SAN Wake and Performance Characteristics

[Quinner]

I have a friend who has asked me to help him find an 01 or 02 SAN. I am a straight inboard guy so cannot answer all of his questions. He is primarily a wakeboarder and barefooter, I assume the Wakeboarding capabilities will be exceptional but what about Barefoot and Slalom compared w/my 206? Handling differences compared to my 206? What top speed should you expect with a GT-40 310hp? Excalibur 330hp? Any known issues to look out for with a used SAN?

Thanks Much!

[wakefun]

Quinner -
This topic has been discussed some in the past so you may want to search previous discussions. However, being that I am the owner of a 2000 SAN, I can give you a start...
Yes, it is primarily a wakeboard boat (none better, perhaps).
At 32 mph and 15 off there is a bump that will make you long for the wake behind your 206. For a hack like me its OK, better/expert skiers will be unhappy.
Top speed of my boat (GT-40, 2 people, no ballast, light on fuel, sea level and glass conditions) maybe 43-45 mph.
Handling as compared to your 206 will not be as good, especially if the boat is loaded down with ballast. It won't be as quick out of the hole nor turn as sharp. The SAN will feel heavier and somewhat sluggish as compared to your 206. Not bad, just not quite as responsive.
I have not footed behind my boat (heck, I'm 46 and have a family to support...) so I'm no help there. The GT-40 does have lots of torque so getting to speed should not be an issue, however.
The digital guages tend to fail in those model years which means the hour meter, if the GT-40 motor, may be incorrect.
Ballast pumps can be an issue with the older SANs so check to see if replaced or OEM
My heater core went out last year (just wore out) and have heard of similar issues with 4-5 yr. old boats.
That is all that comes to mind for now but I am sure some others will chime in.
Good luck in your search.

[Mikeski]

Get a GT-40 if you can or a ZR-6. My 211 with the 330EX will only hold 40-42 when I am footing, just a bit shy of the speed requirement for a solid 1 footer. I have tried 4 props, the Team prop is the best blend of top speed vs. holeshot. The GT-40 will also get him up on his feet quicker than any other motor.

[caudo]

I slalom skied behind a 210 this weekend and it was not good. That is all that I have, hope this helps.

[Pavlos]

Get a GT-40 if you can or a ZR-6. My 211 with the 330EX will only hold 40-42 when I am footing.

Top speed of my boat (GT-40, 2 people, no ballast, light on fuel, sea level and glass conditions) maybe 43-45 mph.

Well I have to ask....aren't these speeds a bit low? I don't have any experience with a V-drive, but are they really much behind inboards in terms of performance?

These boats are not made for speed, but a friend's Air 216 (inboard) easily makes 50 mph with the throttle close to, but not even at WOT position (Excalibur engine, 2 people, 3/4 fuel tank, no ballast, minimum waves at sea). Factory speedo though, he hasn't ever calibrated it since he got the boat.

Only 40-42 on what I think is a lighter boat seems a bit low, but then again, this is why I'm asking

[bkhallpass]

Pavlos,

All things being equal, by nature and design, V-Drives are actually faster than direct drives. However, all things aren't equal. In the Correct Craft Lineup, the VDrive boats significantly outweigh the direct drive boats.

It's possible, but I highly doubt your friends 216 is reaching a true 50 mph. Having driven
several 216s, I would be very surprised if it is doing more than 46 or 47.

In the right conditions, I can get my 210 to 47mph. Typically, I can only count
on the boat reaching 45 mph.

BKH

[TRBenj]

I would be surprised if the 216 with the 330 ran 50+ MPH. My father's '03 196 only runs 46-47. I calibrated the speedo with GPS @30-32 mph.

My uncle's '04 196 with the ZR6 will do about 50 I believe.

[Pavlos]

Thanks for the responses. I guess it's a case of a speedo showing a few MPH more. At WOT my buddy's 216 did 52 if I remember well, but apparently it was indicated speed.

Not sure if it has anything to do with speed, but boat was driven in salt water (at sea), in pretty much perfect conditions.

BKH, could you elaborate on why, with all things being equal, a V drive would be faster? Does it have to do with weight distribution? I would think that there would be loss of engine efficiency cause power is first transferred fore, then "curves" backwards to go to the prop.

"The VDrive boats significantly outweigh direct drive boats"

Sorry, I'm not a native speaker...could you define 'outweigh'? You mean the V drives are heavier, right?

Anyway, this is not all about top speed. When I drive I like sometimes to enjoy 'all ahead flank' speed, but a few MPH less isn't a big deal for what we can get in exchange. We aren't going to tow a skier at 50 MPH anyway.

Thanks and sorry Quinner for diverting this thread a bit off your original question.

[bkhallpass]

Pavlos,

If you are not a native speaker, your English is very good.

Saltwater should improve speed by a bit because it is more bouyant.

Yes, weight distribution is the key to why a V Drive is faster, all things being equal.
Because engine weight is in the back, the bow of the boat is able to rise more, and
at top speeds, less of the boat's surface will be in the water for a V Drive than for
a direct drive.

Yes, you are correct. I mean that in the Correct Craft lineup, the VDrives are heavier
than the Direct Drives.

BKH

[Pavlos]

Well then, a bit of a detuned speedo coupled with the salty water should explain this.

Thanks for the weight clarification too.

Pavlos

[Quinner]

To All, thanks for the input!

Mikeski,

How would you rate the wake while footing? My two most recent boats I could compare against where a 99 Air with TSC hull and my current 05 206 Air. Of course the 206 is softer and smaller for wake crossings, the 99 was slightly larger and harder at the tail or white wash.
I am a bit suprised to hear the GT-40 has better top end and hole shot, from a simplistic perspective you would say 20hp more, better performance? My 99 was a GT-40 and my 206 is an Excal, it would be hard for me to say or compare motor performance because the hulls/boats where so different. I can say the GT-40 was bulletproof, when we parted ways after 5 yrs and 500hrs not one component replaced/repaired and it ran flawlessly throughout..

[Mikeski]

Quinner,

HP ratings can be deceiving. You won't find a full range torque curve published anywhere on any of the PCM (and Indmar) motors these days. Even though the GT-40 is rated 20hp less than the 330 Excalibur anybody that has driven both will tell you that the GT-40 has significantly more power. For example I have two buddies with SAN's, bkhallpass (GT-40) and wakejunky (330EX). BKH's GT-40 easily spins a 13.5x17.5 Acme 380 propeller, wakejunky's 330EX spins a 13.5x16 with similar effort. Since the GT-40 is capable of twisting the taller prop down low it can pull higher top speed when the motor reaches it's peak power.

My 211 with it's factory "signature/sport edition" prop, 13.5x17.5 wouldn't pull a 250lb slalom skier out of deep water when the boat had 6 passengers. Now I run the "team" prop, Acme 611 13.25x16, it does a decent all around job. Top speed according to the digital readout on the perfect pass is 44-45 no load, and 40-42 with a barefooter. Ignore the analog speedometers they are not linear so they will be off if they are calibrated for boarding speeds or slalom speeds. Even the ZR-6 has a hard time keeping up with the GT-40 until RPMs pass 3,000 or so. The ZR-6s come on stronger at the top end. I feel that there is a significant demand for a good high-torque stroker motor in the PCM motor line for use in the heavier boats these days.

I have never seen any Nautique run over 50mph and I believe that's by design (I have not been in a ski-fly machine). My boat with the taller prop would run 47mph unloaded if I fiddled with the wakegate but that's really cheating. The inboards will run close to 50 if they are unloaded with passengers on the back seat (or standing on the platform) to pull the nose up, but again that's cheating.

For barefooting you run the wakegate in slalom mode and it produces a nice flat platform, much nicer than my 1995 Ski Nautique or 1983 2001. Wake crosses were smooth and easy. I have not footed behind a 206 or 216. My 1 footers have been really junky ever since I broke my ankle in the slalom ski fall. If I could get my foot in the right position 42 should be plenty of speed.

[mgaspence]

2002 SAN

I looked a long time and found a sweet deal this year on a 2002 SAN with GT 40 and only 100 hours, original gauges, and perfect graphics. Fell in love and bought it almost on site.

I was looking for an excalibur 330 but settled for the GT40 because the boat had everything else. I am glad I did. Compared to the excalibur the GT40 has more torque. It rips out a hole shot and gets to cruising speeds in 35 mph range in 5 - 6 seconds. Amazing.

I changed out the funky digital gauges and put in replacement analog Farias that look cool and retro, muscle car look and also a wakeboard pro perfect pass with paddle wheel pickup for more accurate speeds. I also calibrated with GPS. It is true, analog a gauges are NOT accurate. Pre PP I was slalom skiing my wife at 32mph and later while calibrating with GPS we were speeding out around 40mph. She was screeming at me to slow down and I told her it was perfect speed she just needed to get used to new boat. We laughed our asses of after realizing how fast we made her ski.

Top speeds I get under perfect conditions 1/2 tank, one person, ripply flat water, it holds nicely at 47 - 48 on perfect pass readout, but gps reads 46 - 47. Analog reads 48 - 50 mph. It's fast.

Wake is perfect for wakeboarding and you just have to learn how much and where to weight ballast (tanks and people) to shape wake exactly how you want it. You can make it rampy with a curl or steep with a kick bymoving weight (people) for front or back.

I slalom at 32mph and around 70 - 75 feet. The little bump is there but it just takes getting used to. I'm pretty heavy, around 200 lbs and I just stay on edge and pretend its not there and I don't even feel it. I think those used to 206 wake just see the little bump and anticipate it's going to sketch them out, but it really has little or no effect on crossing wake.

I've ridden many. This boat does it all. Exceeds my wildest expectations for wake, precision, versatility, handling and comfort. A classic that will be tops in class for many, many years to come.

A 2001 or 2002 is a bargain boat of this class and should hold value. I see this 210 SAN model being the most sought after collectable all around boat in 25 years, like a '66 or '67 corvette, or Z 28 Camaro. Just sweet lines and beautiful proportions. Not the biggest SUV-like boat, but it's big enough for 6 - 7 without any problems for spreading out.