24 MXZ Review

[Live to surf]

I haven't had a problem with the low end at all, even fully loaded. Big Jay really urged me to use prop rather than horse to get the right performance.

What prop did you get?

[Jeff Madden]

When u say the 24 mxz is good sacked out how much weight are we talking? Over and above factory ballast . The reason I ask is I'm in the process of getting the 24 mxz but I don't wake board at all just surf so documented think its good for just a surfing and party boat?

[Jeff Madden]

I meant do you think it's good for just a surf boat

[Tyger]

What prop did you get?

The factory high altitude prop. Someone else will have to chime in and say exactly which prop that is. We are also considering a custom prop with even (more?) pitch for a better hole shot and lower RPMs while surfing.

When u say the 24 mxz is good sacked out how much weight are we talking? Over and above factory ballast . The reason I ask is I'm in the process of getting the 24 mxz but I don't wake board at all just surf so documented think its good for just a surfing and party boat?

Both answers are in my original review. Sac'd out for me was over 2500 pounds in addition to 1450 factory ballast. Yes, I think it's good as a surfing and party boat, if you can live with that much ballast. With custom sacs, none of it will show. As for being a great surf boat, as I mentioned the wake is different, so opinions are going to vary. After 3 sessions (man I wish it was better weather) I'm becoming a big fan.

[Night Rider]

The high-altitude prop is the acme 1235. 14.5 X 14.25

[pkh]

Hey all - got a chance to do some experimenting with a 24 MXZ yesterday. Here are some impressions:

Boat:

- The boat is big! But at same time it feels proportioned correctly unlike say a G23.

- Looks great, I think the styling is perfect.

- Boat is super deep, feels safe for kiddos and would be good in open water situations with big swell / wakes.

- I'm envious of those 8" speakers, wish all Malibu's had that option.

- The seat sits a lot higher than my VLX, but when we were driving with ballast and wedge I still had some visibility issues with the bow rise.

Surf:

- We had 3-4k of ballast bags to play with on top of the factory ballast.

- The MXZ Spray issue was definitely keeping the wake from being fully clean, we blocked it with a throw float and it "fixed" the problem. There are probably some easy mods you can make to the gate to solve this issue.

- It was hard to keep the wave super clean unless we unevenly weighted the boat. Once we started adding weight to the surf (regular foot) side the wave started cleaning up.

- After 2 hours of experimenting we were not able to get the boat weighted properly for a big surf gate wave with a lot of push.

- The best wave we had all day was a non surf gate wave with the boat fully listed. We had around 2500lbs of bags filled on the surf side. I'd say the wave was comparable to my VLX when slammed but maybe a bit longer.

Conclusion:

This is a big boat and will require a ton of ballast to sink and get a proper wave. There is a lot to love about the boat but as a full time surfer I still feel like the 23 LSV is the boat for me (I have one on order.) I wish the 23 LSV looked like the 24 MXZ and had its storage and features, but the surf wave is my primary concern so that's mainly whats driving my decision.

Edited November 28, 2012 by pkh

[pkh]

I just saw Malibu posted a new vid with Brian Grubb behind a 24 MXZ. If you look at the wave its pretty long but also pretty flat and a little washy at the top. He's on a skimboard which is going to be really fast and efficient (I think Skimboards are going to be awesome in general on surfgate waves.)

But he makes it look fun doesn't he?

http://www.alliancewake.com/wake/brian-grubb-wakesurf-session-behind-malibu-24-mxz-with-surf-gate/

[IXFE]

Active Water Sports (AWS) posted a 24 MXZ surf video today directly to their FB page. It looks much bigger than the Alliance video.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/activewatersports.boatsales

[pkh]

IXFE - I was driving when they shot that video

If you notice the boat is listed way over, that's a no surf gate wave. Gerry had a ton of fun on that one. That was with about 2700lbs surf side (bags exposed) on top of factory MLS.

[dolbypaw]

I also have a 2013 Malibu 24 MXZ. I filled all of the stock ballast on the boat. Put the wedge in the sweet spot on the gauge. Added one 750lb sac to the left back storage compartment, one 750lb to the right back storage compartment and one 750lb to the left of the driver. The wake is HUGE!!!! Makes my last years non Surf Gate 22 MXZ jealous. Want regular push a button, want goofy, push a button and the wake switches. I am connecting the plug and play (which came pre installed in the boat) to the ballasts so that all ballast will be controlled from the touch screen. The 24 MXZ is a big a** boat which takes some weight to displace all of that surface but when you do it right it is amazing. The one difference I see is the distance of the wave from the boat increased and the length of the wave is crazy long. I had a friend on a long board surfing the outer edge of the wave and another friend shredding the inside of the same wave. This hasn't been possible in the past but now thanks to Malibu and Surf Gate it is. Love it!!!!!

I never get tired of watching the wave switch from regular to goofy with the push of a button. It is the coolest thing on the planet.

Edited December 3, 2012 by dolbypaw

[Night Rider]

Can you provide more details on the wakeboard wake? Preferably at slower speeds 18 to 20?

[darthwhitey]

A very informative post...thanks for sharing!

[DHixson]

Great review Tyger! I love my new 24 MXZ as well.

Question about ballast: with the valve on my PNP turned off on each side, my sacs are still filling. How can they fill without the valves being in the "on" position??? Any advice would be appreciated. Also, this is my first PNP boat; not use to extra sacs.

[Tyger]

Great review Tyger! I love my new 24 MXZ as well.

Question about ballast: with the valve on my PNP turned off on each side, my sacs are still filling. How can they fill without the valves being in the "on" position??? Any advice would be appreciated. Also, this is my first PNP boat; not use to extra sacs.

I'm new to PNP, so I'm no expert. I'm still trying to figure out exactly how mine works. Or at least, how they expected it to work.

There's no valve on mine for the PNP itself, only for the pumps that fill that PNP sacs and the hard tank. The idea of PNP is that it fills the sac first, then the hard tank. If your valve is off, it wouldn't fill either.

[DHixson]

I took my boat out late today for some wake boarding. When I hit the preset for my personal setup, it puts all the boat tanks at 100% and the wedge all the way down and sets the cruise at 22. When the rear tanks get to 100%, the pumps don't shut off; they keep pumping and the sacs start backfilling from the hard tanks though the drain hose on the sac.

Its only when the hard tanks and the sacs are completely full does enough pressure build up to make the pumps shut off (unless I remember to check it and do it manually). I think I need a shutoff value on the bottom of the sac to prevent it from back filling. Orrrrrr, I could put a check-valve in the drain hose for the sac that would prevent it from backfilling from the hard tank. I'm not quite sure of the drain hose diameter. I am going to call my Malibu dealer tomorrow to seek some more advice.