2020 20VTX In-depth Review

[Tsmit]

So purchased a 2022 vtx , for us it’s the perfect boat. Dealership has been great, quality very good a few minor details but nothing that has caused any down time.  We came from a mb surf boat and mastercraft ski boat. Ready to simplify. Had Malibu sun setters in the past, always a fan of malibu ,  but family wanted to surf. Looked at the 2015 vtx liked that, but waited had an engine switch that year, demoed the 2016 vtx was not impressed with slalom wake. So went with boats without touch screens. Now every boat has the screens. The vtx works, for my wife slalom skiing,26mph, full rope from center pylon with lift, my daughter 15 off 28-30 mph with lift wake is very good. Myself 34-36 mph 28 off, solid pull smooth crossing, love it. Then we put the skis away and can surf, the wake is as good as our last surf boat, the wedge makes wake adjustment easy. Even with stock ballast and a light crew, everyone is finding, 360s, and switching sides easier. Malibu finally did it got a 20 ft boat to ski and surf. Working on getting a tower boom working to continue working on barefoot for all of us. Malibu vtx highly recommended.

[Weave]

I have a 2021 VTX, and went to wakemakers.com and switched to their low speed prop suggestion the OJ 950 Wake pro V3.  I didn’t realize how much it helped me build a bigger wave, until I bent it and went back to the original.

The acme prop recommendation wasn’t as aggressive.  So I bought a second OJ

So now I have 2 OJ 950’s, after I repaired the damaged the first one, I decided I wasn’t going to use the general purpose prop ever again.

The boat still pulls a heavy guy like me out of the hole on slalom amazingly well.  Still run 40mph when I want to. (Although rarely)

 

Edited September 15, 2022 by Weave
Year edit

[ahopkins22LSV]

Love that everyone is enjoying the vtx as much as we are!

[mrellis]

I have just purchased a used 2021 VTX. Will take delivery on it in October. I am looking forward to experiencing the awesome slalom wake I am hearing so much about. 

Edited September 16, 2022 by mrellis
Spelling

[mrellis]

Other than a prop swap, are there any mods and/or adjustments that are recommended for the VTX?

[Ratty05]

I've got a 20vtx on order, can anyone confirm the weight on trailer? Malibu website says 1600kg, spec sheet says 2600kg???? (In Australia if it helps).

[ahopkins22LSV]

7 minutes ago, Ratty05 said:

I've got a 20vtx on order, can anyone confirm the weight on trailer? Malibu website says 1600kg, spec sheet says 2600kg???? (In Australia if it helps).

Sorry, I have never taken ours to a scale. The list weights on the website are dry weight so which don’t include trailer, fuel, batteries, gear, etc so I’d definitely error towards the 2600. I always assume ours is around 6000lbs which is just a bit more than the 2600kg. 

[Hoityvtx]

Wow, great thread and as we are looking at getting a VTX,  very informative, is there any changes from the 21 models onwards? 
 

is there anything else that’s worth noting. Seems to be the best ski orientated crossover boat out there. 
 

Has anybody ran the course with it and if so was there any setup tips which would prove helpful.
 

[ahopkins22LSV]

To the best of my knowledge, there have been no major changes. They may have changed small things like the prop, but I would be confident with going with whatever the "standard" prop is. Other minor changes that are across the lineup will have been made like speaker covers, color options, etc. Hull and powertrain options will be the same though.

[ztarum]

On 2/23/2024 at 3:53 PM, Hoityvtx said:

Has anybody ran the course with it and if so was there any setup tips which would prove helpful.
 

We tried, but found it to be impossible at our speed and line length.  You could ski it "ok", but the boat tracked too poorly to really make it work for us.

 

 

Edited February 27 by ztarum

[mk11]

Is the ski wake better on the 2015 VTX hull better than the 2020+ model with the hull changes? Sounds like the slalom wakes improved over the 2019, but I haven’t been able to read anywhere where someone compared it with the previous gen. Thanks 

[UWSkier]

I don't remember the specific changes over the years, but I believe there have been 3 VTX diamond hulls available since its introduction.  Anecdotally, the first gen VTX was the best skiing of the bunch, especially if you could find one with a center pylon.  Then the current VTX, then the second generation.

[ztarum]

3 hours ago, mk11 said:

Is the ski wake better on the 2015 VTX hull better than the 2020+ model with the hull changes? Sounds like the slalom wakes improved over the 2019, but I haven’t been able to read anywhere where someone compared it with the previous gen. Thanks 

It is my understanding that the 2015 and earlier ski better, although I have not personally experienced it. I’ve only skied behind my own.  I will say it is likely that the later models surf better, so it’s a trade off.

Edited March 1 by ztarum

[ahopkins22LSV]

I’ve skied the 2015 hull and it is very good. The boat tracked better in my opinion too so I would say yes it is a better skiing boat than the 2020+. That said it’s very close and the 2020 performs better for surfing and wakeboarding then the 2015 so it depends on what you want out of the boat. Personally I like the layout and storage of the 2020 vtx better too. The dash/helm is definitely better. 

[mk11]

7 minutes ago, ahopkins22LSV said:

I’ve skied the 2015 hull and it is very good. The boat tracked better in my opinion too so I would say yes it is a better skiing boat than the 2020+. That said it’s very close and the 2020 performs better for surfing and wakeboarding then the 2015 so it depends on what you want out of the boat. Personally I like the layout and storage of the 2020 vtx better too. The dash/helm is definitely better. 

I was hoping you would reply, I was watching some of your videos looking for clues. My family primarily does recreational skiing and surfing. Currently in a 2009 MasterCraft X2 and the surf wave is great with a bunch of extra bags, but the slalom experience is all about catching air, so the idea of a flat wake when we want is appealing. Have lost interest in wakeboarding over the years. Is the surf wake being that much better in the 2020 largely do to the hull shape or is it more about the big difference in factory ballast?

[ahopkins22LSV]

6 minutes ago, mk11 said:

I was hoping you would reply, I was watching some of your videos looking for clues. My family primarily does recreational skiing and surfing. Currently in a 2009 MasterCraft X2 and the surf wave is great with a bunch of extra bags, but the slalom experience is all about catching air, so the idea of a flat wake when we want is appealing. Have lost interest in wakeboarding over the years. Is the surf wake being that much better in the 2020 largely do to the hull shape or is it more about the big difference in factory ballast?

The surf wake is better because of everything you mention plus power wedge III and just Malibu had 7+ years to tweak in the optimal surf gate size, hull tweaks and weighting in the boat. The 2015 was the current hull design with surf gate screwed on. It worked. And it was good for the time but today’s standards it would score low. 
 

I have no doubt that a 20 VTX will perform better in every aspect than the X2. It is truly a hidden gem in the Malibu line up and incredibly capable in all aspects. 

[ztarum]

It does surf really well for its size. I found that the biggest issue was water depth. I know depth affects all surf boats, but the VTX being in the smaller end seemed particularly sensitive.  Keep the depth over 12’ it it surfed great, 15’ even better.

[jjackkrash]

On 2/23/2024 at 12:53 PM, Hoityvtx said:

Has anybody ran the course with it and if so was there any setup tips which would prove helpful.

If you want to ski the course get a direct drive and a friend with a surf boat.  Or just get the direct drive and skip the second part.