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2015 Wakesetter 23 LSV Engine Recommendations


phil17

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Planning to order a new boat this week. I currently have a 2012 Wakesetter 23 LSV with a Monsoon 350. Should I stick with the same engine or upgrade? I am interested in hearing thoughts from people that have researched this topic and/or have made this decision already. We primarily use the boat with other families to wakeboard and wakesurf.

As a side note, I tested a Tige the other day and the sales rep for Tige says that Mabilu is switching to the Raptor engine for 2016. Not sure how he knows or if his info is accurate.

I appreciate your thoughts and feedback. Thanks

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I believe the Tige dealer is correct, would be surprised if you can still order the 350 anytime soon. The Raptor 400 is getting great reviews. FWIW, my '15 VLX has the 410, I have yet to feel under powered. For surfing we have been running 800's in each locker, 650 lb bow bag, hard tanks full with wedge about 2-3 clicks up, 4-5 passengers, with 1235 prop at 400' above sea level with no issues reaching 11.4 mph @ 3400-3500 RPMs. If my calculations are correct that is about 4100 lbs of weight (with wedge). For wakeboarding we have run hard tanks full, wedge 2-3 clicks up and it will pull your arms out of the sockets if you hammer the throttle, the new Power Wedge 2 works awesome and will plane out the boat so much quicker than prior years. Now, for kicks I wanted to see if the 410 would plane out that surf configuration for wakeboarding and it did, 12-13 seconds to 23 mph with the 2315/945 prop on it. It also did it with the 1235 prop but took much longer, 19-21 seconds. It will get the factory hard tanks and wedge for wakeboarding on plane in about 7 seconds.

Personally, I think the Raptor 400 would be plenty, but you can never have too much power, go with the 450 if you have any doubts. Your altitude also plays a factor, but even at 4000' I still think the Raptor 400 with the 2315 prop would be fine unless you are going to run extremely heavy weights.

And after selling three boats in the past 5 years, not a believer you get much back in resale with engine upgrades, most people could care less about the engine size. They are more concerned about colors, how the boat looks on the water and stereo systems... this has been my experience.

Just my .02... there are a lot of different opinions on this, but after 27 hours with the 410, no regrets at this point.

Edited by Fman
  • Like 1
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Thank you for the quick responses. Interesting, my dealer has not suggested any engine upgrades. I did a google search and I cannot even find out what my options I have in terms of engines. Do you know where I can get this information other than waiting to talk to the dealer tomorrow.

I definitely liked the Raptor engine on the Tige. If that is an option, I will diffently go for it. Tims suggested the LSA, not even sure what that is.

By the way, even though this is my 3rd BU, I am guilty of your comments above. I have thoroughly speced the colors and the stereo! :) I would not have even thought about the engine options had I not driven the Tige.

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Options are 350, 410, ls3, or lsa. Ls3 has 450 hp and lsa has 555hp. Which engine will depend on how heavy you weight your boat when surfing/wakeboarding, elevation, and how fast you want to be able to go without propping down.

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Maybe the OP can tell us his elevation, his normal crew, and how heavy they weight the boat down normally. That would probably help.

Plus, to the OP, the cost of the 410 is about 5K, the LS3 is 10K and the LSA is about 15K correct boys? Raptor is not an option in 2015 Malibu. Just Indmar. Although, as your Tige guy suggested, Malibu may switch to Ford in 2016.

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If base engine on Malibu is now Raptor 400, it will be interesting how they price out the 450 (LS3) for the upgrade. I believe the LSA is the super charged 555 hp engine, aka beast mode.

My last three boats had the 350, it did the job but was set up with a 15" 2315 prop. We are also not extreme surfers, my weight setup is pretty basic, fill them up and surf. If your going to be running an extreme amount of weight probably best to go big on the engine.

I went with with the 410 this time because the new vlx is about 500 lbs heavier than the old vlx and I wanted to have at least the 410 for resale with the 350 going away. There is definitely a noticeable difference coming from the 350 to 410 in power and performance. The 410 so far has been a pleasant surprise, better than I was thinking it would perform.

Edited by Fman
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If base engine on Malibu is now Raptor 400, it will be interesting how they price out the 450 (LS3) for the upgrade. I believe the LSA is the super charged 555 hp engine, aka beast mode.

My last three boats had the 350, it did the job but was set up with a 15" 2315 prop. We are also not extreme surfers, my weight setup is pretty basic, fill them up and surf. If your going to be running an extreme amount of weight probably best to go big on the engine.

I went with with the 410 the time because the new vlx is about 500 lbs heavier than the old vlx and I wanted to have at least the 410 for resale with the 350 going away. There is definitely a noticeable difference coming from the 350 to 410 in power and performance. The 410 so far has been a pleasant surprise, better than I was thinking it would perform.

Wait a minute....wouldn't the LS3 go away? The upgrade on the raptor is the 440 correct? Bu wouldn't offer a base Raptor and an LS3 Indmar upgrade would they?

Then the upgrade from the 440 would be the 575 Roush Raptor.

Edited by DocPhil
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Not to play devils advocate, but why does 350 going away automatically equate to raptor? They could stick with the remaining and still offer 410., LS3 and LSA! Basically same choices as raptor without having to retool ecm, get dealers familiar with ford, etc. I don't think death of 5.7 is automatically death for gm power.

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Again, great information. Very helpful, thanks. In response to DocPhil:

Elevation: Dallas, Crew, usually 2 families, mix of teens and adults, anywhere from 6 - 10 people. Surfing all built-in ballast plus the additional sacks in the rear as provided by Malibu. I do not recall the size of the bags they are installing. My dealer is recommending the 2419 torque prop, 15 x 12.

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if malibu changes to the raptor family engines, then why use the 5.7l anymore? That makes no real sense to me, but yes, sometimes i think malibu likes to make things more complicated ;-). Don't forget, the Raptor 400 is the base engine of budget boats from, for example, Moomba.

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Raptor talk aside, you are getting a 2015 LSV, meaning your engine options are Indmar. LS3 would be the perfect balance since you are not running extreme weight, but by the looks of it, you will have a boat full of people on the regular. The LS3 will also give you plenty of power come the day you swap in some bigger surf bags and run your regular crew.

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Not to play devils advocate, but why does 350 going away automatically equate to raptor? They could stick with the remaining and still offer 410., LS3 and LSA! Basically same choices as raptor without having to retool ecm, get dealers familiar with ford, etc. I don't think death of 5.7 is automatically death for gm power.

Just depends on pricing and how much ford is selling engines for vs. GM. If a raptor 400 costs Indmar $2500 per unit but a 410 costs Indmar $4000 per unit (numbers I just pulled from thin air with no factual basis whatsoever), which one will they want to sell as a "base" engine? They either put the "savings" in their pocket or pass the savings along to those manufacturers running indmar, thereby undercutting pcm and ilmor, right?

Edited by shawndoggy
  • Like 2
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I get the cost per unit issue, I also don't think GM will simply give away the market. I am not a GM fan, but prefer over ford. Just waiting for that glorious day when the Hemi or CTD makes it into a BU. (I suspect i will be waiting a Very, Very long time)

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Again, great information. Very helpful, thanks. In response to DocPhil:

Elevation: Dallas, Crew, usually 2 families, mix of teens and adults, anywhere from 6 - 10 people. Surfing all built-in ballast plus the additional sacks in the rear as provided by Malibu. I do not recall the size of the bags they are installing. My dealer is recommending the 2419 torque prop, 15 x 12.

I'm in the Dallas area as well, Lake Lewisville. I demo'd a 350, and was surprised how well it did. Still went with the LS3. I assume you are dealing with WSA. They are ordering all of their inventory with the 350. Mine was actually the first new model 23 they got in with the LS3.

Send me a PM, I'll let you come out and see if you "need" 450hp.

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410 minimum. LS3 for poop and giggles

I just don't like the 350 in that boat. Could it get it done? Maybe....

This sums it up, if cost is no concern, go LS3, you can never have too much power.

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If you are ordering a new boat, you're looking at GM blocks. No reason to wondering about Raptor this or that, unless you plan to delay your order a few months.

I've had both the 450 and the 410 in the LSV. I actually had 450 first, but scaled back this year to the 410 as I just didn't feel like I was using all of the 450. While it was fun, it seemed wasteful. I really think the 410 is a great motor for this hull unless you are 1) at high elevation, or 2) just want overkill for sake of it (and there's nothing wrong with that).

Also, I'm not a big fan of the 2419 because it makes for really high RPM's at surf speed. I'd get the 2315 if I were you. It's still 15x12 but somehow the difference in cup seems to have a noticeable difference in rpm.

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