ACME 1273 is PERFECT for Surf/Ski/Barefoot
I finally got the 1273 on my 2014 Malibu VTX (with the Monsoon 350 engine) this weekend. Prior to putting it on, I took the boat out for a flat-out speed run, and got 43-44 mph with the 537. I put the 1273 on and went back out to the same stretch and got 43/44 mph. It was almost exactly the same, with the exception that the 1273 bounced around in the lower end, and the 537 was bouncing in the higher end. But anywhere in a 1 mph variation could clearly be considered well within the margin of error. Hole shots and under-load performance was not even a fair comparison, the 1273 was much "cleaner". There was no feeling of cavitation or slip, and with 2500 lbs of ballast and 3 passengers, it popped up to surf speed and held beautifully and much smoother than the 537. In fact, the 537 struggled to hold 11 mph with that ballast. My buddy that lives a few doors down has the same boat (3 years older, but with the same motor and very similar ballast) with the 1235, and it feels very similar under ballast and at surf speed, but he only gets 40/41 mph. I didn't test RPM at various loads and such, so I can't speak to the differences throughout the speed range and under various loads, but in general, it seemed to be slightly higher RPM. But it was quite noticeably smoother and it never felt like it was bogging at all, so that might just be perception. I didn't see a marked difference in fuel economy, but that too was largely unscientific. 1/2 day of surfing = 1/2 tank of gas before, and it…