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VTX - Cut Diamond Hull & Hamerhead


Matt_Alger

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I finally have my new VTX-Cut Diamond Hull with the Hammerhead in the Garage. Yahoo.gif I picked it up on Saturday (3/30/08) and put the first 2 hrs on it for the engine break in.

The weather was in the upper 40's and 15 - 25 mph winds but here are my first impressions:

Heated driver’s seat is great!

Heater could be warmer - will eventually install longer snorkel tube to get the outlets closer to the boat occupants.

The HH idles much rougher than the 5.7L (you can feel the longer throw of the pistons on the 6.2L than the 5.7L). It sounds very good on acceleration and yet seems to quiet down once up to speed. Looking forward to having completed the break in to see what it can do.

As you can see, I ordered a launch seat to put in the walkway – So far it works great, we convinced the boy that this is HIS seat. Sitting in the walkway he is well protected and in view of the driver. I would recommend this to anyone with small kids or looking for another rear facing seat. It is easy to move around and much easier to get over when going to the bow than I expected.

Wow! Coming from a ’96 Response it has an amazing amount of storage. I feel like I need to buy more stuff!

As many of you know, I spent a lot of time skiing behind different v-drives and talking to others about the Wake vs Cut Diamond hull on this boat. As such am looking forward to adding to this once I have a chance to slalom, barefoot, wakeboard, and wakesurf behind it. I hope to be able to give others some insight once I have more experience with the boat.

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How much was the jump seat?

If I remember correctly I was quoted $280 list. Not cheap but I think it will be well worth it.

Why no Illusion?

I wanted to be able to hook up a boom on the tower. In my opinion, a boom off the rear ski pylon is too far back and in the boat spray for barefooting and teaching kids to ski.

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How much was the jump seat?

If I remember correctly I was quoted $280 list. Not cheap but I think it will be well worth it.

Why no Illusion?

I wanted to be able to hook up a boom on the tower. In my opinion, a boom off the rear ski pylon is too far back and in the boat spray for barefooting and teaching kids to ski.

Plus the Titan's look sweet on the Bu's....

Nice new ride!

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Congrats! Great looking boat. You gotta love how the Hammerhead sounds, music to my ears but it is certainly loud.

I will be interested to hear you opinion on the tower boom and its ease of use once the weather cooperates for more frequent outings on the water.

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Great looking boat. Keep us posted on the wake once you get it broke in. I would be very interested in the barefoot wake. Did you ad the Scarpa plate?

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re: the "rough idle"...I bet it really isn't classified as ROUGH...more like it idle'ing on the cam. I bet they have a high performance cam in it, in addition to the longer stroke as you mentioned.

Mine is the older 5.7 HH and I know they got the extra HP out of it by putting a different head/cam on it (along with other things I am sure). But I really like my HH and it idles like a hotrod! Rockon.gifDrool.gif

Edited by WaveMake'nLSV
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Sweet! Nice looking boat.

I would agree with the heater hose being a bit short, and with the temp not getting as hot as I thought it would. We brought a comforter with us and stuffed the heater host under that, but I think the lake is just a tad too cold to really get it nice and toasty. We're trying to get our motor through the break in also, but it keeps @#& snowing here.

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Very nice boat! I love the look of the Titan III towers, and the polished looks excellent! Thats the first one Ive seen with a Bimini on it I think, It looks a bit more out of place then on the Titan I, IIs, but still looks better overall ! Thumbup.gif

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Did you add the Scarpa plate?

No, I wanted to go with the Power Wedge. I was back and forth on this one. Even though I really like to barefoot, I wanted to make my life simple. I don’t like manually moving the wedge up and down on my current ’96 Response. I usually have to jump in the water to move it. The barefoot wake on the ’96 Response without the Scarpa plate is great in my very amateur opinion and I didn’t notice any difference in the table on the VTX with the CD hull when I footed behind it. More time will tell if this was the right call.

Re: the "rough idle"... on the Hammerhead

Yes, good point, it idles like a hot rod, which is good. I didn’t mean to imply that it was bad. You certainly can feel and hear the engine idle. I was a bit worried when I started it up that my wife wouldn’t like it but as long as no one tells her any different she won’t notice. I also love the throaty roar on acceleration, but am glad that it seems to quiet once up to speed. I have only had it up to a little under 3,000 rpm but the engine noise was definitely less than my ’96 Response.

Is the jump seat the same height as the wrap around seats?

No, it is lower and at first I was disappointed but I think it is going to work out fine. It is a standard Launch Seat size (Actually not the Jump Seat but the ones that fit on the sides of the engine box on the Response LXi and I-Ride). However, it is wide enough that either me or my wife can sit in it comfortably and with the seat being lower it isn’t too obtrusive for getting in and out of the driver’s seat when I have it right next to the driver's seat. Also, the back leans back more than the other seats. I do wish they made a Jump Seat like the LXi but just a bit wider and taller for the VTX. That way it would really be an extension of the other seat and with the curved edge of the LXi Jump Seat, it would still be easy to get in and out of the driver’s seat. However, this was a good alternative for me.

Tower Boom…

I will report on that about Mid-Summer.

Bimini Looks Out of Place?

Yes, good point. This was how the dealership had it mounted. Edwin sent me picks of how he set his up and it hugs the rear bar of the Titan III really well and doesn’t look out of place. Also, it should keep fewer people from having to duck under the Bimini. I will tie mine up like Edwin’s. Thanks for the tip.

Full List of Options:

Wakesetter VTX with Cut Diamond Hull

Hammerhead Engine

Custom Jump Seat

Transom Flush Kit

Water Cooled Shaft Seal

Tandem axle with brakes, swing tongue, spare, led lights, sealed bearings

2 batteries with 2nd battery box

Battery Isolator Switch

Billet chrome glove box door

Depth finder module

Heated Drivers Seat

Docking Lights

Three Outlet Heater

Hot Water Shower

MLS - Bow Ballast System (Total of 1250 lbs ballast)

Two pair of Pull-up Cleats

Fiberglass swim platform

Power Wedge

Polished Titan III Tower

Black Bimini

Trailerable Boat Cover (Over Swim Platform)

Pop-up Bow Light

Malibu Standard Stereo (I would rather have people complaining about PWCs than the "noise" from my boat)

I have Titan Lowrider II Wakeboard and Wakesurf Racks on Order with Lift-Offs

Options Not Selected:

Carpet Saver (Originally ordered but it looked like my 20 month old son made it)

STE - Silent Tip Exhaust (May add later if the wife complains about engine noise)

Transom Underwater Swim Lights (Very cool, but very expensive. I had to stop somewhere... didn't I?)

No M-Grain on the Interior

Silver Quartz Carpet

Perfect Pass

Fresh Water Cooling

Bow Lifting Eye

Pylon - Chrome Upgrade

Saltwater Packages

Custom Sport Shroud

Color Matched Sport Shroud Stitching

Transom Walk Over

Sport Seating

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Congratulations on the new boat!! I, too, would be interested to know how good the barefoot wake is especially in comparison to a RLX or RLXi.

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I finally have my new VTX-Cut Diamond Hull with the Hammerhead in the Garage. Yahoo.gif I picked it up on Saturday (3/30/08) and put the first 2 hrs on it for the engine break in.

The weather was in the upper 40's and 15 - 25 mph winds but here are my first impressions:

Heated driver’s seat is great!

Heater could be warmer - will eventually install longer snorkel tube to get the outlets closer to the boat occupants.

The HH idles much rougher than the 5.7L (you can feel the longer throw of the pistons on the 6.2L than the 5.7L). It sounds very good on acceleration and yet seems to quiet down once up to speed. Looking forward to having completed the break in to see what it can do.

As you can see, I ordered a launch seat to put in the walkway – So far it works great, we convinced the boy that this is HIS seat. Sitting in the walkway he is well protected and in view of the driver. I would recommend this to anyone with small kids or looking for another rear facing seat. It is easy to move around and much easier to get over when going to the bow than I expected.

Wow! Coming from a ’96 Response it has an amazing amount of storage. I feel like I need to buy more stuff!

As many of you know, I spent a lot of time skiing behind different v-drives and talking to others about the Wake vs Cut Diamond hull on this boat. As such am looking forward to adding to this once I have a chance to slalom, barefoot, wakeboard, and wakesurf behind it. I hope to be able to give others some insight once I have more experience with the boat.

nice love the red

damn i miss that new boat smell Drool.gif

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  • 1 month later...

Nice BU....

What prop did you end up getting? and whats it like? I just ordered my VTX I have a 05VLX with the HH and its sweet only i think it could go a bigger prop easily

Enjoy the boat I have 6 weeks to go.....

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Nice BU....

What prop did you end up getting? and whats it like? I just ordered my VTX I have a 05VLX with the HH and its sweet only i think it could go a bigger prop easily

Enjoy the boat I have 6 weeks to go.....

It is an ACME 817 4blade (13.5x17.5).

To be honest, I don't have enough time with hard acceleration to have a "feel" on if I could re-prop and get better acceleration. It seems pretty quick out of the hole. My old Response with the Monsoon was impressive out of the hole and this seems to equal that boat. Top end is about 50 mph but I haven't verified with GPS yet.

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