24 V vs. all comers

[ilovetrains]

OK - guys - I am looking at the 24V, Nautique 226, Bu 23 LSV. I have pretty much dismissed MC as I do not like the X-30, and the X-star and X-45 are both too much.

I like the Tige dealer, who is also the Nautique dealer. I found a Bu dealer I like, but he is about 200 miles away.

After driving all three, our favorite is the Bu. We are still looking hard at the Tige for 2 reasons, we really like the dealer who is close, and it has a little bit more room.

My impressions of each are the interior is slightly better laid out and finished in the Bu, but there is more storage on the 24V.

Each I drove had the 380 horse engine. The Bu is a rocket, with strong punch throughout the RPM range. The Tige jumps from the hole, but seams to not have as much juice in the 20-40 range. Top speed felt hard to get too and about 5 mph less than the Bu.

The Bu felt solid, was extremely quiet and responsive, but had heavy steering, would porpoise in strong waves and tneded to ride up a large roller and slam the other side. The Tige would push through just about anything, never porpoised and bowrise was almost nil. It was also considerable louder than the Bu. I spent a lot of time isolating the sound and it was some vibration coming through the floor, near the console. Not exhaust noise.

The new interior on the Tige is a serisous step up from 04, so is the tower. But the interior is just not as nice as the Bu. The 24V stereo blows the Bu away.

Notice I have said next to nothing on the 226. We had cut it from the list, but the dealer has a loaded floor model that is priced within 2K of the 24V. The Bu is between them. All boats are completely loaded.

OK enough info - what do you guys think?

[Tip]

Sounds like a pretty good comparison test.

The performance difference could vary greatly depending what prop each boat had, so I would not be too concerned there. I have a 22v and with a ACME 515 it will flat move out, its been sluggish since I installed a 4 bladed 13x12.5.

I've ridden in a bu and they are definitely more quiet than the Tige.

If you have a good dealer that's close by and everything else is pretty much even, I'd go with the Tige. My Tige dealer is 150 miles away so there's no such thing as just "dropping off the boat for service."

I've had a few minor problems that could have easily been fixed if my dealer was closer.

My biggest regret buying a Tige is not having a good dealer close by.

Good luck!

[smendez]

I don't work much on my boat. I rely on my dealer for most everything except for cleaning it, and I agree with Tip. Having a dealer close by is extremely important. At least for me it is.

I should consider myself lucky. The marina where I keep my boat is 20 minutes from my house. The dealer is about 20 minutes from that Marina and about 25 minutes from my house. All neatly packed in a tight triangle

I could not imagine a dealer 200 miles away. That's over 3 hours away if you could drive really fast just for a service call.

[David]

One thing about the Malibu is the wedge. Yes it is nice to have and yes it does work, but what people don't know is that it stiffins the steering (as well as the turning), If you hit a submerged object you have a chance of having your whole transom ripped off (Few pic's around web), And everytime you want to switch between boarding and skiing, you will be hastling with the wedge up and down.

On the 226 the tower is very low, there is not alot of storage, it is a rough ride compared to Malibu and Tige, it is high quality but unless you will be stricly boarding and less hanging out, it's not going to fit under the other needs.

Since you said the dealer is so far away, and everyone else has said you should go with the closer dealer, I'd agree with them on that one. If your boat breaks down or something, and it only needs a minor fix, your weeked will be gone due to a long drive there and back over 1 full day, but If you take it right up the road, your not nearly losing as much time.

Just my .02, good luck on your decision.

[poohpotta]

ilovetrains - I assume your talking to the Malibu dealer in St. Charles, MO, correct? If so, BEWARE!! This guy and his staff are horrible. Nothing but bad service stories and customer service is non-existent.

[talltigeguy]

I think you are right on about the speed curve of the 24V. Mine feels like a rocket out of the hole but is slower above 20MPH. I don't really care though because I primarily wakeboard at 21-22 MPH. Even for skiing I don't feel like its a drag, by any means. It just doesn't have the same serious boost that the hole shot has. My top speed is about 40 MPH. Sorry - I should know exactly what prop I'm running to really fill in the gap.

The TAPS is very useful and that's why the 24V will get you home smoother in a storm. Close dealer is really nice. Mine is 110 miles away. I've had no major issues so it's not bad, but I do prefer the TIge dealer to service the boat since I think he knows them inside and out.

[ilovetrains]

The Malibu dealer is the one in Springfield/Table Rock Lake. We do a lot of boating down there, so we got hooked up with him. Really I like both the Tige/Nautique dealer here in town and the guy down in Springfield pretty well. They both have nice things to say about each other. They are pretty smart about not trying to bad mouth each other, since they know that will turn me away.

We are hoping to be able to ride each boat back to back to firm up impressions this weekend. Weather permitting of course.

I am yet to find anyone with either boat that is displeased. That is a very good sign. I never thought making a descision would be this hard!

[Tequilasun]

ilovetrains, I don't really care for the Springfield guy, They always seem to rub me the wrong way. I think they consider me OLD! I have heard some other negative comments about them as well. I can recommend a couple of Tige dealers to talk with if you want, but it seems you already have a good one on your list.

[ilovetrains]

dragginass - what are you running on Table Rock? I have seen only one Tige, looked like a 21i down there.

[Tequilasun]

I run a 2005 22V rider's edition, with red West Coast graphics, you can see parts of it under My name in the galleries section. Right now here are the Tiges that are on the lake, (at least the ones I can remember)

my 05 22V
an 05 24V
an 04 24 V
a couple 04 22Vs
our last boat an 03 22V riders

And there are several 20i's and 2050's etc.

If you are gonna be down here this weekend, I could probably give a VERY biased ride in ours!!

[ilovetrains]

That is interesting. We were down there three times this year (once for a full week) and saw a ton of Malibu's (at least 3 different LSV's in the same day, plus smaller boats as well) and a few Mastercrafts, but only the one Tige. How long have you had 05 down there?

We are going back down in a couple weeks, our first trip as 'owners' at Big Cedar, but will probably not be doing much boating, more like huddling around the fire!

[Tequilasun]

We got the 05 in August, but we had the 03 up until then. Did you go the the Kimberling City side of the lake? That is where most of the Tige's hang out, smoother water. There are plenty of Malibu's down here as well. If you come down, let me know, I will put you in touch with Bruce from Skier's Wharf, the parent company for Skier's Wharf Extreme (who I think you are dealing with). He is in Kimberling...I guess that is why so many Tige's are over there! But I would be willing to come over to Big Cedar to take you for a ride! That is if we get our heater installed before then! I don't know if you would wanna take a pull, cause I KNOW that water is cold!

[ilovetrains]

We were in Kimberling the week after Labor Day. It was really rought the first couple days but smoothed after that. We saw one Tige down in Arkansas (long ride from Kimberling, my power steering pulley broke, really long ride to closest Marina and then nobody to fix it). The first couple days we went up toward Cape Fair and saw Malibu's all over the place.

I think this time down we are going to try and hike Dogwood canyon (with a 3 y/o maybe not so much hiking).

This Saturday we are going to try and ride the Malibu LSV and Tige 24V back to back. Want to do it before it gets too cold. Not sure if I will try and board, if it is sunny I might give it a shot with a suit.

[Tequilasun]

ok, I don't go over to Cape fair very often, But a buddy lives over there and he says that Wakeboard boats are becoming more common on that part of the lake...maybe someday they will out number Fishing boats! Good luck on you decision, I know it is a hard one!

[JShirey]

I am a big fan of quality. First reguarding the hull, malibu is the same size boat, It weighs almost a thousand pounds lighter than the tige. I feel that thats a big issue.

Second, in a wakeboard boat why are you concerned about top speed, I would be more concerned about performance. I own a 22v, love it.
When I am towing someone and they fall, I dont want to worry about slow steering, I want to get back to the person asap, especialy if on a busy river.

Porposing, probably caused by the hook design of the hull, bu has to use the wedge to pull the boat in the water for a wake. Tige has taps, all it does is use the hull design to make a wake. Tige isnt trying to manipulate its hull design. Bu is trying to get their boat to sit as deep as the tige. Check out wakeworld.com reguarding problems with the wedge. It doesnt have sheer pins, so if by accident you hit something in the water it could rip a hole in the transom.

I think you should pick the boat you love. Im sure you will be happy either way.

warranty, service and the dealer would make up my mind.