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Malibu LX Malibu LXI


jlmcguire72

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I want to purchase a Malibu for skiing slalom course. I'm 60. Have always just skied open water. Now skiing slalom course. I want to purchase a Malibu LX or LXI. Can not afford a TXI just yet.

What is a better slalom boat...an LX or LXI and what years? Currently skiing at 32 and 15 off. I live on a lake and ski with two friends that have a 93 prostar closed bow and a 95 prostar 20 open bow

Would like to represent with a Malibu.

Also - I currently have a 2011 Malibu FXI which I love. Great crossover boat. Use to wake board more. Now slalom skiing more. FXI Has a tower. If I removed the tower would this help produce a smaller wake?

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Any on the SV23 Diamond hull will be a very good ski tug. In 07 they went to a cut Diamond. I don't think any big gain so you can look back as far as 99 for sure on the LX. The LX is a fine ski tug also. I think its 03 the R-LXI came on the SV23 Diamond so For the R- LXI from 03 to 06 SV23 Diamond. 07 to 11 are on the Cut Diamond. 2012 starts TXI.

The LXI has The LXI is 3 1/2 inch wider then the LX.

I like to go for a boat with EFI that is something that could change with the engine. I think some of the early years came in both carb and EFI.

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ahopkins22LSV

I agree with Sixball. I would look for something EFI personally.

As far as the ski wake goes, I agree with all comments above. Both the LX and LXi is going ski great. The LXi wake is a bit better IMO, but it won't hinder you one bit. We had an LX for a year and it was a great boat to ski behind and drive. I like the LXi a bit better from an overall layout stand point too. Rear trunk opens in half to the side on the LXi and the true open bow.

Maybe something to look for, in 06 the LXi got a bit nicer dash, and I think the LX may have too.

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First generation LXI (2003-2006). I'm a bit biased, bu oh well.

Welcome to the crew.

^^^ What he said.

Really, that series has a great reputation as a comfortable slalom boat with an excellent wake.

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The FXI is a good slalom boat so I'm going to go against the comment trend and say what about it is so bad? When I bought my 2009 RLXI I test skied a 2008 FXI and RLXI. The RLXI was slightly better but I would not run from a FXI if I had one. To me the table was wider and just a touch harder wake. The only reason I didn't get an FXI was it was $2k more and it didn't feel like that much bigger of a boat so I didn't see the point. Now I wish I had the extra freeboard of the FXI because the wake isn't THAT much different from a LXI.

What speeds are you slalom skiing at? If you are under 30 MPH this migh be making the wake feel big. You could get a Scarpa Supression Plate if you are skiing at slow speeds it actually helps that hull quite a bit under 30 MPH

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The FXI is 400 pounds heaver without the tower. But with that said have you played with weight in the bow? Some of our boat can be improved with some bow weight. Try 50, 100 pounds see how it works. A good question from Wayne What speed. I make the mistake of thinking everyone is running 34 - 36 mph.

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Removing the tower on your FXI probably won't make your wake any smaller though it will help you if you or your friends get into 32 off as the rope won't come into contact with tower when hooking the ball (assuming its a G3 tower)

best thing we found to keep the wake as small as possible is having the fuel level at 1/2 tank or less during your sets.

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My memory is starting to come back to when I skied behind the FXI and RLXI. I tried both on the same day, back to back. The FXI had a G3 tower, power wedge and the optional ballast tank (under the ski locker). The RLXI was a local promo boat so it had been used in tournaments so no tower but it had the manual wedge bracket.

The FXI felt/skied exactly like the Sunsetter I was trading in except the wake was a little wider. We did drive it at lower speeds as my wife skis at 26 MPH and the wakes were visually similar but we didn't try them.

I think you are giving up on a good boat that is still a very capable slalom tug. I would agree with leaving the tower on, it distributes the weight evenly and really doesn't effect the wake as much as one thinks (look at tournament skiers, there are 3 people in the boat ALL THE TIME and the pros aren't complaining about 400+ pounds of crew weight). As was mentioned throw a little weight in the bow. I have a 25 pound anchor as far forward as possible in the bow storage. It really only helps tracking but have any extra passengers sit up there as a test to see if more weight helps.

If you are skiing very low speeds I would seriously look at the Scarpa Supression Plate. We run one if we are skiing below 30 MPH. You need a manual wedge bracket to use it so if you have a power wedge it's not an option.

If you were close and our boats were the same year I might be asking you if you were interested in trading. The FXI really was the Sunsetter LXI replacement but slalom skiing kind of fell out of interest, surfing took off and the VTX sales shot up while FXI sales dropped.

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Also what ski are you on? Today I played with 3 different skis, one of which was a really old HO Freeride (I think it's from 2002). The Freeride is a really wide ski with a lot of surface area. It bounces all over the place crossing the wakes. My "newer" HO System 8 and my HO CoX cut through it like nothing is there.

There is a lot that influences the subjective feeling of your boat wake and different things can be done to address your particular situation.

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