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. :eek:

[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.

[ilovetrains]

Thanks for your comments, I am hoping to have a better idea after tomorow.

My first reaction to the weight difference was the same, however I could not figure out why the Tige, with a thicker hull or whatever makes so much more weight would be louder. It seams that the opposite would be true.

I was very concerned about the Wegde thing after reading some of the posts on Wakeworld. But after looking at them, it realy does not hang down that low, and you would only use a small percentage of the time. Honestly I think it is a fresh approach to getting a hull lower in the water without adding water ballast. That gets back to weight difference. The Wedge is probably only sinking the Malibu hull to the level of the Tige because of the weight difference.

The weight difference seamed like a good thing to me at first, heavier boats are going to be safer. However that much difference is going to make a difference in fuel economy both with my tow rig and on the water.

While I am buying the boat for wakeboarding, I doubt that even 50% of the total runtime will be actually boarding. For example, getting from Kimberling City up to Cape Fair or down to Arkansas on Table Rock burned more fuel in the round trip with my boat than the day of boarding did. Add to that the Friday nights we go out on the local lake to just ride around and watch the sunset, my boat spends a lot of time cruising around.

Ultimately it is the dealer thing that really hangs me up. A few years ago I would have said who cares where you buy it, mine has run 8 years and never been to the dealer. But then I bought a Dodge Durango that was an absolute lemon. The dealer worked for 11 months, supplying rental cars to the tune of 700 bucks while it was in the shop and finally could not make it right. They bought it back and sold me another brand truck. We probably buy our next two vehicles from that dealer. So now I appreciate how important having a good dealer is. Here the Tige is the clear winner. This descision gets harder and harder.

[Tequilasun]

Think about all that extra hull strength and weight when you are on Lake of the Ozarks or Tablerock when it is busy! Makes for a much better ride, keeps the kids dental work in place! That should compensate for the extra fuel costs!

Oh, and whatever your decision may be, let us know...

[Barry Winterland]

I am considering the same two boats as well and have the same issue relative to dealer location, however, the Malibu dealer is much closer to me relative to the Tige dealer. However, I vacation at Table Rock and I assume Skier's Wharf would be able to help out with any problems that I may have while I'm there.

While dealer location is a consideration, my bigger hangup is which boat is more versatile relative to being able to do wakeboarding, slalom and some cruising. From all that I've read the Tige would appear to have a leg up in the versatility category.

I would appreciate your thoughts.

[Tequilasun]

Barry,

I think the literature explains it well, but Tige's are indeed great for slalom as well as Wakeboarding. My 22v (as well 24V's I have ridden in) throw very faint wakes at slalom speeds and excellent wakes for wakeboard, weighted or not. The Taps 2 is phenomenal for tweeking the wake at both ends of the wakesport spectrum. As far as ride, I have had our boat in some pretty ugly chop....as ugly as Tablerock gets, and it is extremelly solid. I am sure Skier's Warf would treet you right while you are in our neck of the woods! They do a great job.


And if you have a family, there is no comparison in the amount of space in a 24V and ANY other wakeboard/ski boat on the water.

[smendez]

Bruce at Skiers Wharf is a great guy. We vacation in Table Rock once a year during what may be the busiest week (4th of July), and Bruce has always taken the time to take care of us.

Last year, over the Labor Day weekend, he offered to meet me at his shop in the middle of the night to fit me with a new propeller since mine got all banged up. He offered to do this while every other inboard dealer in the state had closed their doors and were taking time off.

This guy rules!

[Barry Winterland]

I haven't had the opportunity to ride in a Tige, but it's great to hear that the Taps2 works as well as the literature says it does...is the optional ballast system necessary? I'm a slalom guy, but my 15-year old son and his friends are really getting into wakeboarding after boarding behind a friends X-Star all summer, so the Tige sounds like it might be the way to go. Either the Malibu or the Tige would be a huge step up for watersports relative to my 25' Baja, although the speed will be missed.

Glad to hear someone else thinks as highly of Bruce at Skiers Wharf as I do. He and his staff are great. If he treats his boat customers half as good as he treats his watersport customers, he is way ahead of the game relative to most boat dealers.

The closest dealer to me is Stateamind in the St. Louis area, does anyone have any experience with them?

[David]

It's been said, I agree with it, and I'm sure most others do, that Tige's are one of or maybe the most versatile boat out there.

The Wedge was a good invention, I'll admit that. But, like I said before there is always that small percentage of a chance of your knocking off your transom by hitting a submerged object. And I know It's no big deal, but between each set or whatever, going to the back, lifting up the hatch, messing with the pins in the wedge to get it back up or down, would seems like a hastle to do every single time.

And the another thing about the wedge, since It has a downforce, the turning is very weak and when pulling a rider, it takes a while for the boat to plain out on the water.

Some say that it is a close decision but the Tige dealer is better. If it is so close you can't decide, look towards the dealer. They will play a huge roll at times with you and your boat and the best dealer out there would be the way to go.

Ilovetrains - We spend a ton of time just cruising on the boat like you said you would. Yes, It may be wasting gas but Malibu really isn't that far behind. I know gas is important, but if your going to be cruising alot look to the boat with the most comfort and storage and with that being said we thought Tige had the best comfort and knew it had the best storage.

Good luck on your purchase.

[smendez]

Barry:

I purchased my boat from Stateamind Water Sports just over 1 year ago. I've known Joel Raulch and his dad for a long time. They're a great boat dealer.

I first connected with them almost 8 years ago at a local show in St. Peters. They kept in touch ever since. Through the years, they would invite us to demos and clinics and not once tried to corner us to sell us a boat.

Joel is a great guy. His shop (Steve) services our boat and does a great job every time. They always have our best interest in mind.

They're a class act shop and treat you 1st class every time.

The reason I had to call on Bruce last Labor Day weekend was because Stateamind was closed for the weekend. That was a bummer, but I realize that just like me, they have to take a day off as well. I understand that.

I hope this helps

Saulo

[Tequilasun]

Barry,

The only thing I know about Stateamind is that they waved to me when they passed me on their way home! They were towing an awesome looking all black tige, I guess they noticed my Tige decal on the back of the tow rig.

And yes Bruce Rocks! If you guys know him, you have probably met my wife and sister-in-law, they both have worked for him for years.

And it sounds like we might have the makings of one heck of a Tige reunion on Tablerock!!

[smendez]

Draginass:

A Tige reunion in Table Rock sounds like a great idea! Count me there. Maybe we can get Stateamind (they love Table Rock as well), Skiers Wharf in Table Rock and the dealer in KC to organize it!

I think we should ask for free boats to all attendees and let them talk us down to free beer :)

[ilovetrains]

Well we rode the Bu LSV and the 24V yesterday. Unfortunately we also looked inside the Bu 25 and my wife really liked the idea of having a potty on board. Oh boy. As for the LSV and the 24V, we rode the Bu first. We were surprised at how small it looked from the outside after having the 24V. The storage was ample, but clearly not as much. We loved the way it drove, very smooth linear steering effort, no push or pull and plenty of power. The interior layout was excellent and the little things, like grab handles right where you reach out for them were also excellent. The feal of the seats was great, and my wife really liked the bow seating area. The illusion tower looks great, not sure about the new blade tower.

We then went to the Tige dealer. The 24V looked downright huge in comparison. We hooked it up to my truck and it pulled very well, although it is heavy. We went through the storage and while it has a lot, it lacks small areas inside the seats for sunscreen, towels etc that the Malibu had. You could argue that is keeps people from putting small stuff all over the boat, but truth is I can never get people to stow stuff where I think they should anyway, so that is a lost battle. The power to weight ratio is the killer. The 24V even with the most powerful available motor just felt lackluster. It powered nicely out of the hole, but just did not have much left over 20. Top speed was 41, which might have been affected by wind, it was very windy. Howver the Bu, with 40 less HP got to 47 quickly, and felt like it could do it all day. It was the 30-35 mph performance that was so disapointing. The Tige just did not run that fast without making a lot of noise. We spent some time on the phone with the Tige factory distrubuter (tells you the kind of dealer, great guys) and he suggested that the rudder needed some alignment (we noticed a lot of hard pulling problems) and that at least one fin was probably out of alignment as well contributing to the noise problem (a distinct vibration that gave the impression things would rattle over time). I also noticed that with the taps set to wakeboard position the bow rose enough that the fins began to leave the water making it hard to run a true line with a boarder pulling.

When we got done we both agreed that we liked the Malibu better. It just drove better. Ironically, to someone leaving a sterndrive they would probably be more comfortable in the 24V because the boat itself felt more like a sterndrive in the way it ran and the generally safe unflappable feeling it gave. It rode more like a 4 door sedan, large waves were there, but could be ignored. You could pick a line accross a lake in this boat and just run it without thought of whatever else was around. But we both agreed that the Bu just felt more responsive to us. It was quiter, more sure of itself. I looked for all the qaulity things each dealer says about the other, but could find nothing on either boat that did not seam to be the highest qaulity.

Of course, now my wife likes the 25 footer. This will never end. In any event, thanks to you gusy for all your input on the Tige. Our decision is not final, and we still like the Tige dealer much better. But the worst thing in my mind is to take the boat out on the lake the first day and see another boat and think, I wish I was driving that.

[Barry Winterland]

Ilovetrains:

Were you able to test the 25 bu? How did speed / handling compare to the 24v?

[ilovetrains]

We are going to schedule a test drive of the 25Bu. It weighs the same as the 24V but has the 8.1 450 horse engine which should help the power to weight ratio. It looks bloody huge sitting on a trailer but may feel more manageable on the water.

[akdoc]

i love trains:

My in-laws bought a Tige Switch V from Skiers Wharf Extreme in Osage Beach at the KC boat show last spring. The boat has been great, no problems and we have 110 hrs on it. The dealer however has been very unorganized. The depth finder that they installed has not worked since they delivered the boat, and they have been out to service the boat twice and have not yet fixed that problem It took them 2 months to get out to do the 70 hr service. The communication in their shop is terrible. My in-laws left a message at their shop saying we were close to the 70 hrs so could they service it. Well, the message was never passed on and then they kept saying they would be out, again, it took 2 months.
They just opened the Skier's wharf in Arkansas this summer I guess, and they are working on a new shop in Osage Beach, so I am hoping that the disorganization is because they were just thin on manpower this summer.
We boat on Lake of the Ozarks and the Switch V actually handles the rough water very well.
A guy that frequents the same ski cove as us has a 25ft. Bu and he loves it. THe wake is massive, and the boat is beautiful. He used to have a Tige but went with the Bu in June. He has had zero problems with his boat. They live at the lake and his 16 year old son is a great rider. He says the boat handles the rough water great.

[zeda]

That's a big engine that will consume a bunch of gas. I would suggest one of the smaller boats (22' or 23') with a smaller engine so you don't feel like you are spending endless amounts of cash on gas. The smaller boats will have better multi-sport performance. However, if you're anything like me, your wife will have the final say. Good luck and buy the boat that you like. PS.....you will always look at other boats and say what if, no matter what you buy. I have a 22V Riders Edition (which I love) and find myself admiring all of the other boats on the water. The top brands all look great and perform well. It all boils down to personal pref. and dealer.

[ilovetrains]

The first boat I drove was the Switch V from the Skiers Wharf Extreme in KC. They seam to be good guys. I had them put a Monster Tower on my Bayliner. It was not a simple job as they had to build up the fiberglass from the back to get the correct thickness before mounting. They took it in the week before Memorial Day and got it back to fruday morning. I was very pleased. They have been very busy all summer.

I was really impressed with the ride of the Switch V. It was smaller than I was looking for but thought the ride was better than my sterndrive with a deeper V hull.

Everyone I have talked to who owns a 25 Bu loves it. We are going to have to look closely at that boat.

[akdoc]

I thought that the guys at Skier's Wharf extreme were great when I met them. I just hope that it was a bad summer for them and they can get things organized. They are all nice guys, I still have faith that they can turn it around and impress me. We finally got that service and they took care of it for free because of the confusion.
So thanks Skier's wharf, for making things better!!

[talltigeguy]

ilovetrains,

Of course the Tige tracking fins came out of the water with the TAPS up at higher speeds. The Convex hull will force it up unless the TAPS is down to some degree. Definitely a small point, but I wanted to correct a small misperception.

It sounds like you are doing all of the right things to feel good about your purchase (except you need to hide the most expensive boats from the wife):) .

Ditto on what has been said above about regrets. There are things about each boat you'll admire.