From 190 to 226, a true love story lol

[ChrisWheelingJK]

Well, 2 weeks ago I decided to get serious and go for another boat. Having a 190, I was dead set on Cobalt.

I found exactly what I was looking for!

2001 226 with a little over 400 hours
Volvo Penta 8.1L Gi w/ duoprop
Captains call exhaust

Boat is in immaculate condition, well maintained and I just got her all polished up!

I’m so stoked! I sold my 190 last week to a great guy with family, he’s super happy with it as well.

Only issue is I need a set of F8 props, these F7’s aren’t enough. Also, I have a set of F6’s for trade or sale.

[AsLan7]

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Sounds like a great find CWJK. So glad you found us too!

Love the big block engines especially in that size.

Thanks for the pics too.

And welcome aboard mate!

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[jhnmdahl]

I'd take that 20+ year old Cobalt over most new boats in its class. Nice find, and thanks for sharing!

[ChrisWheelingJK]

Thanks! I’m super happy about it. I was pretty specific with what I was looking for after having the 190. I wanted something quicker than what I already had, more room with a good seating layout, definitely wanted the big block, love the power it has and also needed something a little bigger that’ll handle wakes and rougher waters better. I’d been poking around here for awhile and decided to just sign up as I’d been on here plenty looking lol.

[Big Block Power]

Congrats! Nice set up.

[ChrisWheelingJK]

Anyone have or know where I can source a set of F8 props? I’m having a hell of a time finding somewhere with them in stock.

And to be honest, this chat is why I went the route I did lol

[Dudley67]

https://www.getaprop.com/volvo-penta-d ... em-3851498

Ex 226 owner here, loved the hull stable and fast. Try this site…

[ChrisWheelingJK]

Awesome, I saw the site when I was doing the googles but was a little hesitant. Glad it’s good to go!

[dustinm]

Nice boat, it looks to be in great condition and has two of the best options, CC and BBC

[ChrisWheelingJK]

Well, I finally pulled the trigger on F8’s, should have them in by next week. I guess we’ll see how she does with them!

[RWM250]

Beautiful boat and set up. Much here to enjoy. Congrats and welcome!!!

[Big Block Power]

So are you turning too many rpms with the f7? I had a 8.1gi and was not overly thrilled. It lacked the midrange. I would have went from a f8 to f7. The big diff from a gi to gxi is the extra rpm range you get and can go with a F6. Plus the cam and other differences. The 50 extra hp is definitely noticed. You going from the 190 to a 226 will be huge though. I was just going from a 220 to a 220. Congrats.

[ChrisWheelingJK]

I’ve been running the boat for about year now on the F7’s. I’m primarily at sea level and with the F7’s hit the limiter. I see 64mph GPS, it has the 1.78 ratio for the drive.

My thoughts as of now are to throw the F8’s on her and see how she does. I’ll take the F7’s and send them to a prop shop in Lake Havasu and have them cleaned up and hold onto them. I don’t do any tubing, skiing or anything of the sort so mostly just cruising to the Sand bar or different coves and anchoring.

I honestly was looking at going with a heads/cam/intake setup on this motor, unfortunately I don’t see many options available. Raylar looks like the primary one.

[Big Block Power]

Yea if you're hitting the Rev limiter then you need to go up to f8. It will be fine. It's got plenty of torque to get up with any load in the boat. I think F8 is stock on that boat from what I remember and that is the same ratio I had and have. You will Probably hit 66 maybe. The 226 is one of the fastest hulls Cobalt made. I would have thought 62 or 63 but your moving. Yes raylar is a good set up. I know a guy in a 250 pushing over 500hp with it. Check with Whipple too.
Schumacher marine in Indiana does some cool stuff.

https://www.goodwincompetition.com/

Is also 20 minutes from me.

[ChrisWheelingJK]

Dude, thanks for the Intel!!

Not that it needs to be the fastest boat, I know that’ll never be the case but boating where I do, has some of the fastest boats around lol. Being able to hit mid 60’s is nice and yeah, she surprised me with how quick she is as is.

I’ve got 2 trains of thought here, one, the boat runs amazing as is….just leave it alone haha.

The other is I’ve always been a gear head and have built quite a few, fast cars. I don’t play with cars anymore and this is a long term boat for me so why not upgrade a bit? 66 with the F8’s would be nice, I obviously just don’t want to hit the limiter and would like to bring the RPM down in band a notch.

One of the issues I’ve seen is the tuning. From what I’ve found my 01 has the unlocked PCM and should be tunable. Regardless of what direction I do, it’ll have to be tuned for sure.

I’ll definitely check out that link!