Just how slow is a 200 with the 5.7?

[escmanaze]

Obviously, prop selection will affect final performance and speed, but does anybody have any real data, maybe acceleration numbers or top speed numbers with the two different engines? I ski at 4500 feet elevation and may occasionally take the boat as high as 6,000 feet, but seeing sea level speed numbers would still be very enlightening.

 

Before buying my TSC1 I was advised strongly to get the GT-40. I didn't. In some ways it has been fine, in other ways the advice was good advice not heeded. I'm wondering how much it might be the same story over again if I were to get a 200 with the 5.7.

 

Hard numbers would obviously be the best information, but driving experiences are welcome information as well. Thanks in advance.

[Kelvin]

2010 SN 200 5.7L with the Acme 654 Prop would top out at about 44 mph in Trick/Jump mode and 42 mph in Slalom mode.

[6balls]

Is the most powerful option on anything always needed...nope. Have I ever been disappointed I got the most powerful option...nope. Have I ever wished after not getting the most powerful option that I had gotten it...yep.

It's a case by case and application by application thing, and at some point there are diminishing returns but I've never driven ANYTHING and said man...I wish it had a little less power.

[skinut]

I have a 2012 6.0 and ski on a 2100 foot lake at 4500. I can barely get up to 36 mph by the time the boat gets to the 55's. I have used the 422 and 654. I now have a custom 3 blade from ACME that helps the boat get up to speed. If you have a short setup and are at 4500 elevation a 5.7 won't do it.

[Razorskier1]

You can never have enough love, money or horsepower.

[MISkier]

There is no replacement for displacement.

[Andre]

How' bout the 5.3 at elevation and short set up ?

Is it better then the 5.7 ?

Enough or you need to upgrade to the 6.2 ?

[ntx]

@andre the 5.3 is much better than the 5.7

[Wish]

2008 196 6L on a 1750' spin in was bad a$$. If I ever upgrade, @OB1 has tought me that I must harness that kind of power and feel the force. Such a great boat!!

[Marco]

We had the first 200 at altitude (5700') on our lake back in 2010. The dealer said the 5.7 would be plenty. It wasn't. It was borderline at 34 on a 2000' lake with turn islands. It wouldn't pull 36. They tried re-propping it, re-programming the computer, and ended up swapping the engine out for a 6.0. Definitely go with the bigger engine!

[BlueSki]

Just to play Devil's advocate on the 5.7 in the 200 (no, not at altitude), I know of one 36 mph skier that seemed to like it.

 

[Kelvin]

Parrish also got his 2@43 off world record behind a 2010 5.7L 200.

[Alberto Soares]

I read somewhere that for each 100m (300') of elevation you loose 1% of horsepower, our lake is at 1500m (4500') that makes 15% less power, so a 400hp in fact works as a 340hp and a 340hp will work only as 289hp, thats not enough for the new high drag hulls.

 

 

[ALPJr]

Off topic I know. There wasn't much drag on the hulls back in the day.

1966 Rayson Craft w/ 1100 Merc SS. Ski pole, tracking fin and speedo were options. 0 to 36 in a blink. Tops out around 50. Weighs about 1,000# with 12 gals of gas. No wake, no spray.

[eleeski]

@escmanaze You can always use @Kelvin 's trick on the boat. Pull out the old engine to repower with a 6.0 and sell me the old engine cheap.

 

People complain that ZO hammers you. With a weaker engine, it can't hit you as hard so it might feel better. This works against you if you like a hard hit. It also works against you if you are a big 36mph skier. And you can always overprop the big engine to get the same effect.

 

As @Alberto Soares notes, horsepower loss with altitude is real (see the pilot handbook for any little Cessna) and there is no way around it (short of turbocharging). Heat also has an effect. Hot and high is tough on the HP.

 

Eric

[escmanaze]

Thanks a bunch guys, this is all really good information. Yes indeed, it is real. I think you are right in the right ballpark @Alberto Soares, I have always used a rough estimate of 3% per thousand feet, which is about the same as your calculation. As @eleeski mentions, hot air just gets that much thinner and makes things even worse. I was going to follow up to @scotchipman about re-propping the 200 he said wouldn't pull a full size skier at 36, but it sounds like @Marco tried that and didn't have much luck (granted he was 1200 feet higher than me and Scot.)

 

It's a bummer because finding 200's with a tower for sale on the used market is tough. Finding used 200's with a tower and a 6.0 is just a needle in a darn haystack. I'm hoping to be seriously in the market for one in a few years and was hoping I could broaden my search criteria. Sounds like that wouldn't be a great idea.

[UWSkier]

It's really nuts what we're asking these engines to do with these modern plow-type hulls if a 5.7L can't get it done in a tournament direct-drive.

[escmanaze]

@scotchipman That may very well be true. Certainly my plan A right now is a 200, but a very very strong plan B is a TXI, and I could even go Prostar if the stars aligned just right. I do love my current CC though, and it seems like every year of owning it builds more and more brand loyalty into me, which I hate though, because I'm always the guy saying that brand loyalty is stupid. ?????

[Not_The_Pug]

@escmanaze just talk to your local Promo guy and order what you want. They can order it with a tower and then remove it for the tournament season and just put it back on when delivered to you. Or talk to the dealer about testing a 5.3 if available. More HP than a 5.7.

 

I just got my new 200 with a 6.2.

[escmanaze]

@Krlee I LOVE the idea of doing exactly what you are mentioning here, but there's just one problem. I put myself 3 years down the road boat shopping. At that point, if I can find something like a 2010 or 2011 model year of the 200, I'm basically looking at a 10 year old boat. I'm hoping, that at that point maybe I could get the price point somewhere in the general vicinity of $40k ± 20% or so.

 

If, however, I order a promo in 2019, and then buy the promo from the guy in 2020, equip it with a tower and a big engine, well now I'm buying basically a brand new boat, not a 10 year old boat, so then I'm guessing my price range shoots up to $70k ± 20% or so.

 

If my numbers are even sorta kinda close, that is a HUGE difference. The first one, on a stretch, could be realistic in 3 years. The second option doesn't seem realistic for a long time for me.

[wski1831]

@krlee where's the new boat picture?

[liquid d]

Your boat is so slow , we nicknamed it Christmas....

[Mateo_Vargas]

 

[bigskieridaho]

@escmanaze Buy a used boat with the big engine and spend the $4K on a Roswell tower and call it a day.

[thager]

I do my chin-ups at the gym.

[bigskieridaho]

@thager If you can do any.

[thager]

Got me! That's why I don't put monkey bars on a slalom boat.

[swc5150]

@escmanaze

Food for thought... Your situation sounds pretty similar to mine was this year. We sold our 196 in Dec, and had every intention to buy a late-model 200, or promo. We expanded our search to new, non-currents sitting on dealer lots, and got a fantastic deal on a new Prostar...better than buying used or promo actually. Dealers can be very aggressive in clearing their lots of old inventory, and the manufacturers sometimes kick in dollars for them to move units. And you get a brand new boat.

[supergadget]

What @6balls , and @MISkier and @bigskieridaho said.

The 5.7 is dead.

6.0 is better built and solves all power issues.

 

[swc5150]

@Mark_Matis indeed! Got the MC 5 year starting now.

[escmanaze]

Well @swc5150 believe me, I would love nothing more than to find a brand new boat sitting on a dealer's lot for two years that he is ready to give away. However, that concept died in Utah over a decade ago, and there are no dealers in the state, and probably in the surrounding 5 or 6 states that will even take their chances on a ski boat, because they know they just won't move it. I'm supposing, maybe incorrectly, also that even if I could find somewhere on a lot in California a brand new 2015 200 with a tower and a 6.0, I don't think it would be even remotely close to the aforementioned price range of $40k ± 20%. I may be wrong, and I would love it if I was, but that's my guess for right now.

[LoopSki]

There are a handful of Malibu LXR sitting on lots. Good deals in fact. I called on a few but I really wanted a prostar.

[bigskieridaho]

@escmanaze I had to go all the way to Mesa Arizona to get my boat. Make the sacrifice and find a boat anywhere. It'll be worth the drive or shipping in the end.

[swc5150]

There's a '15 LXR and 2 '16 (all 3 new) on our local Bu lot. I would bet that LXR could be hard really close to $40k. I guess we're lucky here in the Midwest that our dealers still carry ski boats.

[MISkier]

There are 2 LXR in Michigan, a 2015 and a 2016. The 2016 has the 409 engine and no pricing listed. If I was in the market, I would be working a deal on them. Both have Zero Off included. I know the 2015 does not include a trailer at $42,000 and has only the 350HP. I'm guessing there is room in that pricing.

[I5boi]

Slow....