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First ride in the all new Z3

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    First ride in the all new Z3

    So my local dealer bought the blue preproduction Z3 and he really wanted to get the local wakesurfers opinion so when I dropped off my RZ2 we set up a time and it was this morning. 45 degree air temp was not stopping us. I brought along 2 400 lb bags assuming factory weight wouldn't be enough.
    First impression...I liked it alot!

    Swim platform
    Narrowed and finished undernieth. I was really excited to see what this would do to the wave. Interestingly enough there was zero effect on the wave. It almost seemed as if it was mounted too high on the boat it hardly even touched the water under power. There was also a wierd hole in the wave just behind the platform and exhaust was escaping. Could be a preproduction flaw, but a little wierd.

    Drivers helm gets a 10 out of a 10
    5 cup holders around the driver. 2 down to the right and 1 raised up about 12 inches. I always hated the long reach down for a cold beverage while the drivers seat is flipped up. New steering wheel, optional, but I like it. New shifter, like it. LOVE the new drivers seat! I know so many people on here love the vision air seat, but I really like the new seat....why....its comfortable!

    The rear deck is changing for the production models, going to be flush all the way accross with the pad side up. Flipped over will have the center walkthrough. Only thing I would like to see is where you step from the rear deck into the boat would be a flippable seat so you are not constantly stepping on the seat.

    I love the cooler moved into the bow walkway. I can see this is one of those things some people won't like, but whenever we USE the bow for seating in our boat the bow filler is in. Who REALLY NEEDS to have a walkthrough? Also that frees up the old cooler space for BALLAST! Plenty of room up front despite it not being a pickle fork.

    The most important part, the wave. As I said I brought along 2 400 lb bags and 2 other people. I went first stock ballast full surfside TAPS 4 speed 11. OK wave, very clean, but very small as expected. We filled one 400 lb, and I went again. Better but still small. We filled the second. Now you have to remember this boat has the most freeboard of any watersports boat on the market. It can handle ALOT more weight then we were throwing at it, but we had to start small. After filling the second bag we actually had a wave, and a very clean one at that. So we started to increase speed. Went from 11 all the way to 13. At 13 the wave was so long it was ridiculous! With about 1000lb's more weight this wave would be sick and I think that would sink the boat further into the water where the swim platform may actually help and the wierd hole where the exhaust was escaping would dissapear.

    Here are some pictures.

    More than 1/2 of my pictures wouldn't load. THis is what did
    Attached Files

    #2
    Cool pics and thanks for the write up. I can't wait to see one in person.

    Comment


      #3
      Looks like a long pocket.
      I do all my own stunt work. hey ya'll watch dis.

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by robert theisen View Post
        Looks like a long pocket.

        You are right Robert. that is what got us all so excited. Wave is soo long. Great boat! Glad I got a chance to check it out.

        Comment


          #5
          Anybody know what Ragboy has done with his Z3...
          "You're rather attractive for a beautiful girl with a great body."

          Comment


            #6
            My understanding is wakemakers is working on something for both of these boats. My local dealer is planning on using this as a demo boat so he wants max weight in the boat.

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by jrobertson View Post
              My understanding is wakemakers is working on something for both of these boats. My local dealer is planning on using this as a demo boat so he wants max weight in the boat.
              Cool. I would love to see what the wave looks like from a safe/drivable slammed Z3. Keep us posted.
              "You're rather attractive for a beautiful girl with a great body."

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by jrobertson View Post
                My understanding is wakemakers is working on something for both of these boats. My local dealer is planning on using this as a demo boat so he wants max weight in the boat.
                when we dropped off the rzr james said he thought they were working on a fly high system for it to bring it over 4k

                Comment


                  #9
                  Overall, i'll give the Z3 a 9 out of 10.

                  The shifter is too smooth. Its extremely hard to tell thats its in gear, and this lead to a couple times where we over-throttled the boat because you could not feel it engage. The shifter needs a more prominent detent.

                  If the Tige Touch has a dimmer function, I couldn't find it! If is doesn't, it needs one. Being out at night, the TT is too bright and this is a safety issue. I had to stand up and lean over the helm to get some night vision back.

                  The Z3 is by no means a small boat, but it is noticeably smaller then the RZ4/24Ve in the main cabin. Although the bow is larger then the Z1, its smaller then the Ve.

                  The Z3 handles like a small boat. Definitely better handling then the RZ4/24Ve. Very nimble for a boat its size. Except when loaded with ballast, it is hard to control in reverse....it goes where it wants.

                  The port side bench seat needs to be held up by one hand if you want anything from under it.

                  The engine cover is heavy...needs to more assist. The walk-thru section wants to slide back when the engine cover is lifted, making it hard to get is closed again until you move the center section back into place

                  The storage "buckets" on each side of the engine cover need drains. They will collect water as it has not where to go. This will be tough because they lift with the engine cover.

                  Storage = lots of it

                  Cup Holders = plenty, even by the driver

                  The Z3 is going to need a lot of work to get the surf wake fine-tuned and dialed in IMO. Like the RZ4 and 24Ve, I think its gonna take a lot of weight to achieve the same wake as with the smaller Tige boats.

                  We surfed it a couple weeks ago out on Lake Mead in NV. We surfed it with the stock ballast (surfable, but needs more as expected), we dropped in a 1400 Lb Fly High Enzo (Wake was looking good, but needed more time to play with speed, TAPS and bow weight) and we also used a 400# sac and a couple of 155# Fly High Bricks to supplement the Pro Ballast option. This last configuration actually produced the least impressive wake. We even tried placing a brick on the swim platform. We had about 5-6 adults in the boat as well. At one point, we had one adult move to the chase boat and myself on the surf board, the wake started to throw an awful rooster-tail in my face and lost a lot of push.

                  I did hear that there have been some minor hull tweaks done on the production Z3, but no details on what or why. I feel the new Z3 has the potential, but the Wake9 crew has their work cut out for them in getting it dialed in.













                  Last edited by chpthril; 10-13-2011, 01:09 AM.
                  Mikes Liquid Audio: Knowledge Experience Customer Service you can trust-KICKER WetSounds ACME props FlyHigh Custom Ballast Clarion LiquidLumens LEDs Roswell Wave Deflector And More

                  Comment


                    #10
                    A few pics of the surf wake













                    Mikes Liquid Audio: Knowledge Experience Customer Service you can trust-KICKER WetSounds ACME props FlyHigh Custom Ballast Clarion LiquidLumens LEDs Roswell Wave Deflector And More

                    Comment


                      #11
                      The wake-board wake was even more of a challenge. We started out with the factory Pro Ballast full. We tried different speeds, TAPS settings and moving people. We tried adding more people to the bow, dumping rear weight, dumping bow weight, etc. It was very hard to get a clean wake with a nice lip. It wasn't until we dumped all the ballast and started to head in that Talltigeguy leveled off at 22MPH to look at the wake. Believe it or not, unweighted, except for peeps, was the cleanest. It had a nice steep ramp with good height.

                      Like the surf wake, I feel the potential is there, its just gonna take some time to get the wakes dialed in.

                      Oh, and to answer the question above...I need a walk-thru!
                      Mikes Liquid Audio: Knowledge Experience Customer Service you can trust-KICKER WetSounds ACME props FlyHigh Custom Ballast Clarion LiquidLumens LEDs Roswell Wave Deflector And More

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by chpthril View Post
                        Oh, and to answer the question above...I need a walk-thru!
                        X2
                        2009 RZ2, PCM 343, MLA Surf Ballast, Premium Sound.
                        2013 Toyota Sequoia 4WD W/Timbren SES

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Chpthril the tige touch has a dimmer function go to the home screen and then the top set of three buttons hold the right one its the "back button" but has like a sort of light lines on it also? Hold that button and it will dim down and you can set the percent it dims in the settings page on the Tige Touch

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by chpthril View Post
                            A few pics of the surf wake


                            Wow, the swim platfrom barely digs. This boat looks like it is gonna take a lot more weight. Underway, the water looks to be below the vent/drain. I cannot wait to see the wave with water kissing the rub rail and surf side bow weight.

                            Thanks for the feedback and pics Chpthril!

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Originally posted by rensink View Post
                              Chpthril the tige touch has a dimmer function go to the home screen and then the top set of three buttons hold the right one its the "back button" but has like a sort of light lines on it also? Hold that button and it will dim down and you can set the percent it dims in the settings page on the Tige Touch
                              Good to know, I was with Chpthril that night and it was "blinding" at 100%.

                              I am opposite on the walk-thru, love the cooler! We always have to take a seperate cooler on the boat because the underseat on my 05 24V is so hard to deal with....everybody has to move, then the seat is difficult to get out and even harder to get back in. I have left my bow filler cushion in the boat for the entire last entire season and only use the space under it for shoes, so the new cooler gets 2 thumbs up for me! I do agree the boat needs some time to dial in the wakes and was the first one behind it on a wakeboard at the reunion, neck and back still hurt from my crashes. Once we played with it a bit, it definately has some serious pop! The surf wave has huge potential as can be seen in the photos and I'm sure Wake9 will give a 100% and make us all believers next spring! Thanks again to Robert and crew for letting us test the Z3, greatly appreciated!

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