New style 25 Contender vs. Old style / Competition 25 - Grin???

[littletunny]

How does the new style 25 Contender (I guess around 1998 and newer) with the euro transom compare to the older 25 Contender / 25 Competition with the bracket?

Looking for ride and fuel economy as well as overall opinions.

The bottom line is I could get an older 25 Contender and possible repower for cheaper than the newer style 25 Contender but I dont want to give up too many benefits that the new style may have.

What about cockpit space and drainage?

Any and all opinions welcomed.

[sundancekid]

The old style 25 Contender is nto as stable being narrower and has less cockpit space because the console is biased towards the rear. That being said, it is more efficient being lighter and narrower and is easily powered with a large single. Personally having ran both, the old style boat rides much better than the euro transom version in my opinion, it is a softer ride and can be ran slower (i.e. the eruo style boat needs to be ran at a higher rate of speed in rougher conditions to have a smooth ride).

[littletunny]

Does the old style have about an 8 ft beam?

Which boat did you like better?

[paraman]

I ran a older bracketed contender 25 numerous times for several years and loved it. I believe the beam was 8'2" or 8'3". All of the other contenders I drove or been on, were smaller or larger so I can't give a direct comparison to the 25 old style vs. new. I would look at the competition boats as well. They are built well and don't have any wood and are based on the contender hull prior to 2000.
paraman

[JesseS]

I know that on the competition Manny moved the gas tank forward some to make the boat a little better balanced and able to handle twins better than the old style contender. I have been to the factory and am impressed with his boat. I think sundance is right on with how they run.

[79hydra]

I have an 86 25' Contender w/twin 200 OX66s on a bracket, I agree that you can run this set up slower and the ride doesn't pound as long as you keep the bow down, mine has a 70 gallon tank up front in addition to the 2 50 gallon saddle tanks, and keeping fuel up there certainly helps.

It has been a great boat for us, 5 seasons so far, and gets around 2mpg with the older OX66s. The only problem with repowering these older hulls w/twins is I think you really need 2 strokes since they wouldn't handle the weight of 4 strokes. I would think with 200hp HPDIs or Etecs you would see 2.5 mpg or better.

top end for us is around 53 with 4 people and normal load, cruise is anywhere from 28-37 mph depending on sea conditions.

[littletunny]

Does the cockpit drain good on the old 25? I think the livewell is in the floor on the old styly 25 as well.

[grin]

My 1994 had 200 carbed Yams and water just barely crept in the scuppers at rest. Anything heavier than 200 2 strokes would be a mistake. The old hull is 25'10" long with no brakett, and I think 8'3" beam. It runs beautiful. The new hull is 28 overall including the integrated brakett, and beam is close to advertised 8'10". I personally like the newer hull I have now (2000 25) better. Planning speed was never a issue to me on either boat. I know my 2000 planes so nicely and flat at slow speeds it never was thought to be compared to the old one. I kind of think the newer one planes slower and better to be honest. The old boat was very nice and faster by about 5 mph. Some of the new boats benefits are the bigger cockpit, above deck livewell, and the well used space in the brakett for pumps and dive ladder transom door and rigging. Rigging is super clean in the new hull.
Neither hull is correct with 4 stroke V6s.
The old hull would run real nice with a single, or V4 4 strokes, whereas the new hull would not.
The old hull does not porpoise ever, at all, at high speeds. The new hull porpoises at speeds over around 45mph. Correct rigging and a little tab can control this to a non issue. This is really only a issue for intracoastal racing types on glass calm water.
The new hull is rigid as can possibly be and you can feel it.
The old hull probably rides a hair smoother. Although I don't think it's enough to try to make anything out of. The difference is the old hull requires no brain to drive as you give it gas and trim up as you get on plane. The new one seems to require messing with the tabs to keep it level more.
The new one definatly does not roll as much at rest when two guys get on one side to gaff a fish. The old one will flood the deck in this situation on that side. The new one never has water flood the deck ever.
The only reason I would prefer the old over the new would be if I wanted 4 stroke V4s or a single. The new one would probaly run pretty good with a single 350 though.
The old 25 is a very nice hull to get your hands on though. If gotten at the right price, or whatever, it is a extreemly nice hull.

[littletunny]

Thanks Grin.