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2014 LSV with LS3 sacked out review


CJAY

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So we took the boat out last evening. Due to how late we got it out we had to take it to a smaller more shallow lake than expected. This impacted the wake to some degree and made it tough to see the wakeboard wake in a straight line.

Boat: Boat itself is great on the water, plenty of room and super comfortable. Rides like a dream and seems even more maneuverable than the previous LSV. The depth of the cockpit makes it feel so much larger and the cushions hit you perfectly int he right place on your back. Rides great over chop, we did some double ups. We ran full stock and 750s in the rear, but didn't have enough weight in the bow due to time constraints. They hadn't got the adpaters for my fly highs in that go with the hi flow PNP yet, so we had to do everything with pumps. Big plus there are tons of places to plug the pump in. Two in the main cabin, one by the drivers seat, one in the glove box and one int he bow. New throttle is awesome and very responsive. Only negative is the helm. Not having analogs is even worse than i thought it would be. You have scroll too many screen, and many of them put things like speed in a tiny little corner, my wife found this out quickly and hated it too. The screens are tough to see in the sun, and almost impossible with polarized glasses on. The helm is bad bad bad.

Engine: We had the torque prop on it. MP LS3 is insanely powerful. You go form 0-40 in seconds and dont' even realize you're at 40 due to how smooth the ride is( also the digital helm makes it tough to see depth and speed at the same time, so you really don't know you're at 40...). 40 was the top end with the torque prop, but it felt like you still had a 1/4 of the throttle left when you got there, just more throttle didn't equal more speed. Engine has a little initial roar when you hammer it, but quickly quiets back down once you're on plane. We were running a** heavy and it planed out super quickly with the 750s full and wedge down with 4 in the boat. If we had more bow weight it would have done even better. Love this engine.

Wakeboard wake: Reminded me of the MXZ wake, big transition and peaky. it was a bit steep due to running heavy in the rear, but looked clean. I didn't ride it due to how small the lake was. I think it would be the best wake I've seen if I had some time to dial my weight and wedge. Also in a lake deeper than 12 feet would help, but the fact the wake was as good as it was in those conditions speaks volumes

Surf wake: Reminded me of the tige z3 wake. Super long pocket, big curl, and nice firm lip running all the way back. I rode the goofy side for a bit and loved it. Plenty of push and man I can only imagine it if I had a solid day on a good lake to get it dialed in. Buzzer isn't very loud so if you have a loud system you won't be able to hear it when it transitions. Surfgate transition was quick, but not as quick as I expected.

All in all great boat and the LS3 is the only way to go for it. All the good far outweighs the bad, but man that helm is terrible. If the boat wasn't so great the helm would stop me form buying it, but since the boat is great I can live with the helm

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i know tige has gone to an HD screen that is supposed to fix this issue on their boats. Just dumb to lose analogs and not fix this. All my glasses are polarized...

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One of the lakes in our state had a bunch of wood in it from forest fires, and everyone who took their boats there were sucking up that wood and over heating. The only way to see the engine temp is on the over crowded digital gauges, and you'd have to keep it there to be safe.... all boats should at least have afixed oil pressure and temp gauges, period.

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Yeah losing the gauges, without an improved screen, is a huge mistake. I typically just leave the Malivue on the cruise screen which makes speed, engine temp, and fuel level very easy to see. It also makes it quick and easy to change speed with a single up or down push while somebody is riding which we do constantly. I use the analog gauges all the time to glance at speed and rpm, and to check depth, oil pressure, air/water temp, and battery volts, without having to change off of the cruise screen.

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Thanks for the writeup! I was planning on upgrading my sunglasses this winter, so polarized are now out! I know for a fact that I won't be able to utilize the boats full wake potential, but I hope my son will at some point!

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One of the lakes in our state had a bunch of wood in it from forest fires, and everyone who took their boats there were sucking up that wood and over heating. The only way to see the engine temp is on the over crowded digital gauges, and you'd have to keep it there to be safe.... all boats should at least have afixed oil pressure and temp gauges, period.

I don't think that's accurate . On my 13 VTX (Same dash) I recall I had temp and oil from the speed control screen as well as the depth.

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Sounds like you had a good time CJAY, look forward to seeing the pictures. I've used polarized Costa's with no issues since my first Malibu in '09. I stay on the Cruise screen 99% of the time and don't think I'll miss the gauges, but guess I have to try it and see. Maybe Malibu will do an update to reconfigure the cruise screen like adding engine hours this year. Here's screen shot from the Cruise screen shows it's missing RPM, Depth, Air/Water temp, and engine hours have been added.

Capture2_zpsf6b23922.jpg

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Yeah I guess I'll adjust the more I use it, just man not having analogs is not a good thing, and they should have better displays. My oakleys made it where I could barely see the screen

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Sounds like you had a good time CJAY, look forward to seeing the pictures. I've used polarized Costa's with no issues since my first Malibu in '09. I stay on the Cruise screen 99% of the time and don't think I'll miss the gauges, but guess I have to try it and see. Maybe Malibu will do an update to reconfigure the cruise screen like adding engine hours this year. Here's screen shot from the Cruise screen shows it's missing RPM, Depth, Air/Water temp, and engine hours have been added.

Capture2_zpsf6b23922.jpg

Boat is not avail to verify, but there is a mode, maybe gauges button on the left that shows analog temp, oil, maybe tach or speedo. Keep pushing buttons, its there.

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Boat is not avail to verify, but there is a mode, maybe gauges button on the left that shows analog temp, oil, maybe tach or speedo. Keep pushing buttons, its there.

That thing is a mess, all the gauges on top of one another

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That thing is a mess, all the gauges on top of one another

Agree 100%. Just gimme some simple nice looking analog gauges... All the electronics stuff / bells and whistles is great, is not my preference. KISS!

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Awesome write up! This makes me even more excited about getting my new 23LSV with the LS3 and torque prop. If the boat planed out quickly with an additional 1500 lbs of ballast on top of stock and wedge, I cant wait to see what it can actually do when people start getting these dialed in. I didn't mind the dash as much as other people do, but I did notice myself changing from screen to screen a lot to see different things while driving. Hopefully I will find one screen that shows me most of what I want to see and be able to stick to that one.

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I am in the process of ordering a 2014 23 LSV and am trying to decide between the diamond and wake hull. What are you running with this boat?

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My disclaimer on these pictures is that this was a 10ft deep lake. The wakes are awesome for that depth and will only get better when you get closer to 20ft deep or deeperIMG_1596_zps542a92d6.jpgIMG_1576_zpse62b4fb7.jpgIMG_1577_zps832242da.jpgIMG_1579_zps4e4fb0e5.jpgIMG_1581_zpsf77eaedb.jpgIMG_1570_zps663b85ad.jpgIMG_1569_zps45eff517.jpg

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