LSV vs. XLV

[you da man]

Just wanted to pose this question. What's the factor(s) that made you get an LSV over the XLV? Was it cost, garage space, or other factors? I've only owned my XLV for about 2 months now and so far I'm loving it. This is also my very first wakeboat of any kind so I just wanted the biggest boat that Moomba offered for the extra room plus the price was not much more than an LSV.

[spoon03]

VERY WELL PUT, ED....(i have to support my OBV brothers)...

[Razzman]

For me it was easy, just like Goldilocks. The OBV was too small and the XLV was too big, but the LSV is jussst right! Add a hull design that does it all well and a price tag well under 50K loaded and i couldn't go wrong.

[mmandley]

For me it was easy, just like Goldilocks. The OBV was too small and the XLV was too big, but the LSV is jussst right! Add a hull design that does it all well and a price tag well under 50K loaded and i couldn't go wrong.

Same here. I don't like the shape of the OBV or the bow. Just the way the sides of the boat are shorter and the way the seats feel when you sit in them because my legs are to high.

I really liked the XLV but the length wont allow it in my garage. Plus the price for them was 50K bare.

The LSV had all the things i needed and wanted, fit in my garage and i got 13K on of the sticker with my Z5 rack included.

If we get a bigger house with a bigger garage, then maybe ill upgrade to the XLV.

[DOCDRS]

I think Ed is a wee bit partial to the OBV ......... But then i am a wee bit partial to my boat .....and razz is to his......and so on and so on ......its good to see how happy everyone is with their decision.......and no one has boat envy......:) .there are a lot of different considerations to make when determining which boat is right for you. the best way is to ride behind the boat and see which one you like better. just because its bigger does not necessarily make it better and just because its newer does not make it better. sometimes its the fight in the dog not the size of the dog. For me i just wanted the biggest meanest fastest whoopaxx boat i could fit in my boat port eith a draft of 25 inches or less and the highest bow i could get so my wife doesn't sub the boat ........i think they are all good boats and once you have it you'll either love it or hate it.......so get what ya want.....or it'll cost ya more to finally get what ya really want........as long as you are more happy now than with your previous boat your one step closer ........cause its all about being happy :)
Oh ya ...and it had to be black or my wife and kids wouldn't let me get it.... :)

[501]

"Whether you want to believe it or not, the 2009/2010 Outback V will out surf the LSV or XLV right out of the box"

I'm curious how you came to this conclusion? With the stock 440 lbs the XLV surfs great. Also it is pretty common to add more weight no matter what the boat when it comes to surfing. I know Ed will say "you don't need the weight to surf" which is true but do you NEED 500 HP in a car? The answer is no, but it sure is a lot more fun.

I also have an XLV, and I bought it for all of the same reasons as you da man and was in the exact same position as him between the boats. My main thoughts were "I am spending around $50,000 dollars for a boat to wakeboard and surf behind. For such a small price difference buying the XLV means buying the biggest boat with the most room and the best and biggest wakes. I also really like the playpen bow and seating of an XLV. I knew this would not leave me with "wake envy" as well. An XLV with 2650lbs is a beautiful thing.

[Lawdog]

I bought the 09 XLV because of it's size AND I got a sweet deal on it. Too bad the season is over.

**501, what type of ballast/weight setup do you have?

[kaneboats]

I'm waiting for zegm to tell us why the LS is the best boat. For the record, I like 'em all!!!!!!!

[jmvotto]

Ed,

So the OBV 06 -08 , are we bench warmers now?;)

Jester, Maybe the cool HS girls won't even look our way anymore, just the all-stars:p

[sandm]

this thread is going to go nowhere fast..
ed has ridden both boats and has his opinion. guaranteed that there are a lot of others out there that have done the same thing. some will agree with ed, some won't.
had a guy this year that surfed my boat and claimed that it was a better surf wake than his buddies avy. centurions will outsurf any skiers product(imo), but he may have caught his buddies on a bad day and ours on a good day. again, his opinion, and probably 10 people that will agree with him, and 10 more that will say he's on crack...

think docdrs hit the nail on the head. we all like our boats for one reason or another and all have opinions that way..

[yearround]

The main reasons we chose the LSV is that it is the only boat with a capacity of 12+ and a length that would fit in my garage.

[Hillbilly]

I got my 07 LSV in 08 and I bought it because of color and price. Just so happened to be a solid red and the wife liked that.

I think we all could argue which is better and why.
I am happy with the LSV wake and I don't want a ton of people in my boat (just a ton of weight).
I don't surf, And I don't ski....So no opinion on that part. But I would put my wake up against any other Moomba wake and I think it would hold it's own.

I just want my LSV to continue being the workhorse I bought it for.

And again that's just my 2cents....lol
:|

[spoon03]

"The main reasons we chose the LSV is that it is the only boat with a capacity of 12+ and a length that would fit in my garage"

The 09/10 OBV is rated at 12 person cap. and at 20' fits nicely into almost any garage. And can go on any lake ( some have length restrictions). It was a nice all around choice and the price tag was unbeatable.

[sandm]

^^ I agree. I think the 20ssv is the same basic design and I can't even imagine 12 in mine. we have had 7 adults and 3 kids once and it was packed..
I try to limit it to 5 and 2 at the most.

[spoon03]

You Are Correct Ed, 12 In Any Watersport Boat Seems Like Way Overcrowded To Me, But It Is Rated For 12.

[clarkro2]

You Are Correct Ed, 12 In Any Watersport Boat Seems Like Way Overcrowded To Me, But It Is Rated For 12.


I got the XLV cause it can hold more beer. :D

[viking]

I got the XLV cause it can hold more beer. :D

Outback, Ouback V, LSV, or XLV - doesn't matter! They all "hold more beer" when I'm a passenger :lol:

[you da man]

Beer can act as ballast, however, you're losing ballast throughout the day

[moombadaze]

Beer can act as ballast, however, you're losing ballast throughout the day


but only after Peeing:)

[kaneboats]

I've had 12 (mostly kids) in the Outback LS. It was crowded. Hardly any room for beer that day.

[mmandley]

but only after Peeing:)

When you pee after drinking beer, your only proving we have over fill protection. You drain some then refill. Its a way to make sure the beer is fresh doing in all the time.

[jmvotto]

depends on where you pee.;)

[moombadaze]

Gotta remember to never borrow Ed's wetsuit:rolleyes:

[501]

I bought the 09 XLV because of it's size AND I got a sweet deal on it. Too bad the season is over.

**501, what type of ballast/weight setup do you have?

I have 2 X 750's in the rear and the 1150 in the bow. It's a lot of weight and the boat is kinda sluggish with them all full, but if you want big wakes for wakeboarding, you won't be dissappointed. The best part is all 2650 lbs are hidden away and basically factory. With the front filled up about 20 percent and a 750 full, the surf wave is also very large and easy to ride.

The upgrade was easy with the plug and play ballasts and was only a couple hundred bucks.

[Hillbilly]

501 is the 1150 in the floor locker? If so the xlv must have a larger locker, My locker bag pushes up the door before it's full and it's only a 400 :(. I run the triangle sac on top of my cushions though so I still got it dumped...lol

[Ian Brantford]

is the 1150 in the floor locker?

Yes, it is much bigger. It is longer and twice as deep, because the playpen seating gives you a knee-high surface all the way through the bow opening, back to right beside the driver. In fact, there is room to spare on top, so I throw my extra-large fender in there after we leave the dock. I wish that there was a ballast bag of about 1400+ lbs that I could put in there. It would fit.

[Hillbilly]

That would be sweet. You could always have one made custom! kinda spendy though !

[jclevoy]

When I was trying to decide, these were the factors that I considered..........

--Did you realize that the rear lockers are actually smaller in the XLV vs the LSV? The LSV lockers are not much larger, but they are a little larger. The guys measured them for me at the showroom.

--The price of the XLV. It was going to cost me ~$10,000 more for a used XLV vs a used LSV.

--The one major benefit, and I mean it is a BIG bonus........is the front locker. It is WAY more roomy for a larger ballast bag than the LSV. The front Playpen area in an XLV is EXTREMELY nice. My friend has a SUPRA 21V with the same configuration. At first, I didn't care for the bow seating since there was not a small aisle. Now, after seeing the benefits of the larger locker..............I would go XLV if possible. At some point in the future, I will probably upgrade to at least a 23ft boat if not longer. My current philosophy has become, "if you have somewhere to keep it, the bigger/heavier the boat, the better"

Just my 2c

[Bcoutsfly]

Is it true the XLV is a little sluggish? I figured it would be because it has the same engine set up as the LSV. I was also told the wake rolls over a lot. I was told of this by the salesman that I bought my LSV from. I did however like the bow set up alot more than my LSV.

[Ian Brantford]

Is it true the XLV is a little sluggish? I figured it would be because it has the same engine set up as the LSV.

No. I did upgrade to a lower-pitch prop after upgrading the ballast. After the prop upgrade, the throttle is hilariously responsive when the boat is unloaded -- you have to get used to it all over again.


I was also told the wake rolls over a lot.

I'd say that that is a fair assessment below 19 MPH, especially if the ballast isn't carefully balanced. Around 19-20 MPH and up, there is no problem that cannot be addressed via balance, as with any other boat. The LSV appears to have better wake control at lower speeds, so it may be better for beginners, especially children. I teach lots of adult beginners with my XLV, and there is a an issue with them wanting to do some jumps before they can ride at a suitable speed for a nice crest.

The converse is that I have had some intermediate riders, trained on runabouts, ask me to let out some ballast. They were just plain scared by the size of it at 22-24 MPH.


I was told of this by the salesman that I bought my LSV from.

As with most other statements by a salesman, confirmation via a personal observation, or at least by experienced owners, is the only thing that makes it useful.


I did however like the bow set up alot more than my LSV.

It is a great set-up. My XLV can sit three across -- me, and one woman under each arm!

In my case, there were a number of differences in the interior that pushed me from the LSV to the XLV. The playpen seating/ballast was one. Others were the LSV's oddly low seating, the XLV's higher tower, the XLV's seatback on the stadium seat, and just the overall larger space. Because of the big engine compartment, the LSV's interior wasn't that much larger than that of my 18' runabout.

That was in 2005. The LSV was more like the Outback then. The LSV has since been upgraded and is a deeper boat, so the seating height would no longer be an issue. I am not sure what else would have changed about the interior, but the LSV is now firmly a "mid-sized" wakeboard boat, rather than a small one. It is only about 300 lbs lighter than the XLV. It used to be 600 lbs lighter, so that's a clue as to how much the 2006 upgrade affected it.

[you da man]

One thing I was really considering when buying a wakeboat was that my favorite lake has alot of open water, a few miles worth at a couple points. Running in open water with the south wind Texas is known for in the summer can whip up some serious chop. I wanted a boat with size and freeboard.

[Membrain]

We got our ’08 XLV for the handy-dandy inboard cooler within arm’s reach! Plus I got tired of having to walk around the external ballasts on our old LS so that my son had enough wake to board on!!! We upgraded to 1,100 lbs bags all the way around.

[cab13367]

The LSV is just the right size for my purposes. Sure, there are times when I wish I had a little more room in the boat but 95% of the time, the LSV is just fine. I also wanted it to fit in the garage and it was hard enough to find a house with a garage that the LSV would fit in (in our price range), never mind the XLV. The Outback V is a little too small for our purposes and does not have enough rated people capacity for those times when we want to take a lot of people.

But a big factor is that the LSV can plane out at a lower speed than the heavier XLV. This is important if you have small kids or a timid wife. This means they can ride clean wakes at a speed that is comfortable for them. With a larger boat, the wake is all washed out at those speeds.

My brother bought a 24' Tige and he has to go at least 23-24 mph or so with no ballast to get a clean wake so his kids are always riding in white wash, even with the rope at 60' or 50'. They've never seen what a clean wake looks like because they are afraid to ride at 23 mph+. Also, my brother says his boat drives like a container ship compared to my smaller, more nimble LSV.

Al

[501]

I have an 08 XLV and I do have to agree that is you want to go slower speeds you need to have the ballast empty and the plate all the way down to help clean up the wake, but with a lot of weight you need more speed. Also even with full ballast we never take the plate up past 1/2 way.

I think that is really the only drawback to the XLV. With the 340 Cat motor there is plenty or acceleration, people who have never been in my boat are always very impressed with the acceleration their first time on. With 2650lbs its a bit sluggish, but show me a wakeboat with that kind of weight that isn't.

The playpen bow was a big seller for me. I was unsure at first but now I won't be without it. When it's cool out we leave the front cover on and turn the heaters on. It makes the whole front bow into a heated tent for the kids and they love it. It keeps them busy for hours. I also like having the seat right next to the driver for my daughter to sit right beside me while I drive.

[Razzman]

Al and i are of the same mind it looks like. I'm happy with mine 99% of the time i'd say. My crew averages 6-8 when we're out as we've always got at least a couple other boats with us so we play musical boats anyway, adults and kids shuffling between them depending on what boat is doing a particular activity.

We almost cut a deal on an a real sharp '07 Supra 21V at the '08 boat show but the wife was hesitant at that time as we hadn't even thought of selling the old one. Wouldn't you know three months later we're buying the LSV instead due to the great deal offered. I looked at the XLV but she nixed it as she doesn't like the playpen seating at all. How she missed that on the 21V is beyond me? ;)

Funny thing is late that year who's camping three spots down from us? The guy that bought that Supra! And he anchored next to the LSV! I remember looking at it thinking how i'd made a great choice for the money as even discounted the Supra was $43K+