New Caravelle 212 Interceptor review

ChevyReb

Seaman
Joined
May 14, 2003
Messages
52
New Caravelle 212 Interceptor review<br /><br />Hello all,<br /><br />Well I put my new Caravelle 212 BR Interceptor in the water for her maiden voyage this weekend. It has the 300HP Mercruser 350 MPI and Bravo one outdrive with Vengence SS 3 blade prop. <br /><br />Pros:<br />Good smooth throtle operation and low bow rise, gets on plane quickly. Excellent bite and turning performance, handles like a BMW on rails! The first time I took a sharp turn I thought it was going to roll like an areobatic plane LOL. Good smooth dry ride in 2' chop. It ran 50 MPH at half throtle @3900 RPM, 40 MPH @ 3200 RPM. Looks great, finish and detail outstanding. Lots of comfortable seats and room up front and in rear. Gets lots of looks and hey man thats a nice looking boat comments. The front cooler under the side seat cusion holds ice very well, I was surprised at that. Nice Sony CD deck.<br /><br />Cons: <br />My knee board nor my wake board will fit in the ski storage looker :-( The wakeboard will go in if you take off the front binding.<br /><br />The lower drink holders beside the driver and pasenger seats are difficult to access. It does have one up high for driver and shotgun rider. But back bench seat access is very difficult.<br /><br />You have to remove the larger front cusion to access the anchor.<br /><br />The new racing throtle control has detents and when pulling tube and wake boarders it needed to be in between the detents to maintain the desired pulling speed. I will ask if that is adjustable. It took a little getting used to pushing the throtle forward to back up.<br /><br />Not as good on gas as I would have liked, but hopefully that will get a little better after breakin period.<br /><br />Good experiences:<br /><br />Huge smiles on my sons faces riding the tube, wake and knee boards....priceless!<br /><br />Seeing my beutiful wife sunning on the sundeck and front bow cushions.<br /><br />ArrArrArr feeling of manhood being at the helm of this fine high performance machine.<br /><br />Bad experiences: <br /><br />One of the speakers blew up the second day out. <br /><br />The trim gauge read full up but when pulling out of the water it was not and scraped up the bottom of the lower drive fin and chipped a small piece off of the back. I think it will file down and be fine but kind of ticked me off a little...Ok honestly it TICKED me off a LOT!! I am going to have some words with the dealer and Caravelle about this. I am used to outboards where you have a visual on the location of the prop, so with the swim platform on the bottom you cannot see the lower drive location. Thus I was relying on the trim gauge. Would everyone here think that was OK to do???<br /><br />Thanks all,<br /><br />ChevyReb
 

quantumleap

Master Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Feb 16, 2004
Messages
813
Re: New Caravelle 212 Interceptor review

Remember that trim and tilt are two different things. If it is just a trim gauge, it may not indicate anything higher than the highest point of the trim range which is much lower than the tilt range.<br />Also, yes, your mpg's will get quite a bit better after it is broke in.
 

KCook

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Jan 24, 2002
Messages
1,624
Re: New Caravelle 212 Interceptor review

Trim gauges are notoriously flaky. I would always have somebody eye ball the drive position when approaching a ramp.<br /><br />Kelly Cook
 

ChevyReb

Seaman
Joined
May 14, 2003
Messages
52
Re: New Caravelle 212 Interceptor review

OK thanks for the replies all,<br /><br />ChevyReb
 

PeteHarris

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Apr 19, 2004
Messages
47
Re: New Caravelle 212 Interceptor review

I have a similar outdrive hidden by the swim platform dealy ... Use the trailer button to raise the outdrive and listen for the trim motor to make a different sound when it gets to the stop...
 
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