Artman

I was talking to the owner of a 253 Convincor yesterday at the lake. He said his boat is 27' with the swim platform. I'm looking to buy a ZT280 from a friend of a freind next year. The 280 seemed much bigger to me. I can't find much info about the 253 since it isn't made anymore. Can anyone help?

HiPerf2000

I have a 97 253 Convincor. And my buddy has a 99 280ZT.

The convincor has a bolt on swim platform while the ZT has a molded platform. The ZT measures the platform in the overall length, while the 253 is measured without the platform. The new 27 Convincor now includes the platfrom in the OAL measurement, and is really only 25+ foot.

The ZT is a stepped bottom hull, while the convincor is a traditional non-stepped 24 degree V hull. The 253 has a longer cabin than the 280 by about 8 inches, but the 280 has more head room by about 3 inches.

Any other questions???

By the way my convincor is also for sale in the sale section.

dyno

the ZT is Euro stle crap the 253 is Classic......my .02

Artman

What about the size of the beam? Wouldn't a stepped hull be better from a performance standpoint? Btw the ZT280 has the 500HP.
Dyno- Are you refering to the looks that you don't care for, or the quality of the boat?

HiPerf2000

Both beams are the same betweeen the 2 boats. If i remember correctly they are 103"

The step is said to increase speed, but are also said to cause handling problems. The single step on the 280 will only benefit you with a couple mph. Some argue if that is worth the handling issues. Dual steps on larger boats will benifit in alot more mph.

With a 500hp the boat will run about 70 - 72 GPS. depending on conditions.

mine has a 575hp and runs 77 - 80 depending on conditions.