2022 Master Craft ProStar 6.0L Enough Power?

[CCPD3]

For all out there running a 6.0L in the newer MC are you having to give it the whole boat to get up to speed. Those who have driven my boat say seems like it doesn’t have enough power. Had a 6.0L in a carbon pro and it would rip your arms off. I was strongly advised not to go with the 6.2. Boat does about 40/41 mph top end. Other wise boat is awesome. We are at about 1200 feet so shouldn’t play in any elevation issues.

[Drew_Wright_OBXtoFl]

I’ve skied behind the 6.0 and I thought it was more than sufficient but it was only one set. I sure hope it’s enough the deposit I have on one is the 6.0. I wonder why the 5.3 though is not an option seems it should be sufficient to and you get closed cooling without the 6.2 mark up

[Horton]

There was a gear or prop change in the last few years that makes the deep water starts seem a little soft but the boat is NOT underpowered. That 6.0 has enough power to pull a jumper up to about 230 feet. It is Fred Winters preferred boat to run 41 off. It has plenty of power.

 

Remember the boat is designed, geared, and proped to operate at 34 to 36 MPH. You can change the prop and make it go FAST but it will likely ski like crap if you do so.

 

The 6.2 by the way is awesome. It's just overkill unless you're trying to jump 250 ft or you're at high altitude.

 

( is the word "propped" or "proped"? IDK)

[Horton]

Why the heck is the mirror way off to the right? It should be to the left side of the driver side windshield.

[bigtex2011]

it's to offset the higher octane

[CCPD3]

Horton - Thanks I may have been second guessing to power too much. It is good overall but there has a been a few comments of your other boat got up to speed much better. Anyways first world problems here. Hope every is having a great summer!

 

And the mirror is in a proper spot. This picture was taken by the dealer when the order came in.

[MISkier]

@Horton, it’s “propped”. Double consonant gives short vowel sound. Single consonant gives long vowel sound. See “hopped” versus “hoped”.

[Horton]

@MISkier

 

( School teacher? English major?)

[vtmecheng]

@CCPD3 then dealer put the mirror in the wrong place. It’s supposed to be to the left of the driver.

[Horton]

@vtmecheng close to giving you a panda for misunderstanding that he already moved the mirror to the right place...

 

[vtmecheng]

@Horton fair enough, long day at work. I’ll take what I get.

[vtmecheng]

On the feel of the 6.0 in the prostar. We went from a 2004 SN with 5.3 to a 2021 Prostar with 6.0 this year. I’d say they feel about equal out of the hole, which doesn’t surprise me considering the extra weight of the new boat. The prostar is stronger in the course and I like driving it a lot more with a heavy skier. Our setup is about as short as it gets and our splits at 34 mph are really tight. I think the 6.0 should be plenty for you.

[MISkier]

@Horton, I’m a Computer Science and Mathematics major, but my 10th grade English teacher was awesome. I was able to test out of a full year of college English (and receive credit for all required courses) with just the knowledge from that class.

[Jody_Seal]

love the sox!

[Horton]

@MISkier math, science, and english are all important subjects but skiing is importanter

[Laz]

What was the trade-off for the propeller change?

 

I recently skied behind a 2020 and a 2022 Prostar. Both with 6L but the 2020 seemed to yank me out of the water. 2022 felt about the same as my 6L Nautique 200.

[Horton]

@Laz I am not exactly sure what they were trying to be achieve. One can speculate that they were doing something like optimizing the RPMs at 34 or 36. Perhaps changing the way the boat responds to zero off? Potentially they were even sculpting the wakes differently.

 

Bottom line is the ProStar skis fantastic. Just like the car you drive everyday it's not super hard to make it go a lot faster and sound a lot louder but that's not what it was designed for.

[markn]

@vtmecheng did you repower your 2004 nautique with a 5.3 or did you mean 5.7?

[Laz]

@Horton Deposit paid 13 months ago, ETA: April, 21 months later.

 

BTW, my car won't go louder, doesn't make any sound at all. ;-)

[Keith_Menard]

Are we just going to skip over the fact that that is a really cool color scheme?!?! Never in a million years would I spec a boat like that on the website, but then you see something like that and WOW!

 

I don't know how it works in that boat, but the 6.0 is just such a great engine. Very respectable numbers and will run on low octane...not that I would ever do such a thing....

[Horton]

@laz you can get bigger speakers and a Chevy sound track.

[MISkier]

@Horton, he could also clip a baseball card to the strut with a clothespin, so it makes contact with the spokes of the wheel.

[ColeGiacopuzzi]

Out of the hole the new Prostar with the 6.0 is definitely more sluggish than the 2020 with the 6.0. the 2020 has way more torque. The transmissions might be geared differently.

[Mastercrafter]

Curious if the exhaust outlets have changed as well. Are all the new boats stainless / turn down?

 

The good ol flappers on the back are wide-open 3.5” holes, where as the stainless turn-down tips are usually quite restrictive with baffles etc inside.

 

I installed Malibu stainless exhaust outlets on my 2015 5.7L Prostar and it’s much quieter, but I can tell it robs a bit or power down low too. Two other guys I ski with regularly said the same.

[Broussard]

Should be a 1.26:1 transmission for both the 2020 with the 6.0L and 2021-2023 with the 6.0L.

 

Turn down exhaust tips were added in 2018.

[skialex]

That photographer/dealer is a pro…! ??

[Ski_Dad]

Yes

[vtmecheng]

5.7 in the Nautique. I should have stopped posting for the day after the first mistake, some say I should stop posting for significantly longer but oh well.

[RAWSki]

@CCPD3 is the boat brand new? Perhaps it needs some time to break in. comparing the CP 6L and the new ProStar isn't t apples to apples ----there is a lot more "craft" to move with the MC.... Great Boat, we have one at our club and love it but our personal CP definitely jumps out of the hole. Yours is a great looking boat and you will love it for a long time.....

[coach3]

the peak torque for a 6.0 and 5.3 are very similar, as well as, at 3600 rpm or so which is what Zero Off responds to. I actually vote for a 5.3 offering which has direct injection.

[Horton]

@coach3 I have skied a few sets behind the SN 200 with the 5.3 and I thought the pull was absolutely terrible. So NO.

[brettmainer]

@Horton, I’ve heard that before, yet I have 1000hrs on my 5.3 2016 200 and have never had a complaint and not noticed anything bad myself. Lots of skiers, including some very high end skiers, really like my boat, some saying it is their favorite. Multiple 41s have been run behind it (not by me of course, as I can’t seem to find an 8’ handle.)

 

Come up and ski with me sometime. I’d be interested to see if it changes your opinion. I don’t doubt you when you say others are bad, but it doesn’t seem to be the case with mine.

[Drago]

Um, @brettmainer , Lots of 41s have been run behind it?

Must ski with Nate

[jjackkrash]

If you are getting a "bad pull" behind a 200 with a 5.3L or 6.0L I would look at ZO mapping or ZO software updates or dual pucks or driver error or bad weight distribution or misaligned hydrogate or a host of other variables before I blamed the engine.

[Horton]

@brettmainer My experience is just with one boat with a 5.3. I'm confident it was not a bad example of those boats as it came from a pretty famous guy in Florida and then owned by a shortline skier in Bakersfield. I found the power delivery to be very odd.

 

200 w/ 6.0 unquestionably a fantastic boat.

 

Yes now that I live in Hollister I'm sure I will find a way to come up there and burn your boat gas :-)

[jhughes]

Nautique was way ahead with DI and introduced them in 2016. Yes the early ZO mapping on the 5.3 took some tweaking to get right, I remember the ranting threads from the Okeeheelee crowd on BOS. Not happy campers. MC bailed on the 5.3 totally. Nautique had Mapple at the time and perhaps that helped. Must be tricky to tune for ZO. My 200 5.3 is the favorite pull of everyone I ski with including me. None of us can run 35 though. I had no idea what it was when I bought it so I came into it by accident I suppose.

 

If I was putting the money down for a new boat these days I'd get the latest Gen 5 DI motor, one or the other. I wouldn't spend 100K+ and get the old 6.0. That's just me perhaps. Gen 5 are lighter, snappier, quieter, and very good on gas, undeniably the future at least before electric.

[Horton]

@jhughes what matters is how it feels from the handle end of the rope. Do you really care if the motor specs are sexier?

[Mastercrafter]

Serious question.. are/were the 5.3's running premium? Last night we were getting serious spark knock and thus the ECU was pulling timing out of the TXI with M5 as the boat was trying to get up to speed. Once at speed it seemed fine, but the regular grade fuel surely isn't helping. I suspect that better skiers than I could notice that difference in power/ engine mapping while skiing.

[Horton]

With the newer motors that fuel thing is more of an issue.... even if everyone wants to make fun of it.

[6balls]

6.2 rocks, hole shots rock. I'd try a reprop on the 6.0 in question--nothing to lose. If you pick up some performance and the wake is still great you will be happy you did.

[jhughes]

@Mastercrafter we absolutely have to run at least mid grade in our club TXi w/M5 5.3

[Horton]

@6balls if you reprop it will very likely not feel like the stock pull so if you go to tournaments the tournament boat will feel foreign. Remember the boat is specifically designed for what it does in the course.

[brettmainer]

@Drago, Nate hasn't skied behind this boat. I suppose I should have said "a few" rather than "a lot".

 

I run 91 octane in the 5.3L, just as the owner's manual says to. It has had 87 in it and it runs rough (fluctuating RPMS) at an idle with 87 gas. I didn't notice a difference in the pull with the lower octane, but then I am just a sea level 34mph skier.

 

I have nothing against the 6L engine. I regularly ski behind two of them (one in a 2021MC, the other in a re-powered 196) and like them both. The 6L in a 200 is unquestionably great, but it was not offered to the promo team in 2016. The choices were 5.3 or 6.2 (for a LOT more money). I personally cannot tell the difference between a 5.3L and a 6L when skiing. If I had the option to purchase either on a new 200 or MC, I would simply go with whichever was cheaper.

[chaloux]

I don't have much to add to this thread, but I am keenly watching as I may be placing an order for a Prostar at some point in the future, as they're ~25k cheaper than a 200 here in Ontario.

 

I did ski behind a 2020 Prostar and it felt soft initially but then took off like a rocket - I mentioned it to the driver and he said that he was doing that intentionally. I'm so used to just mashing the throttle that the slower initial throttle application made me question the motor/prop setup.

 

Lastly, @CCPD3 what colour is that!? Seafoam? I love it.

[rockdog]

@Mastercrafter it's a direct injection engine like the 6.2 so no regular grade fuel. At a minimum 91.

[6balls]

I get what you are saying the consistency will help--just think boats should be able to do both ie) should come from the factory that way--then consistency doesn't matter. Unless the slalom pull for some reason is so much improved by giving up a nice hole shot with brisk acceleration.

Shoot I trained PP well into the ZO era--talk about different tourney conditions!

[coach3]

Since MC uses the 5.3 in other boats, it is on the shelf. Simply make it an option for many boats on open water and more casual skiing. LIghter, better wake, and sipping fuel.

[Horton]

@coach3

MasterCraft does not offer the 5.3 and the rest of my knowledge never has.

[Horton]

@6balls I don't speak for MasterCraft so my opinion is mostly speculation ...... when faced with the design decision to optimize the quality of skiing or optimize the deepwater start the design team logically optimizes for the quality of skiing.

 

 

[JackQ]

Are you all really worrying about enough power for a deep water start! behind a 2020-2022 MC? The last time I worried about a deep water start was behind a 33hp Evinrude.