Boat Test: 2026 Chaparral SSX 8

The SSX 8 is an excellent blend of comfort and style. Courtesy Chaparral Boats Visit Chaparral Build Your Chaparral Find a Chaparral Dealer Overview

Chaparral began building boats in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in the ’60s. Back then, it produced inexpensive boats (its first, an $850 tri-hull) and developed a full line ranging from small, value-priced runabouts to 30-foot luxury yachts. In that time, Chaparral learned much about luxury, and it shows in its new SSX 8—a 28-foot runabout built in Chaparral’s Nashville, Georgia, headquarters.

Supple, stain- and UV-proof silicone upholstery is found throughout. Courtesy Chaparral Boats Interior and Accessories

Everywhere one might lay their head, hand or swimsuit-clad body is met by the touch of luxury. The evidence is in the glossy gelcoat; the supple, stain- and UV-proof silicone upholstery, the cradling contour of the seating at the helm, bow and stern; and the mirrorlike polish of the most durable cleats, hinges, grab handles and trim available to the marketplace. Even the optional anchor and windlass ($5,475) are highly polished stainless steel. During some boat tests, limitations of time forced us to just peer at a vessel like Clark Griswold at the Grand Canyon in National Lampoon’s Vacation. Instead, attention to function, design, and detail on this boat compelled us to slow down, dig deep, and appreciate Chaparral’s craftsmanship.

The new SSX 8 is a rebadged refinement of the 2870 SSX that we tested in fall 2024, and the most obvious difference is a slight redesign of the luxury dash. A Simrad NSX is replaced by Simrad NSS 12-inch display, which provides more functional navigation real estate, enhances the view of and access to digital switching and engine information, and offers the skipper the ability to divide the screen into individual windows to display switching, navigation, engine data, and more simultaneously. The upholstered dash is trimmed in stainless steel and the instrument panel is carbon fiber, creating a performance look. The audio system is accessible via the MFD, and aboard our boat, Volvo Penta’s compact engine display provided another option for monitoring propulsion data. Another important refinement is the available black, frameless windshield that Chaparral calls the Corsair Windshield.

The helm is equipped with a Simrad NSS 12-inch display. Courtesy Chaparral Boats

The skipper sits in a custom bucket seat that swivels 360 degrees and slides fore and aft for optimal leg room. Even better, controls are on the top of the seat sides, making these adjustments possible without groping under the seat. It’s a convenience that is seldomly, if ever, seen on other boats.

The first mate gets a comparable bucket seat and an upholstered console with a twist. It swings open on vaultlike hinges to reveal a spacious compartment with a standard sink and the option of a porcelain flushing head or a standard portable head. With the large crews that this yacht-certified vessel can carry, a privacy compartment is more than a luxury.

The cockpit from the windshield to the L-shaped wraparound lounge is covered by a retractable hardtop ($14,420). It raises in place electrically and lowers as easily for low bridges and, for added protection from rain, its design allows the top to be lowered to the windshield while running.

The spacious compartment is equipped with a standard sink and the option of a porcelain flushing head or a standard portable head. Courtesy Chaparral Boats

The L-shaped lounge has two back-to-back full-width seatbacks, effecting both an aft-facing couch and a forward-facing one. However, they’re cleverly hinged, so pulling the aft side backrest toward the spacious transom platform simultaneously pushes the inboard backrest forward, creating a huge sun pad with a large slanted backrest for comfort. It’s another super way to enjoy watching friends swim off the platform or, with the retractable Infinity Power Step deployed, sit on the underwater bench at the ideal height to enjoy food or refreshments arranged on the platform. This is another feature where the genius of Chaparral engineers developed a sturdy mechanism for operating this step system. It’s also judiciously interfaced with the engine ignition, so it can’t be lowered while the engine is running and the engine can’t start when the step is down.

Read Next: Chaparral 267 SSX

The L-shaped lounge has two back-to-back full-width seatbacks. Courtesy Chaparral Boats Engine

Outboard models are exciting in many ways, but when we have the chance to compare the same model in outboard and sterndrive configurations, we find some exciting handling advantages in the sterndrive. It’s the massive torque and horsepower of big V-8 blocks and the Duoprop outdrive that let them “corner” as if on rails. And you recapture the unobstructed swim platform an outboard steals away, using it to provide for the Infinity Power Step.

We couldn’t find a competitor with that advantage or with the electric retractable hardtop. Chaparral’s key competitors such as Regal, Sea Ray and Formula make 29-footers and with 9-foot beams—not a fair comparison to the 8-foot-6-inch SSX 8. But Cobalt makes a 28-footer called the R8 ($197,752 base with comparable power), and it can be equipped with a water-sports arch with a canvas top for shade ($15,174). Cobalt doesn’t offer the snazzy Infinity Power Step, but it does offer a single-step, hinged, manual submersible platform step to enhance water access as well.

Decades of continual evolution and innovation help Chaparral engineer and built boats like the new SSX 8.

There’s a huge sun pad with a large slanted backrest for comfort. Courtesy Chaparral Boats How We Tested

• Engine: Volvo Penta V-8 DP 380 Catalyst
• Drive/Prop:Sterndrive/Volvo Penta Duoprop DPS-B Type FH4 Set
• Gear Ratio: 2.14:1 Fuel Load: 45 gal.

High Points

• The Infinity Power Step electrically lowers double steps into the water for easy reboarding or in-water seating.
• Bucket seats’ slide-and-turn controls in the armrests are easy to access.
• The optional snap-in SeaDek cockpit sole ($2,760) is an excellent addition to comfort and style.

Low Points

• While an 8-feet-6-inch beam costs deck space in the face of competitors, it does allow convenient towability for trailer boaters.
• The reboarding ladder is below the platform, making it difficult to deploy on deck, but it offers easy access for swimmers. 

Pricing and Specs Price:$250,602 (with key options)LOA:28’0″Beam:8’6″Draft:3’3″ (motor down)Displacement:5,900 lb. (with engine)Bridge Clearance:8’5″Fuel Capacity:80 gal.Max Horsepower:430Available Power:Mercury 8.1L 380 or 430 Bravo 3; Volvo Penta 380 or 430 DP Speed, Efficiency, Operation Chaparral SSX 8 Certified Test Results Boating Magazine Contact Chaparral

Chaparral Boats – Nashville, Georgia; chaparralboats.com

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