Opinions on the best scooter?

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Permalink Reply by Douglas Steding on January 23, 2009 at 9:28am

Fastest? The Cuda.

Farthest distance? Probably the Cuda or a big ole' magnum Gavin packed with LiPo batteries.

Combo of speed and distance? The Cuda.

Features needed for technical diving? Lots there, generally any of the SS , Dive-Xtras or Gavin models. You need something depth rated more than the plastic scooters.

Easiest or most comfortable? Pretty subjective, some like the big heft of the Gavins in the water, others like the speed and agility of a Sierra. Any well-balanced scooter should be pretty comfortable. No scooter is really "easy" to use.

Scubatics? Probably a Sierra.

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Permalink Reply by Richard on January 23, 2009 at 2:45pm

You're not going to be using a Gavin or SS for scubatics that's for sure!
IMHO no scooter is 100% reliable, they are kinda like boats.

I have a short Gavin and a short Sierra and I am happy with both for different reasons. The Gavin was cheap, its quite stable in the water, and spare batteries are cheap too. The Sierra is lightweight and more agile. I find them equally comfortable and equally suitable for my tech diving to 200ft.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Strachan on January 23, 2009 at 3:14pm

So looking at the Dive-Extras site there is the cuda 650 and 850, and these are slightly more powerful than the Sierra, which is made by the same manufacturer - which would you go for?

Does this thing beat the silent submersion N-19 outright?

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Permalink Reply by Richard on January 23, 2009 at 3:50pm

For free diving? The Sierra.
For small boat tech diving, again the Sierra.
For shore diving on the west coast either the Sierra or a Cuda.
For cave diving somewhere else where stability, straight line tracking, and holding a a goodman lighthead while driving are valued, an SLA Gavin.

The N-19 is a hybrid; PITA brushed motor, heavier than a Sierra, less power than a Cuda, and proprietary batteries.

There ain't no perfect scooter.

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Permalink Reply by Andrew Georgitsis on January 24, 2009 at 1:45am

www.tahoebenchmark.com

says it all CUDA is far faster better range light weight BLah Blah Blah. I am in Germany at the Boot show selling scooters all day so of course this is my song and dance :)

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Permalink Reply by Mark Strachan on January 24, 2009 at 10:25am

Andrew, I had heard you have something to do with scooters, but I wasn't entirely sure what. Which scooter do you sell? and what are its benefits?

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Permalink Reply by Maciej Arkuszewski on January 24, 2009 at 5:51pm

http://www.divextras.com/

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Permalink Reply by Mark Strachan on January 25, 2009 at 11:52am

Ahhh ok. Alright then, as designers and manufacturers of the Cuda are present, I'm a bit confused by something. In boat design, the longer the hull of the boat, the faster the boat can go. I don't know why this is true, but apparently it is.

If you go to the compare option on the diveextras web site, you can see a comparison of the different scooter models. Dimensions of the scooters don't seem to be up on the comparison, but one would assume the Cuda 850 is longer than the 650. The 850 has more battery capacity than the 650, and it is about 24% heavier than the 650.

The 650 has a slightly faster max speed than the 850: 254ft/min vs 248ft/min. Why? You'd think a longer scooter would be naturally faster. I suppose the extra weight slows it down?

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Permalink Reply by Scott Lundy on January 25, 2009 at 1:45pm

When you're talking about an object traveling at such low speeds, hydrodynamics don't really apply in the same way. This is why most scooter noses aren't sharper in shape -- the benefit is very minimal.

I would imagine the difference in speed could be due to slight variations in batteries and rider position rather than a meaningful difference in speed. I can assure you that 6ft/min makes no difference at all in planning or executing a dive.

Now the speed difference between 150 ft/min and 250 ft/min feels like MUCH more of a gap than just 100 ft/min :)

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Permalink Reply by Mark Strachan on January 25, 2009 at 9:45pm

Ok... so Cuda 650 vs. 850, which should be used for what application?

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Permalink Reply by Andrew Georgitsis on January 26, 2009 at 10:03am

http://unifiedteamdiving.ning.com/video/xscooter-bashing

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Permalink Reply by George K. Watson on January 27, 2009 at 11:16am

Having combined a deep technical with cave and scubatics on the same dive, I can say I love my Sierra short and long body both. I have the memory of my team-mate above me as I was flying inverted below him in the 'really big room' burned in. It was spectacular and not something I could easily do on his SS UV-26

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