Flagship Malibu boat

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  • jsta281
    • Oct 2012
    • 266

    • Utah

    • 2009 Ski Nautique LE

    #1

    Flagship Malibu boat

    Not intending to start a negative thread here just wondering what is Malibu equivalent or closest thing to the G23? I get a bit confused with all the letters associated with their boats and what they mean.

    And the MasterCraft is the X-Star right?
  • scottb7
    1,000 Post Club Member
    • Aug 2011
    • 2198

    • Carson City, Nevada

    • 2014 G21 (Current) 2008 SANTE 210

    #2
    http://www.malibuboats.com/dealer-locator/

    Comment

    • jsta281
      • Oct 2012
      • 266

      • Utah

      • 2009 Ski Nautique LE

      #3
      LOL

      Anyone? Bueller? Anyone?

      Comment

      • GoBig
        Senior Member of PLANETNAUTIQUE
        • Apr 2008
        • 551

        • Santa Cruz, CA


        #4
        http://www.themalibucrew.com/forums/index.php?act=home
        2003 SANTE

        Comment

        • jsta281
          • Oct 2012
          • 266

          • Utah

          • 2009 Ski Nautique LE

          #5
          I guess it is the 22 MXZ, Their web page even calls it the flag ship. I guess I will google first. Is it spring time yet?

          Comment

          • migs
            Senior Member of PLANETNAUTIQUE
            • Aug 2008
            • 704

            • San Mateo, CA

            • SAN 210 TE

            #6
            To answer your question: there is nothing on the planet equivalent to the G.
            Master Crafts big boy = xstar
            Malibus big boy = 22 or 24 MXZ
            Migs

            G21 - En route
            SAN 210 TE (Finally)
            06 Sky Supreme V220(previous)
            05 Sanger V210(previous)
            01 MC X1(previous)
            99 Air Warrior(previous)

            Comment

            • Miljack
              1,000 Post Club Member
              • Dec 2004
              • 1621

              • Charlotte, NC

              • '08 230 TE ZR6

              #7
              Probably the MXZ 24 is now the Malibu flagship. It's a Big (long anway) boat! Not wild about the execution of the surfgate, and the bow is HUGE! Don't know much other than that...

              Click image for larger version

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              2008 230 TE-ZR6
              1999 Pro Air Python-sold and moved away :-(

              Comment

              • darthwhitey
                • Jan 2013
                • 33

                • Midwest


                #8
                Yeah, it'd have to be the new 24 MXZ

                Comment

                • wakeboarder3780
                  • Jan 2013
                  • 66

                  • SC


                  #9
                  Good question. I found it confusing at first but am really comfortable with Malibu's line now. The thing with malibu is there has always been some "debate" over what the "flagship" wakeboat always was. Historically Malibu's flagship wake boat has been the VLX - however even then it was disputed because some notable pros chose the 23 LSV wake over the VLX. Essentially - I'd say historically the VLX and 23 LSV have always been in contention for the "flagship" title - but I think VLX was more common.

                  Now Malibu has introduced the MXZ line which can further muddy the waters. IMO the closest Malibu competitor of the G23 would be the 23 LSV tightly followed by the 24 MXZ. I'm currently a malibu guy so am pretty familiar with their models. The thing to remember with Malibu is anything with "wakesetter" in the title is essentially aimed to be one of their "serious" wake boat models. Here's a quick cheat sheet of the 4 boats that anyone could argue are the "flagship" boat now:

                  Pointed Nose Design (Historically the "flagship" models with popularity going to the 21' version):
                  Wakesetter VLX (21' boat)
                  Wakesetter 23LSV (23' boat)

                  Pickelfork design (could be argue that these are the "new" flagship models):
                  22 MXZ
                  24 MXZ

                  I can honestly tell you there are subtle differences in each of those boats wakes, and they all produce very nice wakes when weighted appropriately. I think Malibu purposely chooses NOT to label one of their boats the "flagship" for this specific reason, they just specifically call out which boats should be good for wakeboarding by adding "wakesetter" to the name. You'll have to decide for yourself how any of these models stack up to the G23. No offense to malibu, but at least IMO, the G23 has the best engineered interior design, and the best in class storage. And I don't get what the heck malibu's problem is but I SWEAR the interior on the MXZ's look way more plain than the 23 LSV's. Whats up with that??

                  Comment

                  • jsta281
                    • Oct 2012
                    • 266

                    • Utah

                    • 2009 Ski Nautique LE

                    #10
                    Thanks for the detailed explaination. I was at the boat show today and Malibu make a beautiful boat. As good looking as anything I saw at the show. Wakesetters are extremely popular here in Utah. Let me ask you wakeboarder3780 what do you think of the wedge? I spent some time on Malibu forums and it seems to get mixed reviews over there.

                    As for the "flagship" question, the guy I spoke with said it was the 24 MXZ but I think that he really did not know he was just saying the "latest and greatest."

                    Comment

                    • wakeboarder3780
                      • Jan 2013
                      • 66

                      • SC


                      #11
                      jsta, my experience with the wedge is very positive. I would never buy a wakesetter without one as I think that is one of the best reasons to be getting a 'bu. From the marketing side, they say the wedge simulates 800-1k of ballast. Throw that out the window, here's what it really does.

                      For surfing, the wedge is absolutely crucial. I can tell a very significant difference in size of the surf wake if I don't have the wedge down. It makes the wave taller and steeper, which allows you to speed up more if you would rather trade in that extra height for a longer pocket. If that didn't make sense to you what I'm saying is, whether you like longer pockets or shorter pockets and steeper waves, the wedge will help you achieve this with some minor boat speed adjustment.

                      For wakeboarding, the wedge *does* significantly effect the shape of the wake. It puts more lip on the peak of the mound. In other words it essentially "lips out" the wake more. For my personal wake tastes, I like the lippier wake so this is a must for me. A lot of people on the forum say they don't run the wedge if they have extra ballast - i say baloney, I run stock weight + 1100 in each rear locker 80% full, with the wedge (that's a LOT of rear biased weight) and I love the wake that way. I run the acme 1235 with the monsoon 350 and have no issues getting on plane (with the stock acme 537 it would never happen).

                      Back to the wedge. There are historically 3 different kinds.

                      The "manual" wedge - This wedge had a total of 2 locking positions (4 push pins total as there are two per locking position). This is what my 06 23LSV came with because they didn't introduce the "floating wedge" until 07. I *hated* this wedge because you needed to locked the wedge in either the up or down position and I found try to dink around locking the wedge in the down position is a huge PITA and expecting someone else who was unfamiliar with the boat to do it for you - forget about it. Good news is if your boat has this version you can simply purchase the floating wedge and it's a bolt-on replacement. The identifying characteristic of this wedge is 2 distinct locked positions up or down. This wedge got a bad rep from a few folks who had issues with the bolts that attach the wedge to the arm assembly sheering off (and in turn the wedge would bend into all sorts of nasty angles from the pressure - you have probably seen some horror shots on wakeworld or somewhere else). While this is rare, it's a documented issue with the wedge and malibu did the right thing and introduced a stronger problem free "manual" wedge commonly referred to as the "floating" wedge.

                      The "floating" wedge - This wedge wasn't normally intended to be called this, but the name was used on the forums and stuck. The term "floating" is used because there is only one locking position total - up. When you "release" the wedge it simply "drops" into place. As you accelerate it is true that the wedge can pivot (or float) positions to whatever is a natural riding position for it. To achieve the ability to not need the lock position for "down" they simple made the wedge have a more aggressive angle so it would always want to travel to the downward most position. The wedge is a made out of a chromed metal which doesnt get all "nasty" like the other manual wedge did and always looks shiny and gorgeous. The wedge is now *welded* to the arms on this model and I have *never* heard of there being an issue with this model. It's trivial to release from the "up" position and to put it back into place you simply lift the wedge (since it can freely "float" anyway) until it clicks into the stow position when done. I think this is by far the "safest" bet for the wedge because it fixed all the problems with the manual wedge and doesnt introduce any additional moving parts like the power wedge will.

                      The "power" wedge - as the name implies, no manual intervention is necessary other than playing with some settings at the captains chair. It is powered by electronic actuators (not hydraulics) so no messy fluid to worry about. I have heard of a few people on the forum reporting having "problems" with the wedge getting stuck in the down position. What a lot of people don't realize is that you have to be shifted in gear to be able to move the wedge. This is kinda of a "gotcha" but was implemented as a safety mechanism because we live in a pathetic sue-happy society where people will even sue boat manufacturers because they load the bow down with too many people (see MC lawsuit). Because of this, they make sure that you are in gear before they allow the wedge to actuate so the driver cant accidentally crush little sally's legs that he didnt see were dangling under the swim deck. So a lot of the "noise" you see about power wedge issues are simply white noise with people not realizing the safety feature is there. This wedge is also unique in that you can custom set the degree to which the wedge is deployed. You can fully deploy it or many places in between. Because of this, I would gravitate towards this wedge without hesitation, however if you are a person who puts high value on "the simpler the better as less will break" the floating wedge is your ideal choice.

                      In summary, as I already mentioned, I put a high value on the wedge because I have seen the difference it makes and for my wake preferences - it helps me achieve exactly what I want. Something to consider also is the more you progress the more you may find you like different shapes of wakes (this happened to me) and the wedge is another utility to help you shape the wake to what you want. That being said, I have not ridden the G23 and the simple fact that FINALLY a wakeboat manufacturer (other than Epic, which I still haven't had a chance to ride behind) has included some SERIOUS stock ballast capabilities. It may be true that the benefit of the wedge diminishes with higher amounts of stock ballast. However, ballast always takes time to fill (until more boats go with the pure-vert / gravity fill system) because pumps are *slow*. Dropping the wedge takes all of 5 seconds.

                      I'd say that's my $.02 but maybe it was more like $.04 this time Hope this helps, happy hunting.

                      Comment

                      • jrz1
                        • Jan 2013
                        • 215

                        • Lake Norman, NC

                        • 2013 G25 XS 550

                        #12
                        The wedge is a pretty cool tool. We're just beginners but it's great for customizing the wake and the speed of deployment is a big factor vs. filling tanks etc. Will miss the wedge when I get my G25.

                        Comment

                        • Ride Lab
                          • Jul 2011
                          • 45

                          • A, A

                          • 2011 Super air 210 2012 G23

                          #13
                          The last boat i had with a wedge was a 98 i HATED it. sucked gas and felt like i was still connected to the dock.

                          Comment

                          • wakeboarder3780
                            • Jan 2013
                            • 66

                            • SC


                            #14
                            Man I wrote all that text and forgot to mention that. I agree (somewhat) with ride lab. You will feel like it will take much longer to get on plane if wakeboarding (not noticeable with surfing). Also, the boat will handle and turn MUCH more sluggishly with the wedge deployed. I was really only talking about the wake - sorry I kind of forgot to put my head back in the drivers chair. That being said I personally wish I could have the wedge on every boat I ever had as I still feel its a very worthwhile option because I focus more on what my riding experience feels like.

                            Ride Lab has a very valid point - handling is noticeably negatively impacted with wedge deployed. With the right prop I still have had great results with being able to plane effectively and as far as efficiency goes, I find it impossible to truly track the efficiency of a wakeboat because of all the variables involved so I don't even try.

                            Comment

                            • jrz1
                              • Jan 2013
                              • 215

                              • Lake Norman, NC

                              • 2013 G25 XS 550

                              #15
                              Originally posted by Ride Lab View Post
                              The last boat i had with a wedge was a 98 i HATED it. sucked gas and felt like i was still connected to the dock.
                              You needed the LSA.....

                              Comment

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