Once I'm out of the no wake zone I blast the throttle. By removing the Globs of silicone from the pump it has improved the cavitation issue tremendously as I suspected it would. Does it pull as hard as my old Twin jet 310hp U205? No way. Two jets just offer better thrust I think. No matter, the holeshot is acceptable the way it is. Eventually I'll install a Solos impeller for better low end thrust when the time warrants.
Now its time to test the supercharger and top speed so now its time to hold it wiiiiiiiiiiide open! I quickly hit a max RPM of 7940 and GPS top speed of 45.3 MPH. This is with four people on board, a bunch of gear, Wake tower with bimini deployed and full fuel load. I'm satisfied with this as its pretty much dead on what I should see. The U205 I had was a best of 52.8(GPS) with two adults and full fuel load. Not a huge difference considering how rare you run at wide open throttle.
It was quickly evident however that at cruise speed or higher speeds, engine noise in the C180 is louder than that of the U205. This is probably the single most disappointing aspect of this purchase. I assumed, a single engine vs. a twin would be quieter at cruise. Something to get used to I guess.
Now lets talk ride quality. You cannot cheat physics. The C180 is 2' shorter than the C180. You feel this when things get choppy. While the ride is still pleasant, its just not as smooth and refined as the U205 in same conditions. The C180 is a 17'7" hull and it is what it is. For lakes and rivers though its just fine.
High speed maneuverability is very similar between the two. Only difference is the U205 loses less speed in the hard corners and when in a hard turn in the U205, and you gas it, it just rips...The C180 is still a riot but just doesn't have the thrust of the Twin jet.
Water sports. Here is where the C180 picks up some points. Mine has the OEM wake tower and its very nice. The C180 has a removable bench seat center cushion that has non-slip under the cushion. This creates a great walk over transom design and ingress and egress from the swim platform is far superior than crawling over the bench seat and large sunpad on the U205.
Storage, The C180 has just as much storage only its in different shapes than the U205. On the U205 you have that huge sunpad that opens to a large open space for things like Wake boards, knee boards, folding chair and what not. The C180 doesn't have this big space but it does have extremely deep storage under two great doors in the transom as well as alot of under seat storage and of course the sole locker that can gobble up lots of stuff.
Trailering. Our tow vehicle is the Hyundai Veracruz and the C180 tows effortlessly. It has no brakes on this trailer and it doesn't need them. Since there is no surge brake you don't get that thud when stopping and accelerating away from traffic lights. Its a much easier boat to tow than the U205.
Fuel consumption. We did extensive wake boarding, knee boarding and just running around today and we used about 14 gallons. This is about what the U205 would have burned I believe. The twin non-supercharged U205 just doesn't have to work as hard as a single supercharged boat.
Issues. I've got a few now that I've shaken down the boat properly.
1) Radio reception sucks! The antennae is connected and even stations that are strong in my area sound staticky and weak.
2) When you turn the steering wheel at the helm, you can hear something creak as it rubs on the cup holder inside the helm.
3) Shifter is very difficult to actuate into Forward from Neutral and even harder to pull it back to Neutral from forward. So difficult that my wife was really struggling and gave up.
4) A few gelcoat areas where I have cracks.
5) A few snaps that are affixed to the gelcoat to secure cushions stripped and pulled out.
6) Optical distortion in windshield on drivers side.
That's pretty much it. The day was a lot of fun and just like my U205, I had to deal with getting the issues worked out and I'll have to do the same on this one. Fortunately I'm under warranty for a long time so it'll be covered less some $50 deductibles. Actually its still under the factory 1 year right now so I'm hopeful there will be no deductibles on this batch of issues.
Craig
