23LSV or 23MXZ for surfing and cruising? Both with M6 engines.

[pbobkowski]

Looking to buy a used 2020 or newer Malibu and other than the pickle fork, not sure the difference.  Thanks all!

[Ronnie]

https://www.themalibucrew.com/index.php?/malibu_specs.html/

[vaporbluebu]

One big difference in my opinion is where you feel the room. Obviously the MXZ has a bigger bow, but to get that bigger bow the main seating area is smaller. The opposite for the LSV. Larger cockpit seating area, but smaller bow.

[HollywoodBall]

23 hours ago, vaporbluebu said:

One big difference in my opinion is where you feel the room. Obviously the MXZ has a bigger bow, but to get that bigger bow the main seating area is smaller. The opposite for the LSV. Larger cockpit seating area, but smaller bow.

This, and there may be big storage differences as well.

Our crew has a 2018 23 LSV that I've spent MOST of my time one and spent MOST of time shopping for a 23 LSV because of that.  I came across the 22 MXZ in my profile pic and followed it for MONTHS.  I didn't think I wanted pickle fork and I was meh on the color, and thought I didn't want to sacrifice the 1 foot length going 22 MXZ instead of 23 LSV.

But once I saw the boat in person I fell in love with the color, and once I got IN the boat, it didn't feel like I was sacrificing crew space.  The BOW is huge, cockpit/rear seating is a tad tighter, but not super noticeable.  The biggest difference to me has been storage layout and capacity.  It's my opinion that's where the space going from a 23 to a 22 was made up: smaller rear lockers, a little less underseat, slight smaller spotter compartment, etc.

BUT, the bow is MASSIVE compared to a 23 LSV.  and it won me over being in the boat and feeling it.

We typically run a crew of 6-8.

 

[PNWoke]

It’s really going to come down to personal preference on the styles, some like the pointy pickle fork, some prefer the timeless lsv bow.  I’ve noticed that our lsv’s bow area is sized perfectly for 2-3 avg sized adults.  Sure the kids like to ride up there, and it’s plenty big enough for 4-5 kids. But it usually gets commandeered by the 2-3 wives whenever we stop, who enjoy that it’s only big enough for them, and not them+kiddos 😂.  That said, the conditions in the area we boat (Columbia River gorge) make the lsv the better choice for us.  The traditional bow has better handling when the wind picks up and the rollers start stacking up.

[dalt1]

The picklefork gets more water spray in the boat than my LSV ever did. Thinking the Big flat tunnel areas under the two pickles cause the air to be pushed out and up causing lot more spray in the boat than the V hull.

[BigCreek]

Speaking as an LSV guy, the social aspect of the boat should be considered. If you sit in the bow, you are almost separated from the conversations in the main area. If there are 5-6 total people in the boat, normally, my bow is empty. People just seem to congregate together. Unless I need to move weight around in the boat for optimum wave, the bow has naturally become overflow seating, or a place to take a nap / lounge in the sun. Either way, kind of a place to go to get away from the group. Not sure I'd be up for sacrificing the main area for more overflow or alone time area.

Those picklefork bows are giant tho. I can see how it gets folks tempted to indulge. 

However, to address your question - using my highly technical, "look at the bottoms of each of the boats at the boat show" method, It appears that the water can't tell the difference. The hulls look to be identical to the naked eye. Everyone loves the M6, but I still like my too-loud Raptor. 

Edited April 2 by BigCreek

[Ronnie]

I've had 10 new 23LSV's and 3 new MXZ's. I'm a MXZ guy now. I went from 23LSV and 23MXZ boats to now a 24MXZ, the 24MXZ is my fav now. 

I hear people say you dip the front bow easier with the MXZ, not true if you drive it like a MXZ and not a LSV.

I hear they took room out of the cabin area for the bow area, IIRC, they moved the helm back 3" when they designed the MXZ. 3" doesn't make or break the sitting area or the storage area.

IMO, the MXZ feels a bit heavier in the bow, maybe that extra 3"?

My 24MXZ rides chop better than any 23' boat I had in the past.

[PNWoke]

4 hours ago, BigCreek said:

If you sit in the bow, you are almost separated from the conversations in the main area.

This is absolutely true.  It works great to separate adults from young children, but when the boat is full of adults, it can be a barrier to large group conversations.

With regard to whether or not lsv’s are better in rough water than pickle forks.  All subjective arguments aside, I have no doubt that all of the modern malibu hulls (minus the slalom builds) are able to be piloted in all likely weather/water conditions.  It's a matter of skill, experience and confidence of the operator.  In my experience, I’d rather be driving an lsv in rough water in my usual boating area vs a pickle fork boat of the same length or shorter.  But if I was buying a boat and the wider bow made sense for my uses I would have no problem spending a little extra time to get confident in rough conditions with it.  The old moniker of pickle forks being easy to sink doesn’t really hold up with most manufacturers modern hull designs imho.

[JpCrOOked]

1 hour ago, PNWoke said:

This is absolutely true.  It works great to separate adults from young children, but when the boat is full of adults, it can be a barrier to large group conversations.

With regard to whether or not lsv’s are better in rough water than pickle forks.  All subjective arguments aside, I have no doubt that all of the modern malibu hulls (minus the slalom builds) are able to be piloted in all likely weather/water conditions.  It's a matter of skill, experience and confidence of the operator.  In my experience, I’d rather be driving an lsv in rough water in my usual boating area vs a pickle fork boat of the same length or shorter.  But if I was buying a boat and the wider bow made sense for my uses I would have no problem spending a little extra time to get confident in rough conditions with it.  The old moniker of pickle forks being easy to sink doesn’t really hold up with most manufacturers modern hull designs imho.

Totally random question, but why does the MXZ cost more?  More materials, better fixtures, I really only see the bow shape making a difference?

[Ronnie]

15 minutes ago, JpCrOOked said:

Totally random question, but why does the MXZ cost more?  More materials, better fixtures, I really only see the bow shape making a difference?

Probably a little more cost to build but the 24MXZ base motor is the M6. I don’t recall what the base was on the 23MXZ or the LSV.