Malibu cruise controle Vs Perfect Pass

[djkoma1]

Hi,

Is the Malibu cruise controle on 08' models precise enough or do I need to add PP? MC and Supra dealers keep telling that Malibu base cruise is not precise enough.

I've read somewhere that it holds speed well and will only notice a .3 to .5 MPH difference.

What's your view on this ?

[Hman442]

MC & Supra are just trying to sell you their boats - Malibu bashing is real popular at some competing dealerships. Malibu Cruise works just fine.

[whitlecj]

I have very mixed feelings about this subject and I guess it really gets down to what you are doing with your boat. I have an 07 LSV with Malibu Cruise and it is okay but not great. My last boat was an 03 SANTE with perfect pass and I have to say it held speed much better. With the Malibu Cruise, I notice quite a bit of variation even when going straight when I pull larger/more agressive riders (up to 1 mph either way). The Malibu Cruise is also much worse at maintaining speed when turning around than my old Perfect Pass was. The Malibu Cruise is in no way awful, it just is not as good as perfect pass. I am not trying to talk bad about the Malibu as I am completely in love with my new boat, but the cruise is definately a week link. I would be happy to get some tips from you more experienced BU owners on how to make the Malibu Cruise hold speed better. To bad it does not have the adjustments that PP has. Thanks.

[Woodski]

As mentioned, depends on what you want the cruise control for. As a hard core slalom skier, I would choose one of the top brands of cruise control, thus PP or perhaps the new ZO or back in the day Accuski. PP is the standard bearer in cruise control for a slalom boat, has great customer service and is constantly innovating new products. At the same time, my boat choice would also be one of the three world class slalom boats, Malibu, MC or CC.

There are options on the Malibu cruise that make it more precise, using RPM instead of speed appears to make it hold speed better. I can't comment on wakeboarding only it's use in slalom.

Just to add my 2 cents worth, I still like driving a boat that has 2 speedo's included on the dash. Many of the newer dash setups do not seem to be nearly as accurate as the older generation pitot tube units.

[Sunapee]

I had several Response LX's and a couple of LXi's with PP. Last year we went with the Malibu Cruise on an LXi, and will have the same on this year's boat.

We use the boat in a course, and the average skier is 22 -> 28 off. No, we do not run any tournaments. The initial decision to try the Malibu Cruise was based on the easy upgrade to PP on the newer boats. We figured that if the MC did not work out we would drop in the PP.

In a nutshell, we liked the MC better than PP. The pull was great, and it is MUCH easier to use than PP. I can't tell you how many times I was standing on the back of the boat trying to explain the PP menu to a driver. Not so with MC.

I was down at Drew Ross' a couple of times this winter and we discussed this same question. Drew is solidly behind the MC for most people in most situations.

The only drawback I can see is that the MC does not use course magnets. That said, once you have it calibrated, there is no real need to have every run timed.

whitlecj pointed out that the speed would vary a bit, and indicated that there may be an issue with the speed in turns. Understand that the MC has 2 modes. In Speed mode it is using feedback from the paddle wheel to hold its speed. In this mode, whitlecj is correct. The other mode is RPM. That is the one that you would use in a slalom course, and there is no issue with either.

[Woodski]

If you choose Malibu Cruise, you might want to test one prior to selecting it. A 2007 model I ski behind has an annoying hiccup in certain operating conditions (Cruise engaged in speed mode, executing a turn). That might be cured in the 08 mode. It is very easy to set up and use, a big advantage for drivers that are not really focused on the nuances of driving and skiing.

[68Slalom]

MC & Supra are just trying to sell you their boats - Malibu bashing is real popular at some competing dealerships. Malibu Cruise works just fine.

There are certain things about PP I like better than MC, it's mainly is in regards to Slalom sking.

Edited February 20, 2008 by 68Slalom

[99response]

The great thing is PP is very easy to add after the fact, especially with a DBW engine.

I had my perfectpass in my 05 lxi this weekend in 1.5 hours, which included installing the servo motor and linkage.

-Chris

[68Slalom]

The great thing is PP is very easy to add after the fact, especially with a DBW engine.

I had my perfectpass in my 05 lxi this weekend in 1.5 hours, which included installing the servo motor and linkage.

-Chris

I had to run into a meeting when I posted before, but yes that is one thing that I didn't mention. It is an aftermarket product that you can install on any boat and has been proven to work very well, your not forced to run something that comes with your boat unless you order it special. Kind of like the stereo's that come in Malibu's now, your really stuck with them unless you order special without it. IMO, Malibu pulled a fast one on us

[johnsvt]

I have very mixed feelings about this subject and I guess it really gets down to what you are doing with your boat. I have an 07 LSV with Malibu Cruise and it is okay but not great. My last boat was an 03 SANTE with perfect pass and I have to say it held speed much better. With the Malibu Cruise, I notice quite a bit of variation even when going straight when I pull larger/more agressive riders (up to 1 mph either way). The Malibu Cruise is also much worse at maintaining speed when turning around than my old Perfect Pass was. The Malibu Cruise is in no way awful, it just is not as good as perfect pass. I am not trying to talk bad about the Malibu as I am completely in love with my new boat, but the cruise is definately a week link. I would be happy to get some tips from you more experienced BU owners on how to make the Malibu Cruise hold speed better. To bad it does not have the adjustments that PP has. Thanks.

Prop change helped my boat hold speed better and move the top box to far right. PP is nice but MC is just to easy to use.

[Sunapee]

If you choose Malibu Cruise, you might want to test one prior to selecting it. A 2007 model I ski behind has an annoying hiccup in certain operating conditions (Cruise engaged in speed mode, executing a turn). That might be cured in the 08 mode. It is very easy to set up and use, a big advantage for drivers that are not really focused on the nuances of driving and skiing.

You would never use speed mode when pulling slalom skiers. You would use RPM mode, just like PP does. The OP has a Response LX, so I would assume he is interested in slalom pulls.

Remember, the hiccup ONLY happens in speed mode, NOT in RPM mode. I would doubt if the hiccup changed for 2008, it is caused by the paddle wheel not spinning at the same speed during a turn because of the dynamics of the water flowing under the hull, nothing in the computer itself. That said, the speed surge during a turn is minimal and subtle, it is easy for the driver to simply back off the throttle if it happens.

[mrothwell]

If you choose Malibu Cruise, you might want to test one prior to selecting it. A 2007 model I ski behind has an annoying hiccup in certain operating conditions (Cruise engaged in speed mode, executing a turn). That might be cured in the 08 mode. It is very easy to set up and use, a big advantage for drivers that are not really focused on the nuances of driving and skiing.

You would never use speed mode when pulling slalom skiers. You would use RPM mode, just like PP does. The OP has a Response LX, so I would assume he is interested in slalom pulls.

Remember, the hiccup ONLY happens in speed mode, NOT in RPM mode. I would doubt if the hiccup changed for 2008, it is caused by the paddle wheel not spinning at the same speed during a turn because of the dynamics of the water flowing under the hull, nothing in the computer itself. That said, the speed surge during a turn is minimal and subtle, it is easy for the driver to simply back off the throttle if it happens.

The first few times that I used the Speed control on my VTX, I absolutely hated it for slalom. Then I realized that it had a RPM mode. I switched to that, and it holds really well and feels comfortable as a skier and as a driver. I've never timed it thru the course to see how well it does there, but for rec skiing, it is great..

[Woodski]

I would certainly ask the question why would you never use speed mode when pulling a slalom skier? It is implied by the system that speed mode is a proper mode for that application. I know an owner that wants to use speed mode for running the course.

Are you sure that the hiccup is caused by the paddle wheel speed v. boat speed due to water flow effects? Where did you get that information.

You can't respond to the hiccup other than to disengage the system prior to a potential event. It is certainly not sublte, it is quite obvious and annoying.

[ilovetrains]

I would certainly ask the question why would you never use speed mode when pulling a slalom skier? It is implied by the system that speed mode is a proper mode for that application. I know an owner that wants to use speed mode for running the course.

Are you sure that the hiccup is caused by the paddle wheel speed v. boat speed due to water flow effects? Where did you get that information.

You can't respond to the hiccup other than to disengage the system prior to a potential event. It is certainly not sublte, it is quite obvious and annoying.

I have MC on my LSV. The paddle wheel is on the port side, about even with the prop. There is a chine between the paddle wheel and prop. In a left turn, the water going over the wheel is disrupted by the chine. Really it happens when turning right, but not as much. That is the disadvantage of a single source speedometer.

yes - in speed mode mine will loose speed in a turn because it becomes confused by the erratic readings form the wheel. RPM mode fixes that.

[Matt_Alger]

I went with the Malibu Cruise Control and unfortunately am very disappointed. At wakeboarding speeds it is +/- 1.5 mph with an average rider. In addition turns to the right cause the boat to accelerate significantly. I am hoping that someone can tell me that there is a way to adjust the precision of the control to keep it to under +/- 0.5 mph. At it's current accuracy it is very noticable when behind the boat and it adversely impacts the rider. Unless there is a way to tighten up the tolerance, I think that I am going to have to put PP on my boat this fall.

Any suggestions on PP (GPS only or Paddle Wheel Assist GPS). We ski on a river with a 4 mph current so I expect the GPS only system wouldn't work as I really want speed relative to the water vs speed over the bottom but would like to hear other's experiences.

RPM mode seems to be less of a problem for slalom than the speed mode is for wakeboarding.

[atxfletch]

I wouldn't say that I hate Malibu Cruise, but I do believe PP performs a bit better....PP holds speed a bit better.

I think the menu/GUI interface on the 08 MC is a bit weird...sometimes it seems that you can't exit out of menus....