Looking for new boat MC X22, Supra SA/SL, Nautique G23 or Malibu 22 MXZ

[procos]

34 minutes ago, inlandlaker said:

We have a house on Whitmore Lake and a house on Brighton Lake.  Just moved to Brighton Lake full time but still using Whitmore.  Let's hook up.

For sure I am on Cass Lake.  we have the same boat.  Mine is a 2016 22 VLX in Purple and black.  

[procos]

23 minutes ago, PrestigeLakeWide said:

I'm sure this has been discussed before but why do pickle forks have a premium price tag compared to traditional bow? Or am I mistaken? I believe a 24MXZ equally optioned compared to a 25LSV is more expensive.

Wondered the same thing.  I have decided against the 22 MXZ because not enough room in back but would consider the 23 MXZ.  Has a whole extra foot of room.

[Edstygar]

So I have been testing a lot of surf boats lately and this is how I would rank and categorize them. I am about 240lbs, so I need a lot of wave! I am personally leaning towards the top 4, but still want to try the 22/23MXZ and the Xstar. Its a mutli-year search:) For me it also has to be a top wakeboard wave for my son.

Awesome
1. tie G25 and X23
2. 24MXZ
3.X22
Really Good
4. G23
5. 23LSV
6. My beefed up 2010 VLX
Good
7. XT22
OK
8. XT23
9. NXT22

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 22, 2019 by Edstygar

[procos]

Great list.  Glad to see the 23 LSV in that list.  That has got my attention.  I can't have a boat bigger than 23 for dockage and what not and the lake I am on doesn't really need a boat that big.  I am excited to try the G23 but I just don't think the price point will be where I want to be.  Might go the LSV route.

[procos]

Comment from my buddy when I told him I was looking at other manufacturers "Malibu sets the standard for everything.  The rest just copy and charge so much more".  Thought that was interesting and probably close to the truth.  He owns a Malibu and shares a 2017 25 foot Air Nautique with a few other guys and told he me he likes his Malibu a lot more.

[RyanB]

I’d also look harder at the dealer situation.  I think many people don’t put enough emphasis on this. You’re going to have issues with a new boat, how the dealer addresses it can make or break the deal in my mind  

I like my Malibu. But I’m a Tommys customer. 

[bamaboy]

On 8/21/2019 at 10:02 PM, TenTwentyOne said:

That should really say “Ramfill is the fastest way to fill half of your ballast”

Centurions aren’t nearly the fastest. They still take more than 10 minutes to fill, by the time you run the boat through the ramfill procedure, and then wait for the pumps to fill everything else. 

Fastest ballast fill/empty is going to be the MC (X series), especially if it has the fast fill option. Fast fill on the X22 is 3 minutes. The standard system takes a little over 6 minutes. 

Supra is going to be the second fastest to fill at 7-8 minutes.

Ri and Fi’s take about 9-10 minutes depending on the bag setup. 

The new Bu’s seem to be down to about 10 minutes now as well.

 

G23 is going to have the lowest bow attitude.

None of these are great for loaded handling, but the G23 is one of the worst. The Xt22 is also not that great. The X22, however, has a much bigger rudder than the others and turns much better with a heavy load.

 

No one wants a Mastercrap.  Stop it.

 

Terrible boats and they smell like soggy flat bills.

Edited August 23, 2019 by bamaboy

[Slayer]

14 hours ago, RyanB said:

I’d also look harder at the dealer situation.  I think many people don’t put enough emphasis on this. You’re going to have issues with a new boat, how the dealer addresses it can make or break the deal in my mind  

I like my Malibu. But I’m a Tommys customer. 

I completely agree.  Considering a new boat myself and the only reason I would do so is because of the dealer.  I'm a Tommy's customer as well.  

[procos]

Yep Tommy's is the best and that is why I will most likely end up with another Malibu.

[Chappy]

On 8/21/2019 at 7:23 PM, procos said:

Just added this question to my topic.  Do all surf boats need the extra PNP bags to make a good wake for surfing?  My VLX has the added PNP bags.  DO any newer boats not need the extra weight or do all of them need it?  If some don't who?

I believe Supra claims that all ballast is sub floor and PNP is not needed but I would imagine most ppl still add it.  This is definitely an area Malibu seems to be falling behind.  If I plan on surfing my rear lockers are unusable for storage.  It would be nice and quite frankly overdue for a redesign of the stock ballast on Bu's, so that PNP is no longer needed.

[Five Cent Worth]

And to reiterate - the price points of the boats you are looking at very by a wide margin.  The X22 and G series are stellar boats - but they are proud of them!  You wouldn't be happy with anything in the XT or NXT line with regards to surf.  Good luck!!

[Chappy]

@procos Using Lift Mode at launch will help with bow rise on any newer Bu.  As has been said the only way for you to make an informed decision for your family is to demo your a** off and be unapologetic about it.  I tried the the following boats within the last year. X24, XStar, Ri237,  Supra SL and A24. G isn't an option for me as dealer is too far away. All had pros and cons. Best wave was the Ri but as you mentioned I am not a fan of the styling and finish on the Centurion. Next best wave was the 24MXZ and I personally like the bigger bow of the MXZ line so I went that route. I was actually surprised how good the wave on the X24 for was and how bad the surf wave is on the XStar.  Supra had the best ballast and storage.

Edited August 23, 2019 by Chappy

[Hemmy]

2 hours ago, inlandlaker said:

I completely agree.  Considering a new boat myself and the only reason I would do so is because of the dealer.  I'm a Tommy's customer as well.  

 

10 minutes ago, procos said:

Yep Tommy's is the best and that is why I will most likely end up with another Malibu.

I feel the same way about Tommy's.  They are not my closest Malibu dealer but as I was looking at in stock boats a couple of years ago, they were the most cooperative and willing to make a deal.  Great customer service and great people to deal with.  They have always sent me free boat show tickets to the Grand Rapids show which was nice.  Unfortunately, My salesman resigned from there about a month ago.  I still keep in contact with him though.

[TenTwentyOne]

21 hours ago, Chappy said:

and how bad the surf wave is on the XStar.

So terrible.

I liked the X24 wave, but I’ll take the XStar wave over it any day of the week.

edit- holy cow, the compression didn’t do that pic any favors.

Edited August 24, 2019 by TenTwentyOne

[liquidrider]

On 8/21/2019 at 4:32 PM, onewake09 said:

Id skip the G23 all together. Too expensive and the wave isnt worth the price. If it were my money Id be looking centurion then supra. I know they arent on your list but they should be. Ramfill is the fastest filling ballast out there and IMO the centurion has the most adjustable wave out there.  

I surfed the G23 and was really disappointed compared to a 2017 22MXZ. My last boat was a 2016 23LSV and the 22MXZ was better then that boat. Not sure any brand can compete with surfgate. 

[carguy79ta]

@skurfer is right on the Centurion ballast fill time. Got a 17 257. My timers are set at 6min. Ramfill takes 30 sec on the 17 and 90 sec on the 18 and forward. Can fill them all at the same time.have a buddy with an fi , same thing.

 

[bamaboy]

In all honesty x star wave looks sweet.  

No offense to the OP but these are the most pointless threads.  Post the same thing on TT and you get a bunch of guys loving the star and x24.  Planet nautique?  G lovers. 

 

These threads all end the same....

 

Go demo the boats you like and pick one. Only other factor is having a good dealer and cost

[procos]

8 hours ago, bamaboy said:

In all honesty x star wave looks sweet.  

No offense to the OP but these are the most pointless threads.  Post the same thing on TT and you get a bunch of guys loving the star and x24.  Planet nautique?  G lovers. 

 

These threads all end the same....

 

Go demo the boats you like and pick one. Only other factor is having a good dealer and cost

I would not say pointless at all.  I learned alot about different boasts.  If you think I am going to buy a $125,000 on what guys tell me on a forum then you don't know me very well.  But say they are pointless I disagree with that statement 100%.  I have picked up a lot of good pointers from this thread.

[procos]

I demoed the 23 MXZ today.  It wasn't a typical demo.  The salesguy who was a really cool kid in his 30's picked me up at my dock but we had to wait for another guy and when he showed up we had to wait for his friend for another half hour.  So by the time we got out to the lake it was 6pm.  We then proceeded to drive around the lake to 4 other houses and pick up 6 other people LOL.  1 guy owned a 22 MXZ, 1 guy owned a 23 LSV,  1 had a G23 and 1 guy had a X23.  So by the time we picked everyone up it was 7 pm.  So a couple of things I noticed right off the bat is the boat rides way smoother than my 22 VLX and is A LOT quieter by a long shot.  The boat had the 550 in it and it was still a lot quieter than mine.  I was amazed at how much smoother it rode as well.  Also we had 10 guys in the boat and I never felt cramped.  And a few of these guys were on the larger side.  I will say once I got in the water I was not blown away by the wake.  It wasn't that it was bad I am sure I could tweak it and make it great but my VLX wake is much more to my liking.  I personally feel my VLX wake is more steep, cleaner, longer and has quite a bit more push.  So much so that I think if someone came from the 23 MXZ and then surfed behind mine it would be a hard adjustment.  The one issue might have been I don't know if the salesguy filled up the PNP bags.  We had so many guys on the boat and were doing a lot of driving around picking people up that I really don't know how it was setup. It did say that all the ballast were at 100% but on my VLX it says that even though PNP bags are not.  You still have to go back and hit fill for the bags even though they say 100%.  I am not sure if they changed this for the newer models were if it says 100% that means PNP as well.  It was nice that I didn't feel cramped with 10 guys on the boat.  I am however going to go back out for a demo after labor day with just him and I and hopefully my wife and see what the boat is like.  That way I can check and see if the PNP bags get filled and how the wake is then.  I am going to check out the Supra SL, G23 and X22 after labor day as well.  I will say that I didn't think I liked the 23 MXZ enough to pay full price on a brand new one and trade in mine.  I just don't really want my payment to jump alot just to move into that boat.  It didn't wow me enough.  At least on this test drive.  

The more research I have been doing though has me thinking that the G23 is a boat I might really like.  I will have to wait for the demo but man that thing really has me excited.  

One really lame thing I found out is the place I rent my slip for the summer is a Supra dealer and the owner told me if I get another other new boat besides a Supra I can find a new place to dock my boat.  He said if I keep my existing Malibu he won't kick me out since he will grandfather me but told me if I spend money on switching boats it better be a Supra or I am gone.  I guess alot of places around here are doing that.  There is really very few places for me to dock my boat on this lake and I really like it so probably just going to keep my VLX for next summer and then figure it out.  I am going to demo his Supra's but after what he told me it makes me want to buy one even less.  I don't like being strong armed into buying something from someone.  I am not sure he realizes it but that was just a bad business decision on his part.  There is one other place I can keep my boat but it is a dry dock where I have to call ahead an hour before I go to my boat and they will have it in the water.  Unfortunately they close everyday at 5:30 and if you haven't called them by 5 you are out of luck.  My daughter and her friends go out alot at 6-7 pm during the summer and make a last minute decision to go surfing so a dry dock wouldn't work very well.

If I keep my VLX I am going to have my dealer install the Malibu sea deck to it.  I think that will make my boat like a new one and only cost me $1500 as opposed to the $30,000-$50,000 more I will have to shell out after trading in my VLX and getting a new boat.

Edited August 27, 2019 by procos

[Eagleboy99]

12 minutes ago, procos said:

the place I rent my slip for the summer is a Supra dealer and the owner told me if I get another other new boat besides a Supra I can find a new place to dock my boat

That is so lame I do not even know where to start.  What if you got a Moomba?

[ahopkins22LSV]

On the new boats the gauges read plug n play too so they were full at 100%. 

Also, if you had ten adults in the boat plus full plug n play it is going to take a minute to dial in that wave. That’s a ton of extra weight and it may have even been too much with all ballast full. It could have been the reason why the wave wasn’t as clean. I bet when you go back out in it with less people the wave cleans right up and is probably better. If that is your typical crew do it again and play with the wave. 

[procos]

37 minutes ago, ahopkinsVTX said:

On the new boats the gauges read plug n play too so they were full at 100%. 

Also, if you had ten adults in the boat plus full plug n play it is going to take a minute to dial in that wave. That’s a ton of extra weight and it may have even been too much with all ballast full. It could have been the reason why the wave wasn’t as clean. I bet when you go back out in it with less people the wave cleans right up and is probably better. If that is your typical crew do it again and play with the wave. 

I replied to your PM.  Also I totally agree that being underwhelmed by the wake has alot to do with the 10 guys.  that is actually why I put the whole situation in the reply.  I wanted people to under the circumstances the boat was under when I demoed it.  I am definitely going to give it a second chance.

[procos]

7 hours ago, Eagleboy99 said:

That is so lame I do not even know where to start.  What if you got a Moomba?

Zero desire to get a Moomba and I mean zero.

[onewake09]

On 8/24/2019 at 11:50 AM, liquidrider said:

I surfed the G23 and was really disappointed compared to a 2017 22MXZ. My last boat was a 2016 23LSV and the 22MXZ was better then that boat. Not sure any brand can compete with surfgate. 

tell that to centurion and supra. Best waves Ive ridden. 

[liquidrider]

18 hours ago, onewake09 said:

tell that to centurion and supra. Best waves Ive ridden. 

Haven’t had the chance to ride behind either of those boats. It will be interesting to see what happens to Centurion now that correct craft owns them. 

I was blown away by the New MXZ