Grew Challanger

[Chris E]

This is a very rare bird. My brother in law (Dave) works at Suzuki Canada and they had this boat built last year. some of you will know the Challanger name already (Tuff marine uses the same hull), this is a hull and the deck has been redesigned and is built by grew boats in owen sound (this is only one of 4 built from this mold as far as i know).

this boat is primarily a test bed for different engines. this weekend it had a 250 extra long shaft on it with a new powerhead for testing. i got 60.7mph out of it (gps) Dave got 63 out of it.

Its getting the new 200 ss engine installed this week (a conventional long shaft) for some reason Suzuki hasn't built their v6's with long shafts - should be intersting to see how it performs. my feeling is that it will still push close to 60. actually the boat runs quite well at 52 mph. My wife is no speed freak but she really enjoyed how the boat handled. My kids on the other hand would prefer that it went faster!

My only complaint is that the boat was built by grew - by their standards it's actually pretty good. for anyone else though the build quality is mediocre at best. Unfortunatley the current owner of grew doesn't concern himself with quality, as all the boats are price point.

Enjoy:

 

[Chris]

Thanks for sharing Chris.

It's a nice looking boat.

Much nicer than my old Grew 140 SS that I had!

One of these days I'll have to upload some pics of the old gal.

How do you like the Suzi's?

 

[Chris E]

the suzuki's are a fantastic engine, i've ran every make and it is a strong motor. tonnes of torque, power to weight seems pretty good, apparantly warranty issues are low. the biggest problem is a lack of dealer network. but i understand they just set up a dealer in muskoka, so hopefully they will sell a lot of them.

apparantly they are a very popular motor in the southern states. i'm thinking a 150 would look good on the back of the checkmate but only if i can get it cheap.

 

[Chris]

the suzuki's are a fantastic engine, i've ran every make and it is a strong motor. tonnes of torque, power to weight seems pretty good, apparantly warranty issues are low. the biggest problem is a lack of dealer network. but i understand they just set up a dealer in muskoka, so hopefully they will sell a lot of them.

apparantly they are a very popular motor in the southern states. i'm thinking a 150 would look good on the back of the checkmate but only if i can get it cheap.

Katrine Marine is selling them. I think since Johnson is just about kaput, they're filling in the holes that ETEC doesn't already cover. Like the small punt motors for example.

Katrine Marine also had a big 250 or something along those lines sitting in their showroom this past spring.

 

[Boston Predictor]

Thats pretty cool. I dont like the deck that much, but it is always nice to see another challenger clone
I wonder how many boats have been based off that design?
They definitely handel very well.

 

[Chris]

It doesn't look like it has much of a pad though.

They should widen it out.

 

[Chris E]

you're right, i think the pad is about 4-5 inches wide.

 

[Chris]

you're right, i think the pad is about 4-5 inches wide.

Just like Mate should widen out the pad on the 2100.

 

[Chris E]

interesting weekend, dave put a 200 long shaft on it, what a difference, chine walk has almost dissappeared - great hole shot, and - this is the interesting part - the same speed - dave got 63 mph out of it, i'm assuming because the engine is closer to running to the surface of the water.

 

[Chris]

Kewl.

 

[LAPLANT]

it looks good to me anyhow it must be terrible to have to check diffrent settups

 

[Chris E]

yeah, it really sucks! Dave has a dream job.

 

[Chris E]

so, time for a little update - no pics though - nothing has changed. this year there is a 250ss on it. Dave is still tweaking it - but so far he is getting 74 gps off the new engine. and seems to handle very well. i believe he is running a 29" prop on it. acceleration is awesome with that motor, and as usual, a conversation can be carried on at high speed as that 4 storke is very quiet.

 

[Chris]

Sounds awesome.

And 74 ought to be good enough to get you away from the bugs!

 

[175checkmate]

Thats a good looking boat.

 

[Chris E]

yeah, it has nice lines, it would be even better if they had a bowrider version. we had 5 kids and 3 adults in it on saturday - it was a little cozy - good thing i'm on good terms with my girlfriend!