2015 242 Limited S Top Speed Test

[JetBoatPilot]

This video will be a bit shaky but you will be able to see the top speed on the speedo.

 

[GTBRMC]

It does appear to give up a bit of top end...

...I could live with that trade off

 

[Murf'n'surf]

Are you now partners with Cycle Springs or just giving credit to them because they provided the boat for testing?

 

[Speedling]

bimini up and depoloyed? AT 49 mph, that's actually pretty good!
Good that it didn't rip right off, and good speed numbers with it sailing up there!

 

[GTBRMC]

bimini up and depoloyed? AT 49 mph, that's actually pretty good!
Good that it didn't rip right off, and good speed numbers with it sailing up there!

Oh, I missed that. Why would you do a speed test run with the bimini deployed? @JetBoatPilot ?

 

[Wayloncle]

I don't think the bimini is up. I don't see it in the video, and there sure is a lot of sun shining down on him.

 

[JetBoatPilot]

Bimini is up, the top is very tight on the 242 models so we left it up. If we had taken it down we may have picked up another mph or so.

@Murf'n'surf Cycle Springs takes good care of JerBoatPilot so in exchange we shoot some video for their showroom monitors and their website. Not partners but they are one of my best dealers.

 

[jetboater4life]

Another good vid! Not only is the speed test interesting, but the sound of the engines with quiet ride. My first impression was that it was louder than I expected. Half way through the video when you started to speak Will @JetBoatPilot, the engine noise seemed to quiet down. Was the video edited or did something happen with the recording device when human speech was recognized?

 

[Charles]

We hit 45 on Saturday with our '15 LS, 4 adults, fully loaded, Bimini up (it is very tight on the '15), and a full gas tank. Wasn't really trying for top speed.

 

[SCSTWG]

49 is more than fast enough for me.

 

[JetBoatPilot]

We did edit the video due to the wind noise. I am going to try to do a db measurement video soon to compare the 212X to the new AR240.

 

[jetboater4life]

We did edit the video due to the wind noise. I am going to try to do a db measurement video soon to compare the 212X to the new AR240.

That would be super cool. Thanks!

 

[Ronnie]

Great video but ultimately it seems to me that Yamaha's flag ship has some nice new features at the expense of 1 to 3 mph on the top end and the usual $3k price increase. At least Yamaha included some additional consideration for the price jump this year but the loss in top speed would keep me from upgrading until a newer / faster model comes out.

 

[JetBoatPilot]

Keep in mind that the bimini was up. We will shoot another video or at least post up top speed results from our AR240 when we get a chance to test again. Maybe once the boat is broken in there will be another mph or so to be had.

 

[txav8r]

What are you guys getting on the '10 to '14 242LS? I got 53 on my gps speed once...but not sure since batteries and supplies/storage items are on board that I get that good any longer, but with no bimini, the SX240 has much less drag than the LS and I think only the limited would run 52/53. The 212X/SS should certainly be faster than that. Seems reasonable to expect parasite drag from the tower, and certainly the bimini, and the difference between 49 and 52 may be 3mph, but it can't be perceived IMO, unless lo0king at the speedo alone. Nice boat, that is for sure.

 

[rkluck]

I always get around 48 to 51 top speed with Bimini up, three to four people and pretty much a full tank of gas. If I have 5 or 6 people I get about 45. I was surprised that the sound was still as high as it was. That is the biggest issue my wife has.

 

[Ronnie]

I got up to 52 mph when I first picked the boat up, it was with the top down, 3 people on board including myself, less than 1/2 a tank of fuel and little or no gear. 3 mph isn't much and I know I can just turn into the wind if I wanted it to feel faster but if the results don't change, the new LS is slower than the old one. I wouldn't buy a new tow vehicle if it towed less than my current vehicle so I wouldn't buy a new boat if it can't outperform my current boat. Maybe I'm the only one that thinks this way but I doubt it.

 

[jetboater4life]

My top speed on my older style 212x is 51 (1/4 tank of gas, no bimini, and just me). As soon as I add a few people the speed drops to around 48, but then adding a boat full it only drops to around 45-46. The power curve is interesting as it takes no time at all to get going to around 42-44 mpg and then the last 4-6mph takes twice or three times as long.

 

[txav8r]

Its funny, my 230 was a tad slower than most at the gatherings, not sure why, and we are talking about less than a 1 mph difference, but the other boats just seemed to move away slowly. My 240 on the other hand, is just the opposite. But the other 240's/242's have towers and I don't think tower vs non tower is a fair comparison. The more weight/parasite drag you add, the less speed you will have. Same with fins or rudders, they are parasite drag, no matter how minimal it is, it will be some. I agree Derick @jetboater4life , as you load up the boat, it still jumps out of the water, but the top speed run takes a little longer to get to top than when less on board. Still a great performer!

 

[SCSTWG]

I got up to 52 mph when I first picked the boat up, it was with the top down, 3 people on board including myself, less than 1/2 a tank of fuel and little or no gear. 3 mph isn't much and I know I can just turn into the wind if I wanted it to feel faster but if the results don't change, the new LS is slower than the old one. I wouldn't buy a new tow vehicle if it towed less than my current vehicle so I wouldn't buy a new boat if it can't outperform my current boat. Maybe I'm the only one that thinks this way but I doubt it.

The new boat does outperform the previous version.......just not for top speed. For me, this is a family boat and the wife and my 3 little girls have no interest in going 50 mph so for us it would be a non-issue. Given the additional length, larger head entrance, lower noise level, better handling, hinged seats, touch screen, etc., I think the new version is significantly better while basically keeping the same top speed. I actually really like the existing power plant (other than the noise level) and they are proven to be very reliable. If they were new engines, half of the board would be saying how they are scared about reliability and wouldn't buy one until they saw how they did over the course of time.