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Malibu 23 LSV - 350 Surfing


DirtCity

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Hey all,

I have seen mixed reviews when it comes to a 23 LSV with a 5.7L 350, regarding power. We will be using the boat for everything (surfing, wake, tubing, etc.).  When we do surf, does this engine really struggle or does it do a good job of handling all the extra ballast with people? Looks like Axis has changed their standard engine to a 409, which is why I am asking. The Malibu I am looking at shows that it has: 5.7L 350 HP Monsoon with 15 x 12 Torque Prop. 

I am definitely going to go demo it, but doubt I will be able to put as much weight in it as I would like to truly test out the boat's abilities. Sounds like elevation matters. I am at about 400ft above sea level. Definitely ignorant in this area and trying to get as much understanding as possible. As always, appreciate the info I have found and received from this forum. 

Thanks!

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If you are at sea level (or close at 400') you should be fine, the larger engines help at altitude.  The pw2 lift feature really does nothing for surfing, it makes a big difference for wakeboarding while loaded down to get the boat on plain quicker.

My last boat had the 409, it definitely helped at elevation in comparison to the 350 I previously had.  I could run more weight and not hit a speed wall.  The 350 never had problems at sea level only at elevation.

There are plenty of 22 vlx and 23 lsv owners on here using the 350 without any problems.

Edited by Fman
  • Like 2
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14 minutes ago, Raimie said:

What year LSV? If it has the Power Wedge with the lifting feature, you will be fine.

It is a 2014. Great info. Thanks guys. What is considered elevation? Is it 2,000 ft+? Thanks again for the information.

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Just now, DirtCity said:

It is a 2014. Great info. Thanks guys. What is considered elevation? Is it 2,000 ft+? Thanks again for the information.

yes, that's going to be elevation.  The boat will feel weaker at 2000' than at 400'.  

you will definitely be tapping out a 350 in a '14 LSV.  No way around it.  Additional bow ballast will help (mandatory, really), but fact is it's a lot of boat to push around with a small motor.  

The engine is one of the few things on a boat that is very difficult to upgrade later (and impossible to do economically).  If you were going to pull tubes and just cruise, the 350 would be fine.  But to push weight in a 14 LSV I'd want a bigger motor.

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19 minutes ago, shawndoggy said:

yes, that's going to be elevation.  The boat will feel weaker at 2000' than at 400'.  

you will definitely be tapping out a 350 in a '14 LSV.  No way around it.  Additional bow ballast will help (mandatory, really), but fact is it's a lot of boat to push around with a small motor.  

The engine is one of the few things on a boat that is very difficult to upgrade later (and impossible to do economically).  If you were going to pull tubes and just cruise, the 350 would be fine.  But to push weight in a 14 LSV I'd want a bigger motor.

Shawn, that is what I was worried about. I appreciate that feedback (was also wondering about $$ to upgrade, thanks for that). How do you like your T22? There has been a lot of back and forth about Axis build quality, that a novice like myself would probably not pick up on while looking at the boat. Have you had any concerns about your T22 thus far? Buying a new Malibu is out of the question for me. My first boat was a Malibu and I loved it, which is why I am drawn to them. 

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7 minutes ago, Stevo said:

you rang ??

I have that exact boat.

currently run full 4 TANK MLS, SUMO 900's PNP , and sumo 650 bow bag and 2419 prop

Here is the deal. 0-3000 ft ive had no problems with power, This is where we do 95% of our boating. I can run past 12mph surfing but sweet spot is 11.4 port side 11.8 starboard.

At 6000 ft (Tahoe Donner lake) i could not get over 10mph surfing with full stock mls and 900's pnp 4 adults , 4 kids ( but this was before my bow bag and with the 2315 prop) had to dump PNP bags to 1/2 full.

the biggest difference you will notice is wakeboarding loaded up like @Fman mentioned above. I am the only one who wakeboards with ballast and wedge at 70'ft at 23mph and the 350 does take longer to get on plane that the 409 and 450 , but not much longer.

For me this combo works,  i have been on LSV'S WITH -(ALL LESS THAN 2500 FT )  14' with 409 , 14' -450 , 15'-409 , 15'-450 and IMHO surfing there is minimal difference, you don't need to throw the hammer down to get a surfer up. I have several hours on my neighbors 14' with 409 and i know for a fact i burn way less gas than he does (he is 1235 prop , 750 pnp, 650 bow) my last calculations i have 46 hrs on the 2419 prop and i am running an average 4.56 gph. (with the 2315 id was in the 6.5 gph range)

I do "FEEL" the larger engines are louder as well

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you so much for the info. That is great to know. I very much appreciate everyone providing such great information and help. Such a great community on this forum. 

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1 hour ago, DirtCity said:

Shawn, that is what I was worried about. I appreciate that feedback (was also wondering about $$ to upgrade, thanks for that). How do you like your T22? There has been a lot of back and forth about Axis build quality, that a novice like myself would probably not pick up on while looking at the boat. Have you had any concerns about your T22 thus far? Buying a new Malibu is out of the question for me. My first boat was a Malibu and I loved it, which is why I am drawn to them. 

build quality = same as malibu (they are assembled by the same people on the same line).  Much less bling.  Our T22 has been trouble free.  

Our typical lake is 4000'.  With factory ballast full, 900 pnp in the rear, pnp bow sack, 150 in lead, and a triangle sack in the bow about half full performance is good but not amazing with 450/1.72 transmission/2449 prop.  When we drop down to 2000' occasionally it feels like the boat has a supercharger. Huge difference.  

I've had a couple of 350-equipped boats.  In our 06 vride the 350 was more than enough, and it sipped gas.  In our '11 mb 23, the boat was pretty well maxed out (admittedly we ran that pretty heavy to surf).  Knowing my personal frustration with not having enough power, I won't own a 350 equipped boat again, unless I go backwards into something small like 1st gen VLX.

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Im at 587 feet and the 350 has been real good for us.  What seems to help the plane is going full lift from the start and then slowly adding wedge as needed to shape the wave. We do not use the presets anymore when surfing or wakeboarding. 

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I also owned a 2014 23 LSV with a 350 and used it for the same activities as you.  I am at 2800ft in elevation and we put about 200 hours on it before we moved to a larger boat for more space.  

IMHO the 350 works as long as you prop it down. I ran the 2315 prop, 750's and a 400lb coffin sack to offset prop rotation / improve the regular wave.  I normally had kid ballast in the bow. I typically ran 11.2-11.6 and it would hit and hold that speed for surfing.  

Is the 350 a perfect match for everyone? No, some run a lot more weight but for mixed used it served us well and rarely was it not able to do the job.  If I had a large crew we would just adjust the wedge and/or ballast to offset it as needed with minimal impact from a rider perspective.

At 400ft of elevation and with the right prop I would be surprised if you could not make it work for you unless you really want to slam it with weight.  My 2 cents.

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Disclaimer....I also never ran the 2419 prop which definitely could have pushed my 350 a little harder and could have made the difference.  I always used the 2315.

I would encourage the op to demo the boat how you want it weighted up for some peace of mind before purchasing.

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I am at sea level and for surfing I run factory full plus 1100"s in rear and a 750 in front. I have the 1235 prop on mine. I do slam mine for wakeboarding also and it takes a bit to get on plane. Found out this weekend when I had a new driver that when the boat is setup for surfing... she will get over 15 mph... I only know this because the surf system retracted and that is the speed it is set to retract at :(

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I had a 14 lsv with the 350 and I'm close to sea level.  I've owned a number of boats, most with the upgraded engines.  I've had an older Xstar with the LTR, 3 SANTE 230's with the big ZR motor, an a22 with the 400, an a22 with an LS3, an A24 with the LS3 and currently a 22 VLX with the 409.   

With my old LSV, I tried the core prop, which was way too aggressive, and the high altitude.  With the high altitude prop, it still seemed that the boat was working its butt off when I tried to fill the 1100's in the rear - even with a bow triangle.   I agree with the consensus that an engine upgrade on these bigger boats is money well spent.  You typically get your investment back when you sell the boat, and for as little as most of us get to use these machines, it's nice to have the power when you want/need it.   I'm over the days of waiting for ever for my boat to plane at WOT.

Edited by Chattwake
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20 hours ago, kerpluxal said:

I am at sea level and for surfing I run factory full plus 1100"s in rear and a 750 in front. I have the 1235 prop on mine. I do slam mine for wakeboarding also and it takes a bit to get on plane. Found out this weekend when I had a new driver that when the boat is setup for surfing... she will get over 15 mph... I only know this because the surf system retracted and that is the speed it is set to retract at :(

With 1235 this weekend and some plumbing leak I couldn't get an a20 at sea level on plane with 850 rears fill 700-775?, 950 mushroom fill 6-800, stock 800, wedge snd just two in boat , can't wait to run the 2419 next year so I can load my surf wave with people in boat which I can't get 6-8 in boat above 8.9-9.2.   I only Ride  stock and wedge only but love my large wave and can't wait to make it stupid size snd let other who can ride the full package ride that as well 

Edited by granddaddy55
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59 minutes ago, granddaddy55 said:

With 1235 this weekend and some plumbing leak I couldn't get an a20 at sea level on plane with 850 rears fill 700-775?, 950 mushroom fill 6-800, stock 800, wedge snd just two in boat , can't wait to run the 2419 next year so I can load my surf wave with people in boat which I can't get 6-8 in boat above 8.9-9.2.   I only Ride  stock and wedge only but love my large wave and can't wait to make it stupid size snd let other who can ride the full package ride that as well 

I run up to a crew of 12 with my setup... with 12 in boat and the ballast my max is 11.4... With that said.. I might upgrade prop again so when wakeboarding boat will plane faster... or maybe just buy a new MXZ lol

I surfed for the first time an A24... he only had factory ballast with 750 PNPs in rear and added an additional ~200 lbs on top.. no wedge.. and I was highly impressed with his wave... We had 3 people in boat and one surfing.. I don't know what engine option he has (2016 model) He has the floating wedge and have not asked why he does not use it (some like it.. some don't) but it might be because of the speed issue ;)

Edited by kerpluxal
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1 hour ago, granddaddy55 said:

With 1235 this weekend and some plumbing leak I couldn't get an a20 at sea level on plane with 850 rears fill 700-775?, 950 mushroom fill 6-800, stock 800, wedge snd just two in boat , can't wait to run the 2419 next year so I can load my surf wave with people in boat which I can't get 6-8 in boat above 8.9-9.2.   I only Ride  stock and wedge only but love my large wave and can't wait to make it stupid size snd let other who can ride the full package ride that as well 

Not sure an A20 is a good example for a 23LSV?

But, I was able to go heavy with my T22 and a 1235.

 

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On 9/21/2016 at 11:29 AM, teamerickson said:

Not sure an A20 is a good example for a 23LSV?

But, I was able to go heavy with my T22 and a 1235.

 

Wish mine would, 2419 should fix it and I always run that wedge, my wave for me wife at 3300 rated plus wedge and a couple mid cockpit guests is awesome especially after adding 150's ( now I have a @shawndoggystyle goofy wave, 3 or 4 inches shorter but totally renovated for push and lip snd the foam ball is surfable and wave much longer with easy pump recoveries, stacked the 150's port bow and wow my regular is bigger and same  @shawndoggy wave) to my bow cushions this weekend.  after that I end up putting everyone on the front bench or in nose and it ruins the fun

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