New boat.....maybe?

[Bawshogg]

I think the switch had more to do with profit than performance.

[Steve B.]

Most importantly I think the OP needs to ride in boats with all 3 options.

Steve B.

[Sunscape fan]

Most importantly I think the OP needs to ride in boats with all 3 options.

Steve B.

This will be difficult. My dealer only has one 23lsv. The next dealer is about 5 hours away.

[Slayer]

FWIW, I like option #1 and I'll take it with the LS3!

This is coming from a DD guy, too.

Honestly, I can't imagine how you could go wrong with any of the 3 options.

[ajive]

I'm voting #3 ... and I'd toy with the idea of red speaker cans. The red flake idea is worth considering too, IMO.

Every purchase is different, but myself and a good friend got a new '13 with most every option checked over the past year and we both paid right around the base sticker cost (before options). This was with stock engines (the 350 in my VTX seems solid, it's pushing it in the VLX). These were in stock and so we had a little more leverage, but the moral of my story is that I don't think options cost that much for the dealer. Get the LS3, pay the up-charge, and play hardball on the rest of the options!

[Fman]

Taken from another thread, good read...

The 410 just doesn't offer any real torque increase over the 5.7 Monsoon in the RPM ranges that matter for a wakeboat. So if you think the 5.7 Monsoon isn't enough for the weight you are going to run, don't waste your money on the L96 6.0, but get the LS3 6.2 as it does offer a worthwhile torque increase over the 5.7.

Here is an overlay of the power and torque curves from the GM marine website. Unless Indmar is changing major components like the heads/pistons/crank etc (highly doubtful), the torque curve shapes will be nearly identical to what you see here. We know Indmar puts a cam in the 5.7, so it's likely they do it in the other engines as well so they should all see a similar bump in low-end torque from a cam. The intake and exhaust manifold changes that Indmar does do will mainly effect the volumetric efficiency at the higher RPM ranges so the peak horsepower curves will be different than these numbers (blue labels).

When trying to get a boat with a heavy load to plane out the torque curve is what's important, not the peak HP. I don't know about you guys, but when my boat struggles to plane because of too much weight (I do have an extra 2500lbs plumbed in) it's typically in the 2000-3000rpm range. Once I cross that rpm range it has no problems.

From 1000-2000 the Monsoon makes much more torque than the L96. From 2500-3000rpm the Monsoon and L96 have identical torque values (red labels). Once you get to 3500rpm the L96 makes about 15 lb-ft more torque than the Monsoon.

From 1000-2000 the LS3 makes the same torque as the Monsoon. From 2500-3000rpm the LS3 makes about 20 lb-ft more torque than the Monsoon. Once you get to 3500 the difference looks to be closer to 30 lb-ft and then really jumps up.

In terms of planing out more weight to wakeboard speeds the LS3 looks like a decent torque increase over the Monsoon. However the L96 doesn't look to be measurably more powerful than the Monsoon in that RPM range, and in some cases the L96 actually makes much less torque.

Edited April 1, 2014 by Fman

[Brianl]

Option 2 with red speakers and for the money i would go with the LS3. i just don't think its worth 5K to upgrade to the 409 for the amount of minimal gain you will get over the 350.

[REHinH20]

4, but with red cans.

[dihrdskir]

4, but with red cans.

i just like cans. irrespective of color