Supra SC 450 Review

I was able to go out on the new Supra SC 450 the a few weeks ago now and not only wakeboard but wakesurf behind it. This is my review of the 2014 SC 450. For photos please go too http://www.flickr.com/photos/suprabo...7634779008737/ since their photos are better than mine in so many ways.

First look/Outside
The first thing that comes to mind is it looks like a pug. You know the dog with the squished noise. Stocky boat with a squished bow. Also space craft comes to mind. From the outside you will notice how much free board the boat has and the small bow. The tower is the same as the SA so not much change in that. For the back of the boat it has been well thought out with a good step up or down between the swim platform and the sundeck. This step also gives a good seat to put on the wakeboard or to help someone new put on the wakeboard. This step also has some storage in it. It is long but not wide or deep so the best thing would be tools or the plug. Nothing else could really go in these compartments. There are two cup holders also on this step/seat that help you get in the boat well it is on the trailer. The swim platform has a ladder to help you get in and out of the boat well in the water. With the swim platform sitting on the water I do not see a use for the ladder but could come in use for little kids. There is the normal two pop up cleats on the boat. One at the back and one at the windshield on both sides. It would be nice to see a third one on each side and evenly spread out so you have some options to add bumpers and tie points. The gas tank has a fill on both sides so you do not have to worry about what pump you go too. For the trailer it has a big swim away tong at about 3 feet. Also there is too many Supra’s on the trailer. Need to remove one per side.

The inside
After getting in the boat you notice a similar layout to the SA. You have to step down into the boat because of how high the free board is. From the first look there does not look like as much seating room as my 08 OBV. After you get people into the boat you realize this is not the case and everyone has room to move around and get their gear. The snap out carpet is a great addition. Once you pull the carpet out you will notice a hatch. This hatch allows you to pull out the whole main floor to get access to the gas tank and to run wires or anything else. It is quick access and easy to pull and put back in. There is also a drain plug in the center of the boat just like the SA so no more having to jack up the boat to get all the water out. From the dash you notice a clean layout with the Vision system but it is missing the key. Well it is not missing a key but the key is now on the right side of the wheel. Something to get use to but keeps the key out of the way from kids and drunks.The heated and powered seat is nice since each driver can have their own setup. One thing I also noticed is how much leg room the driver now has. I was able to fit under the dash no problem with the sub installed. The sub is also pushed back to allow access to all the wires without having to move it out of the way. On the left side you will notice a big storage area. A person could take a nice nap inside there. The seat flips up to get access. When you look at the under seat storage you will notice that there is a drop down between the back compartments and under seat storage. This gives you more room to store stuff. The SC still has the two hinged seats in the back that can cause ware marks on the seats next to them there the metal touches the vinyl. The bow felt a bit small at first. To lay out I needed to sit at an angle. Up in the bow you can flip up both seat backs to get more storage in front of the driver and get access to the main storage on the left side. There is already cargo nets installed so help with storage that is a nice forward thinking. Now for your center back seat above the V drive. There is a little bit of storage under this seat. Not big enough to put a life vest in to warm up, not a cooler for cool drinks. Guess it can warm up my board shorts and skin if my boat crew does not mind. Nice to see they added something here but not sure what it would be used for yet. The rear storage is nice and deep since the SC is using hard tanks. It would be perfect for some rectangle 1100lbs sacs. There is also a cargo net on the side wall. The last thing I have on the inside is they added a removable jump seat. It attaches between the driver and the bow. It can lay flat like on the sunspots or create another full seat. It is two pins to release it out and very well designed expect now that you have it released out where do you put it? It has no spot to store it in the boat so it is in the boat setup or in the truck. The tower is nice and has a great height. The Bimini top is easy for one person to put out and put away. There were 4 tower speakers on the boat but they looked out of place on this boat. The size of the tower speakers was unimpressive and looked wrong on the boat. We were not able to test them out since the stereo was not working so they could have a great sound.

The drive
After getting being the wheel you notice how much power you have. It is a very nice drive and very responsive. When turning around to pick up a wakesurfer it handles the wave without an issue. The bow might look squished but breaks the wave like an ice breaker. This also comes in with choppy water in the boat plows right through it without an issue and allows you to keep wakesurf with whitecaps on the lake. I am a person that likes to sit above the windshield to have a full view of the lake. When surfing goofy the left side bow is high and I had to stand up to get a full view. Nothing that 2 to 4 inches of still plates under the driver’s seat cannot fix. Getting use to the vision system does not take long but not quick enough to pull Shane at wakeboard speeds when he was trying to surf. He might have been thinking twice about letting me drive for him well I was trying to figure out how to turn cruse back on.

The wake for wakeboard
Without the ballast filled up the wake for wakeboarding cleans right up. No real having to move anyone in the boat to get clean wake on both sides. We filled the system up thinking we were only filling the hard tanks but ended up also filling up the bow sac. This was still a clean wake and not even close to what I am use too. It was a nice pop and good ramp. The water was a little choppy so we really did not play with the wakeboard wake.

The wakesurf wake
After Mike and me wakeboarded we filled up one side and the bow and the wake was easy to clean up. Not a lot of work was needed to create the best wakesurf wake I have seen. Now with saying that I have not been behind Mikes 2013 MoJo. I am not a big wakesurfer in that I have never been able to free rope it but was able to on my second time up behind this SC. For a better wakesurf review you need to look at the other Mikes review.

Trailing the boat.
I was the one in the driver’s seat at the end of the day. This meant I was the one to drive it onto the trailer. Since this is a bigger boat then my OBV it is different. The boat sits onto of the trailer wheel fenders so it will take some getting use too on depth of the trailer. Also you will not be able to hook or unhook the boat bow eye from inside the boat.

Overall
The design is much needed in the Supra line and very well thought out. I was thinking that it would be busy in the boat with people but ended up not tripping over people as we moved around gear. Three people are still able to fit in the bow. There is some wasted space in the boat like at the driver’s feet but for a person over 6 feet this is not wasted space at all. Other than that the use of space is good. The haul design allows for a good wakeboard and wakesurf wake. Like everything there is always room for improvement but this is a well put together boat.